Faster Since The Bus Tunnel Closed

This almost got past us, but really there is no way to escape the steel jaws of Seattlest's newsreader. The Seattle Times mentioned earlier this week that north-south travel times through downtown have actually improved since the bus tunnel was closed.

Bumper note

When the downtown Seattle bus tunnel shut down last year, many predicted gridlock on city streets. But a new report from Metro says downtown traffic times are actually improving.

It found the average time on Second Avenue through downtown Seattle has improved by one minute in the morning peak and two minutes in the evening peak. Third Avenue times improved by a minute in the northbound direction and slowed by a minute southbound compared with a report released earlier this year. Travel times also decreased on Fourth Avenue South.

Evergreen Politics thinks that this is evidence in favor of the People's Waterfront Coalition and their surface boulevards Viaduct replacement plan. Take away the bus tunnel and traffic improves. Take away the Viaduct and things really start cooking. We're not sure it exactly follows like that, but we are kind of at a loss to explain how traffic could be moving better through downtown despite the loss of the bus tunnel. The Times also mentions that bus ridership is up since the tunnel closed and that might be a clue. We have to admit that we avoided the bus tunnel for a long time simply because it was out of sight. It's hard to ignore the Metro traffic that currently barrels down 3rd, though. Maybe since 3rd Ave is more or less closed to traffic that's not affiliated with Metro it's reducing east/west trips, which really mess things up downtown, particularly around the ferry.

About that Metro traffic barreling down 3rd: We have to wait at an intersection on the west side of the street to cross over to our bus stop on the east side of 3rd and every day we fear for our lives at that intersection. With good reason, we found out today. Buses come down 3rd at 30-40mph only inches from the curb. A trip, a nudge, a split second mistake and those things will take your head off, which sounds exactly like what happened this morning. Those corners get crowded and the buses are moving too fast too close to the curb. It's amazing it's taken this long for someone to get hit. At least paint some yellow areas on the curb, for fuck's sake. "Stay the fuck back. Buses hauling ass."