Lake City is a bustling Seattle neighborhood with growing transit options. Photo: SDOT Blog stats: 500 words | 3-minute read
Good news for Lake City! New transportation connections are coming your way next year. King County Metro will launch the new Route 77, giving North Seattle residents a more direct link to Sound Transit’s new Pinehurst Station (scheduled to open in 2026) and easier travel between neighborhoods in the area.
To get ready for this new service, we’ll begin construction on 30th Ave NE between NE 125th St and Lake City Way NE as soon as January 2026. This location was chosen because it provides an ideal connection between NE 125th St and Lake City Way NE, supports efficient bus travel times, and requires less paving work than other options.
This is just one in a series of projects taking place in northeast Seattle to improve access to the future Pinehurst Station. Here’s a map showing some of these projects in the area.
The 30th Ave NE Paving & Bus Improvements project was developed based on community outreach and project ideas identified in transportation planning studies for Sound Transit’s Pinehurst Station and Shoreline South/148th Station. Those studies identified key upgrades needed to make it safer and more convenient for people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike, and take transit to these light rail stations.
Because most passengers at the future Pinehurst Station are expected to arrive by bus, frequent and reliable transit connections are essential. In addition to supporting the future Route 77 bus, this project also lets us add a missing sidewalk on the east side of 30th Ave NE – right where a new bus stop will be located.
Project Benefits
We’re making a series of improvements to help people walk, bike, roll, and ride the bus:
- Repaving the street to fix poor pavement conditions and support bus movements
- A new sidewalk on the east side of 30th Ave NE, plus a planting strip with new street trees
- New westbound and southbound bus stops near 30th Ave NE and Lake City Way NE
- New ADA-accessible curb ramps
- Upgraded pedestrian crossings at NE 125th St and Lake City Way NE
- Improved drainage
Project Map
To support smooth bus operations, we’ll need to remove on-street parking on the west side of 30th Ave NE. On the east side, we’ll add a new loading zone and parallel parking, adjacent to the new sidewalk.
Map of the Route 77 bus, which will serve the new Pinehurst Station in 2026
Project Funding
This project is funded by the voter-approved Seattle Transit Measure. Thank you, Seattle! King County Metro is also contributing funding to the project.
Visit our project webpage for more information and to sign up for construction updates as we get closer to the start of construction in early 2026. Thanks for your interest.