King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit are relaunching an interagency effort to improve connections between Link and buses primarily serving the Eastside. The agencies originally proposed cross-lake bus restructure concepts in 2015 as part of the Link Connections program, but the concepts were dropped in the final set of proposals. SR-520 routes that are on the list for review under Link Connections 2.0 include:
- Route 252: A peak-direction weekday-only express from Kingsgate Park-and-Ride in Kirkland to Downtown Seattle;
- Route 255: An all-day route from Brickyard Park-and-Ride in Kirkland to Downtown Seattle via Juanita and Downtown Kirkland;
- Route 257: A peak-direction weekday-only route from Brickyard Park-and-Ride in Kirkland to Downtown Seattle;
- Route 268: A peak-direction weekday-only express route from Bear Creek Park-and-Ride in Redmond to Downtown Seattle;
- Route 277: A peak-direction weekday-only express route from Juanita to the University District;
- Route 311: A peak-direction weekday-only express route from Woodinville to Downtown Seattle;
- Route 540: A peak-hour weekday-only express route from the University District to Downtown Kirkland;
- Route 541: A peak-hour weekday-only express route from the University District to Overlake Transit Center;
- Route 542: An all-day weekday-only express route from Greenlake to Downtown Redmond via the University District;
- Route 545: An all-day express route from Bear Creek Park-and-Ride in Redmond to Downtown Seattle;
- Route 555: A peak-hour weekday-only express route from from the Issaquah Highlands to Northgate via Issaquah and Downtown Bellevue; and
- Route 556: A peak-hour weekday-only express route from from the Issaquah Highlands to Northgate via Issaquah, Downtown Bellevue, and the University District.
How these routes may integrate with Link is yet to be determined. It’s possible that many or all of these routes could be truncated at University of Washington Station, deleting their tails in other parts of Seattle. Other route adjustments are possible, too.
The agencies plan to assemble a 15- to 20-member sounding board to garner fine grained feedback on differing concepts to improve connections to light rail. Applications for the sounding board are open through April 2nd and potential members should understand that the group will meet regularly (eight to 10 times) through the end of this year. An online forum has also been launched and is open to public comment from the public through April 2nd.
The first set of bus restructure concepts are anticipated to be released in May or June with final proposals set for dissemination in the autumn timeframe.
Alternative 1 – Eastside – Link Connections by The Urbanist on Scribd
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Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.