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Another Priority Bus Corridor is in the Works!

This week we’ll be celebrating Earth Day and it just so happens that last week SDOT kicked off work on the NW Market/45th Street Priority Bus Corridor, a project that takes the city one step closer to a sustainable transportation system.    Speedier, more reliable  transit service means more people can count on transit as a good option to  driving a car and that means less traffic congestion, fewer carbon emissions, and less air pollution.

The NW Market Street/N 45th Street Priority Bus Corridor project is one of several to get underway during the last few years.  Similar projects are in various phases in the Rainier Valley and in West Seattle.   The Market/45th project will provide a number of benefits designed to improve transit time and enhance the transportation experience on the Route 44 bus.  The project includes more than 20 individual locations stretching from NW Market Street and 28th Avenue NW in Ballard to NE 45th Street and Latona Avenue NE in Wallingford.

The first construction began at NW Market Street and 28th Avenue NW and at NW Market Street and 11th Avenue NW.  At NE 46th and Midvale, we’re adding a lane by re-configuring a landscaped triangle and also adding a right-turn lane on NW Market Street at 24th Avenue NW  (some parking spaces will be removed for this transit improvement). The project also  includes providing fiber connections to interconnect the 17 traffic signals along the route.  While this work is underway, SDOT crews will replace the signal controllers/cabinets at the 17 locations. 

Weather permitting, the project is expected to be completed in late summer 2012. The project is funded by the Bridging the Gap voter-approved transportation initiative and  a Washington State Department of Transportation Regional Mobility Group grant.