Significant Metro Route Changes Starting Feb 5

Starting Saturday, Feb. 5, Metro will make routing and bus stop changes for approximately two dozen bus routes serving downtown Seattle to keep people moving during the long-term construction in downtown Seattle and the SODO area.

Click here for a map of new 3rd Ave stop locations.

Highlights of the February changes include:

• Routes shifting from First Avenue to Third Avenue are: 15, 18, 21, 22, 56, 57;
• Routes shifting from Third Avenue to Second/Fourth avenues: 111, 114, 143, 157, 161;
• Routes changing bus stop locations on Third Avenue: 16, 26, 28, 66;
• Route 99 will loop to travel north on First Avenue and south on Alaskan Way. To avoid confusion when northbound service switches to First Avenue, Metro plans to identify the route simply as Route 99 rather than the Waterfront Streetcar Line. Buses will no longer be “wrapped” to look like the old waterfront streetcars; and
• Other routing changes for routes: 37, 81, 85, 116, 118, and 119.

To maximize use of the bus stops on Third Avenue, Metro is expanding its alternating-stop system on that street. Bus routes skip every other stop, and some will be grouped differently at these stops than they have been in the past.

Other February revisions for Metro include an increase in bus service across the State Route 520 Bridge, a new bus route connecting Kenmore to First Hill, and returning buses to the rebuilt Kirkland Transit Center later in the month on Feb. 26.

Detailed information about the February service change will be posted on Metro Online at http://metro.kingcounty.gov/up/scvchange.html/.