numbers game: one problem, 49 solutions (or, optimism)

By josh
January 26th, 2007 @ 4:27 PM Uncategorized

While we’ve all been worrying about what happens when the viaduct goes down, King County Executive Ron Sims has been talking to Metro and finding a sunny outlook for traffic amelioration. This, from his editorial into day’s Seattle Times:

I asked my Metro planners to tell me whether there were “a thousand different ways” we could use transit to reduce traffic on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The answer was astounding. It wasn’t a thousand ways, or even one hundred. It was 49. Forty-nine traffic management ideas and street improvements that, when combined with expanded service options and the arrival of Link light rail, can remove about 30 percent of all trips on the viaduct. Forty-nine things can remove up to 35,000 car trips from the viaduct! [times]

This is all well and good — and refreshingly optimistic in these gloom and doom times — but does anyone else find it odd that they chose 49 as their number? I ask only because, despite its semi-recent revamping for maximum efficiency, Metro’s 49 route feels like the most chronically late and regularly slow bus in the entire system.

The list [pdf] of suggestions are included as text after the jump.

(via friends of seattle [#])

  1. Remove on-street parking on 1st Ave N between Denny Way and Mercer St to create all day transit contra flow lane in the southbound direction
  2. Add trolley wire and switches at Thomas and 1st Ave N
  3. Add trolley wire and/or replace trolley poles along 1st Ave N
  4. Improve Mercer St roadway pavement and traffic control along the corridor between Elliot Ave and 1st Ave N
  5. Improve turn radius at Mercer St and 1st Ave N
  6. Relocate on-street layover in Belltown area to off-site layover
  7. Modify traffic signal at Denny Way and 1st Ave N to add transit phase
  8. Create all day transit lane on 1st Ave between Broad St and Denny Way; remove on-street parking to make room for transit lane
  9. Designate 3rd Ave as a transit street from Virginia St to Prefontaine from 6 am to 7 pm except for emergency vehicles and residents and businesses with special permits
  10. Create all day BAT lanes on 3rd Ave between Broad St and Virginia St, construct bus bulbs for in-lane stops
  11. Create all day BAT lane on Broad St between 1st and 3rd Avenues
  12. Add all day transit lane on Elliot Ave in both directions from Ballard Bridge to Mercer St
  13. Add transit treatment at Elliot Ave and Mercer St intersection
  14. Install variable message signs to reflect traffic conditions along Elliot Ave to allow motorist to find alternate route before entering Ballard Bridge
  15. Add all day transit lane along Aurora Ave N in the southbound direction from Aurora Bridge to Denny Way
  16. Add all day transit lane along Aurora Ave N in the northbound direction from Denny Way to Mercer St/Valley St
  17. Provide transit bypass lane at Denny Way and Aurora Ave N intersection
  18. Provide variable message signs to reflect traffic conditions along Aurora Ave to allow motorist to find alternate route during congestion period
  19. Create an island nearside bus stop at Battery and 6th Ave N or an alternative bus stop in the vicinity
  20. Make Virginia Street two way or provide transit contra flow lane from 8th Ave to at 2nd Ave; remove on-street parking on the north side
  21. Modify traffic signals along Virginia St
  22. Create transit lane on Eastlake/Fairview/Virginia
  23. Create transit bypass lane at Fairview and Denny Way intersection
  24. Improve Boren/Fairview/Virginia intersection
  25. Add bus stops on Virginia Street for inbound trips
  26. Add trolley overhead wire from Boren Ave to 3rd Ave for new contra flow lane westbound. New switches at intersections of Boren/Virginia and 3rd/Virginia
  27. Relocate on-street layover to off-site layover
  28. Provide transit lane on Stewart from I-5 to 2nd Avenue with signal queue jump
  29. Provide two all day transit lanes on 2nd and 4th Avenues between Stewart St and Jackson St
  30. Provide transit lane on Howell St between 9th Ave and Eastlake Ave
  31. Improve I-5 SB on-ramp at Yale Ave to prevent vehicle back-up to surface streets
  32. Create in-lane stops along Jackson St corridor by constructing bus bulbs
  33. Relocate on-street layover on Stewart St to off-site layover around Denny/Fairview/Eastlake area
  34. Add transit priority treatments along Jackson St corridor
  35. Retain 5th Avenue contra flow lane from Jackson St to Washington St
  36. Improve Dearborn Avenue/Airport Way intersection
  37. Improve 5th/Jackson intersection, add NB LT
  38. Provide priority treatments on Royal Brougham between 4th Ave S and E-3 Busway to facilitate transit movements between 4th Ave to the Transit Tunnel, and between E-3 and 4th Avenue.
  39. Add transit priority treatment at 1st Ave S/Atlantic St to prioritize WB LT for transit
  40. (A) In the absence of new grade separated railroad crossing at Lander or Spokane St, provide all day BAT lanes on 1st Ave S between Spokane and Atlantic St in both directions, all day BAT lanes on Atlantic St between 1st and 4th Avenues with transit priority treatments at 1st & Spokane, 1st & Atlantic, Atlantic SPUI

    (B) If a new 4th Ave loop ramp with transit lane is constructed from Spokane, all day BAT lane is needed on 1st Avenue southbound from Atlantic to Spokane St. Priority treatment on Atlantic St and at the intersections of 1st/Spokane, 1st/Atlantic, & Atlantic SPUI will be the same as for 40A but only in the outbound direction.
  41. Improve West Seattle Bridge transit lane by eliminating weaving section prior to the 1st Ave S ramp.
  42. Designate West Seattle Bridge transit lane to operate 6 am to 7 pm
  43. Extend transit contra flow lane on 5th Avenue from Washington Ave to Terrace
  44. Designate Washington St as a transit only lane from 2nd Avenue to 5th Avenue during the peak period
  45. Modify signal phasing to accommodate transit movements
  46. Provide transit priority treatment at Seneca and I-5 off ramp
  47. ALL Install bus monitoring system at the main entry point
  48. ALL Provide transit lane treatment on the pavement along all day transit corridor to discourage non-transit users
  49. ALL Improve and prioritize transit movements to and from bases and along Airport WayBlueprint

Comments are closed.


Terms of use | Privacy Policy | Content: Creative Commons | Site and Design © 2009 | Metroblogging ® and Metblogs ® are registered trademarks of Bode Media, Inc.