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What’s next for bus lanes on Rainier Ave S? Take our survey & learn more!

by on September 29, 2022
A recently constructed bus-only lane on Rainier Ave S. Photo credit: King County Metro staff

Please note: this blog post is available in additional languages via the links below, including Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, and Vietnamese.

Summary:

  • In collaboration with King County Metro, we recently installed bus lanes on Rainier Ave S northbound between S Alaska St and S Walden St, and southbound between S Oregon St and S Edmunds St in Rainier Valley.
  • We’re now evaluating two alternatives to extend the bus lanes. This extension would be on Rainier Ave S farther north between S Walden St and S Grand St.
  • Please take our survey by November 13. You can share your input on the two proposed alternatives, how you travel on Rainier Ave S, and how we can further improve your experience taking transit.    
  • We will be presenting the Phase 2 Rainier Ave S bus-only lane alternatives at a virtual public meeting on October 25. Meeting details will be posted on our website. We’ll post a recording to our project website after the meeting.

Earlier this summer, in partnership with King County Metro, we installed the first phase of new bus-only lanes along Rainier Ave S.

This includes northbound bus lanes from S Alaskan St to S Walden St, and southbound bus lanes from S Oregon St to S Edmonds St. We’ve been monitoring traffic and bus travel times since implementing this change.  We will continue to collect data over the coming months. So far, we’re noticing a travel time savings for buses.

Map of new bus lanes along Rainier Ave S, in two phases. The first phase was installed earlier this summer. The first phase is shown in an orange line, while the second phase is shown in a blue line.
Map of new bus lanes along Rainier Ave S, in two phases. The first phase was installed earlier this summer. Graphic: SDOT

We’re currently evaluating two options (“alternatives”) to extend the existing bus lanes on Rainier Ave S to the north, between S Grand St and S Walden St.

Once fully installed, we expect bus riders will save around 5 minutes while traveling in morning peak traffic.

We’re asking you to help us select a preferred option based on community feedback.

Please take our survey by November 13 to share your thoughts, how you currently travel on Rainier Ave S, and how you’d like us to improve your experience taking transit.

You can also attend a virtual public meeting on October 25 to learn more. Meeting details will be available on our website. We’ll record the meeting and post a link to our website.

Below is a brief summary of the two alternatives.

You can also find more details about the benefits and considerations for each alternative on our website.

Alternative 1

In this option we would turn one northbound lane into a bus lane from S Walden St to S Grand St.

S Grand St to S Walden St (looking north)

Graphic showing a section of Rainier Ave S with Alternative 1. Vehicles in several lanes are traveling in the northbound and southbound directions, with a center turn lane, and a northbound bus only lane. Trees and people walking are on the sides of the image.
Graphic showing a section of Rainier Ave S with Alternative 1. Graphic: SDOT.

Alternative 2

Like Alternative 1, in this option we would turn one northbound lane into a bus lane from S Walden St to S Grand St.

We would also remove the center turn lane between S Grand St and S College St and have two northbound travel lanes (approximately 5 blocks).

S Grand St to S College St (looking north)

Graphic showing a section of Rainier Ave S with Alternative 1. Vehicles in several lanes are traveling in the northbound and southbound directions, with a northbound bus only lane and no center turn lane. Trees and people walking are on the sides of the image.

S College St to S Walden St (looking north)

Graphic showing a section of Rainier Ave S with Alternative 1. Vehicles in several lanes are traveling in the northbound and southbound directions, with a center turn lane, and a northbound bus only lane. Trees and people walking are on the sides of the image.
Graphic showing two sections of Rainier Ave S with Alternative 2. Graphic: SDOT.

Next steps

We’ll share more information on what we heard and next steps for the Phase 2 project by the end of the year. Project design will continue into 2023, and construction could begin as soon as 2024.

To learn more

Thank you for your time and interest in this project!

Filed Under: Busses, Community Involvement, SDOT, Transit Tagged With: , , , ,