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The other big missing piece is a cross-town rail line. Currently there are three main corridors for going east-west in Seattle: Denny Way (home to the 8 bus lin

The other big missing piece is a cross-town rail line. Currently there are three main corridors for going east-west in Seattle: Denny Way (home to the 8 bus line), Mercer St (a glorified entrance/exit thoroughfare for I-5 and the bridges across Lake Washington), and 45th/50th St north of Lake Union (home to the 44 bus line). Now that UW and Capitol Hill have a station, it makes sense to at least study the feasibility of an east-west line that could provide an alternative to at-grade transit and connect to the Link. Another advantage of a crosstown route north of Lake Union is it could continue east over the brand new 520 bridge, which was designed to support Light Rail and connect to the east side. As a resident of Seattle, the current plan is vexxing. I love transit, and I don't mind voting for something that I'll never see (as long as there are good reasons for the long timeline) but I'd certainly prefer a different set of priorities for light rail.

news_to_me 11y ago
Exactly, it's such a chore to go East/West. Ballard-U District along 45th/50th seems like the most obvious addition to me, along with a line to the Eastside - I know that if I worked in Bellevue, the ability to take the light rail to work would be my top priority.
- farnsworth 11y ago
  Yeah, it's practically impossible to work at Microsoft and live in Ballard without driving every day, unless you want to spend (probably more than?) an hour on the bus each way. And even driving is going to be pretty slow.
  - rconti 11y ago
    Ballard -> Redmond has gotta be 45 minutes by car at the BEST of times. I'd think it'd be closer to 90min by bus at rush hour. 520 is an unmitigated traffic disaster (granted, I haven't been on it since the tolling began). When I lived in the area I often joked I'd drive 405-90-5 if I was going from Kirkland to the U-District. Having spent 2 hours in traffic on the bridge alone in the past, it's not far from the truth.
    - mc32 11y ago
      IIRC, one of the main complaints from boeing is that the traffic situation is disastrous for their JIT parts deliveries and have threatened to pull out of Seattle b/c of that (not just the HQ, as they did a few years ago).
    - DaveMebs 11y ago
      If you take the Ballard Connector to MSFT it is not that bad. 45-60 minutes depending on traffic. With the new 520 work on the Eastside, the carpool lanes are speeding things up dramatically and I expect it's closer to 45 most days (I'm in Phinney currently, and I'm usually at 45-50 minutes on the last stop).
    - RyJones 11y ago
      If you're doing the counter commute, Kirkland->Seattle Business District in the morning, 520 is a great option. Most people have abandoned it due to the toll, but the only area where things get sticky is the merge from 405->520 where you need to merge left twice in short order and then merge left again directly after the Burgermaster exit. The merge across I5 to the Union exit is annoying since the backup for the Mercer exit (and people that never realized the needed to take Mercer) extends almost to 520, but if you wait in the third lane from left until you pass Mercer, you can usually merge gracefully right and take Union. The return commute is only screwy when there's a big con - SakuraCon for example. I did take Mercer for the three months I worked at Lab 126 in Fiona, but I assume it's better now that construction is over. It was much worse.
      - rconti 11y ago
        Counter-commute? or reverse commute? Shouldn't Kirkland->Seattle still be the 'normal' commute direction?
        RyJones 11y ago
        I apologize, I missed your comment earlier. In my experience (before the tolls were in place on 520 to mess with things), the morning commute was heavy from Seattle->Microsoft exit. There was a lot less traffic going from Kirkland->Seattle. Once the tolls were in place, people went to the I90 bridge and amplified this. Over the several years I was driving in every day, backups on 520 from Seattle->eastside in the morning seemed to be an every day thing; on the commute home, the worst part was the 5 north -> 520 merge. Everyone going south on 5 wants to take the university exit, so they're all stopping in the left lane trying to merge in, while everyone from 5 north wants to get on the bridge and wants to merge into the left hand lane. Once you got past that little knot, it was usually clear sailing until you got on 405. I could see everyone sitting on 520 westbound waiting for the neck down from three to two lanes before speed picked up.
  - Analemma_ 11y ago
    Fingers crossed; that might get be about to get better when the new 520 bridge opens, since it has an HOV lane for the busses. The busses won't be stuck in traffic with everyone else and it might even cause more people to take them.
xxpor 11y ago
If anyone's trying to find these streets on a map, they're all streets, not avenues, e.g. 45th St., Mercer St. In Seattle, Sts are E/W, Aves are N/S. This is an extremely common mistake in Seattle, and I have no idea why.
- phinnaeus 11y ago
  Fixed. Thank you.
  - msandford 11y ago
    Gainesville, FL has got their stuff together. Streets are North/South; Streets has an S in it and so does South, they all also have a T. Ave are East/West; Ave has an E in it and so do both East and West, also Ave and East share an A. It's either really silly, or genius, or complete luck that my overly analytical brain turned into something real.
    - gohrt 11y ago
      "Street" has E, for East and West, they all also have a T Street sounds like East. "Avenue" has N for North and U for South
      - msandford 11y ago
        > or complete luck that my overly analytical brain turned into something real. You solved the case!
  - xxpor 11y ago
    I just want to make sure I say I wasn't trying to criticize or anything, just trying to improve the clarity of the post.
techsupporter 11y ago
As a resident of Seattle who lives south of the ship canal, I am going to lose my mind if we don't get to, someday, vote on transit through the Central District. The CD has more riders and more density than the opening-in-2021 station in Roosevelt. Roosevelt is going to be zoned lower than the upcoming rezone at 23rd and Jackson. Yet, inexplicably, nobody ever wants to put a Metro 8 Subway to a vote. I'm already half tempted to vote no on ST3 because running light rail to ISSAQUAH--expected to get 11,000 riders per day, or 70% of the riders that a single route (number 48) through the CD gets--before filling in the gaps in the rest of our system is just...galling. But I'll probably vote yes because it's not like voting no is going to end subarea equity. (See the seattlesubway.org yellow line for what a Denny/23rd Ave "Metro 8 Subway" would look like.)
- OrwellianChild 11y ago
  Now's your chance to get involved! As a soon-to-be Beacon/Mt. Baker resident, I'm right there with you on the south-end infill... Their final plan will be decided in June, so we have to speak up now!

news_to_me 11y ago

Exactly, it's such a chore to go East/West. Ballard-U District along 45th/50th seems like the most obvious addition to me, along with a line to the Eastside - I know that if I worked in Bellevue, the ability to take the light rail to work would be my top priority.

farnsworth 11y ago
Yeah, it's practically impossible to work at Microsoft and live in Ballard without driving every day, unless you want to spend (probably more than?) an hour on the bus each way. And even driving is going to be pretty slow.
- rconti 11y ago
  Ballard -> Redmond has gotta be 45 minutes by car at the BEST of times. I'd think it'd be closer to 90min by bus at rush hour. 520 is an unmitigated traffic disaster (granted, I haven't been on it since the tolling began). When I lived in the area I often joked I'd drive 405-90-5 if I was going from Kirkland to the U-District. Having spent 2 hours in traffic on the bridge alone in the past, it's not far from the truth.
  - mc32 11y ago
    IIRC, one of the main complaints from boeing is that the traffic situation is disastrous for their JIT parts deliveries and have threatened to pull out of Seattle b/c of that (not just the HQ, as they did a few years ago).
  - DaveMebs 11y ago
    If you take the Ballard Connector to MSFT it is not that bad. 45-60 minutes depending on traffic. With the new 520 work on the Eastside, the carpool lanes are speeding things up dramatically and I expect it's closer to 45 most days (I'm in Phinney currently, and I'm usually at 45-50 minutes on the last stop).
  - RyJones 11y ago
    If you're doing the counter commute, Kirkland->Seattle Business District in the morning, 520 is a great option. Most people have abandoned it due to the toll, but the only area where things get sticky is the merge from 405->520 where you need to merge left twice in short order and then merge left again directly after the Burgermaster exit. The merge across I5 to the Union exit is annoying since the backup for the Mercer exit (and people that never realized the needed to take Mercer) extends almost to 520, but if you wait in the third lane from left until you pass Mercer, you can usually merge gracefully right and take Union. The return commute is only screwy when there's a big con - SakuraCon for example. I did take Mercer for the three months I worked at Lab 126 in Fiona, but I assume it's better now that construction is over. It was much worse.
    - rconti 11y ago
      Counter-commute? or reverse commute? Shouldn't Kirkland->Seattle still be the 'normal' commute direction?
      - RyJones 11y ago
        I apologize, I missed your comment earlier. In my experience (before the tolls were in place on 520 to mess with things), the morning commute was heavy from Seattle->Microsoft exit. There was a lot less traffic going from Kirkland->Seattle. Once the tolls were in place, people went to the I90 bridge and amplified this. Over the several years I was driving in every day, backups on 520 from Seattle->eastside in the morning seemed to be an every day thing; on the commute home, the worst part was the 5 north -> 520 merge. Everyone going south on 5 wants to take the university exit, so they're all stopping in the left lane trying to merge in, while everyone from 5 north wants to get on the bridge and wants to merge into the left hand lane. Once you got past that little knot, it was usually clear sailing until you got on 405. I could see everyone sitting on 520 westbound waiting for the neck down from three to two lanes before speed picked up.
- Analemma_ 11y ago
  Fingers crossed; that might get be about to get better when the new 520 bridge opens, since it has an HOV lane for the busses. The busses won't be stuck in traffic with everyone else and it might even cause more people to take them.

xxpor 11y ago

If anyone's trying to find these streets on a map, they're all streets, not avenues, e.g. 45th St., Mercer St. In Seattle, Sts are E/W, Aves are N/S. This is an extremely common mistake in Seattle, and I have no idea why.

phinnaeus 11y ago
Fixed. Thank you.
- msandford 11y ago
  Gainesville, FL has got their stuff together. Streets are North/South; Streets has an S in it and so does South, they all also have a T. Ave are East/West; Ave has an E in it and so do both East and West, also Ave and East share an A. It's either really silly, or genius, or complete luck that my overly analytical brain turned into something real.
  - gohrt 11y ago
    "Street" has E, for East and West, they all also have a T Street sounds like East. "Avenue" has N for North and U for South
    - msandford 11y ago
      > or complete luck that my overly analytical brain turned into something real. You solved the case!
- xxpor 11y ago
  I just want to make sure I say I wasn't trying to criticize or anything, just trying to improve the clarity of the post.

techsupporter 11y ago

As a resident of Seattle who lives south of the ship canal, I am going to lose my mind if we don't get to, someday, vote on transit through the Central District. The CD has more riders and more density than the opening-in-2021 station in Roosevelt. Roosevelt is going to be zoned lower than the upcoming rezone at 23rd and Jackson. Yet, inexplicably, nobody ever wants to put a Metro 8 Subway to a vote. I'm already half tempted to vote no on ST3 because running light rail to ISSAQUAH--expected to get 11,000 riders per day, or 70% of the riders that a single route (number 48) through the CD gets--before filling in the gaps in the rest of our system is just...galling. But I'll probably vote yes because it's not like voting no is going to end subarea equity. (See the seattlesubway.org yellow line for what a Denny/23rd Ave "Metro 8 Subway" would look like.)

OrwellianChild 11y ago
Now's your chance to get involved! As a soon-to-be Beacon/Mt. Baker resident, I'm right there with you on the south-end infill... Their final plan will be decided in June, so we have to speak up now!