Among transit cuts coming Saturday, 44 will lose stops

Guest — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 01:30:23 +0000

Guest (not verified) Wed, 09/26/2012 - 6:30pm

King County Metro is moving ahead with a plan to reduce the number of stops serving Ballard in order to make Route 44 faster and more efficient

Photo by Zachariah Bryan

As the BNT reported earlier, King County Metro was looking to reduce the number of stops along the 44 route, which goes between Ballard and University District, in order to make the bus faster and more efficient.

The original plan was to cut 5 stops each way, for a total of ten, which would have increased the average distance between each one from 900 feet to 1,050 feet.

However, two of those stops have been reinstated due to community concern and complaint, according to the King County Metro blog. The pair located at NW Market St and 5th/6th Ave NW is here to stay. Metro received comments from over 350 people, 70 percent of which concerned that pair, ultimately leading to the decision to keep them.

According to the blog, most of the comments were related to access for nearby elementary and daycare field trips and trips by students to and from Hamilton International Middle School. They also h eard from mobility impaired bus users who were concerned about getting to and from their intended destination due to lack of curb cuts to the east.

The other stops are still on the chopping block, though, and bus riders should not expect them come Saturday, Sept. 29. These stops include the following:

NW Market Street and 26th Ave NW
NW Market Street and 17th Ave NW
NW Market Street and 14th Ave NW
15thAve NE/NE Pacific Street