Downtown Seattle bus route changes on Monday

By Brian Doennebrink

In an effort to help speed evening rush hour trips for routes heading north from downtown, these route and stop changes will start Monday, November 5:

• For Metro Transit, routes 301 (to Shoreline), 306 (Lake Forest Park, Kenmore), 308 (Lake Forest Park), and 312 (Lake Forest Park, Kenmore) will shift from Olive Way to Pike Street

• For Sound Transit, route 522 to Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, and beyond will now turn right onto Pike Street from Fourth Avenue and use the Pike Street entrance to the I-5 express lanes in the afternoon. Its last stop downtown will be on Pike Street just west of Sixth Avenue.

• To help keep Fourth Avenue moving, the change requires closing the bus stop at Fourth Avenue and Union Street. All buses that currently serve that zone will now stop on Fourth Avenue just north of Pike Street adjacent to Westlake Park. These northbound Sound Transit Express routes will now use the stop at Westlake - 510 and 511 to Everett (via Shoreline off-peak), 512 to Everett via Shoreline (presently only runs on Sundays), 513 to Everett via Mountlake Terrace. Northbound Community Transit routes 405 to Edmonds Park / Ride and the 416 to Shoreline and Edmonds are among the routes that are impacted.