The southbound curb lane of Aurora Avenue North has been converted into a bus and right-turn-only lane, also known as a “BAT” lane (Business Access and Transit). According to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), the lane will start south of the Dexter Avenue off-ramp and continue south to Mercer Street. Crews worked on striping over the weekend, and the lane is now in service.
SDOT says King County Metro Transit will be starting RapidRide E Line service on Aurora Avenue North in 2013, but asked the City to install the lane earlier to keep buses moving during several ongoing construction projects. The Aurora corridor serves around 30,000 passengers everyday, and SDOT says using the southbound BAT lane will allow Metro to, “establish the travel pattern for both current and future service on Aurora, instead of changing it repeatedly to work around construction projects.”
Concerned about impact at Denny Way off-ramp. Will all car traffic be narrowed to the lefthand lane, or will cars exiting to Wall be allowed to use the buslane there?
Have commuted by car southbound on Aurora for over a week now with just 2 car lanes. Traffic is all but stopped now, with cars crawling along. It's yet another punishment from McGinn for the car driver, clearly designed to make those speedy buses look oh-so-attractive to commuters. It doesn't. And if it's an attempt to get Seattle greener, it's backfiring (pun intended) as more and more emissions spew into the air from cars forced to linger longer on Aurora. My 7-minute commute from Wallingford is now 15 minutes, and it's backed up from Denny to the zoo. Unhappy voters have lots of time to ponder in this election season, as we sit in stalled traffic, our idling cars polluting as never before, eager for those dotted lines that appear south of the bridge, allowing cars into the bus lane before they gratefully get off onto side streets. (Side note here: buses are going the 40 mph speed limit; cars are pulling out in front of them from a dead stop. How long before that first fatal crash?)
To Seattle City Council: Turn all Seattle “bus only” lanes into carpool lanes. Sign the petition.
Please join this campaign: http://www.change.org/petition…
More bus and bike lanes. Two-term mayor.
Who are the people that make these decisions, this a horrible IDEA. Wasted gas and increase pollution for my neighborhood. Thanks SDOT; you are idiots.