Metro routes 18 – seen here at a stop at First Avenue and Pine Street – and 15, which connect Ballard to Downtown Seattle, will be moving their downtown stops from First Avenue to Third Avenue in February.
Looming construction on the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project is forcing King County Metro to realign the Downtown Seattle sections of two Ballard bus routes.
Beginning in February, Metro routes 15 and 18 will no longer run along First Avenue in Downtown. Instead, both routes will be moved two blocks east to Third Avenue.
The routes had been considered for moves to Third Avenue in the past, but construction slated for early next year on the south end of the viaduct, which will create lane reductions and detours on First Avenue, is making the realignment necessary now, Doug Johnson, King County Department of Transportation planner, said at the Nov. 10 Ballard District Council meeting.
"We just didn't want these routes to be snarled in that type of construction," Johnson said.
He said the Department of Transportation is considering these changes permanent, meaning the routes 15 and 18 will stay on Third Avenue even after viaduct construction is completed.
Both routes have been on First Avenue for decades, so the change is going to be a big deal for some riders, Johnson said. But, he said he believes the majority of riders will find Third Avenue better and more convenient.
Johnson said Third Avenue boasts a number of advantages. It is more reliable than First Avenue, it has upgraded transit infrastructure, and it is a future RapidRide corridor, meaning the route 15, which is slated to become a RapidRide route in 2012, would be moving there eventually anyway, he said.
Metro Route 18 runs between North Beach/Loyal Heights and Downtown Seattle before turning into a West Seattle route. Metro Route 15 runs between Blue Ridge/Crown Hill and Downtown Seattle before turning into a West Seattle route.
