Fixing Stride 3

Sound Transit is in the early stages of building Stride 3, a new bus rapid transit service. It will run along SR-522 and Northeast 145th Street between Bothell and Shoreline South/148th Station. Additional right-of-way will be added along parts of the corridor to allow the buses to avoid congestion. One of the more controversial areas for such work is in Lake Forest Park. There has been both local opposition as well as high cost overruns in the area. This is a proposal for a solution.

Lake Forest Park Issues

One of the goals for Stride 3 is to provide bus lanes both directions along SR-522. At the same time, the various cities want to retain two general purpose lanes heading both directions. This means at least six lanes. While they plan on eliminating many of the center-turn lanes, they will still retain quite a few (e. g. northbound Bothell Way to 35th Avenue NE). Therefore, for much of the route they require seven lanes. In most of the street it is only wide enough for six lanes.

Thus Sound Transit plans on making the street wider. In some cases this won't cost much at all. But it gets challenging as you go north. If you want to widen the street between 153rd and 155th you need a new bridge over Bsche'tla Creek. This involves a deep ravine and is thus expensive. Other work north of the creek would require taking some property and rebuilding a lot of the retaining walls. This has led to local opposition. This too adds to the cost, as it is likely residents will fight this in court. This relatively simple project already has a fairly high price tag ($581.5 million). This is in addition to the bus barn. The combination of local opposition and environmentally sensitive land could lead to much higher costs.

The Solution

Opponents of this work propose simply running the buses in traffic. Transit proponents have proposed taking a general purpose lane (which would mean one general purpose lane north or southbound). I suggest we do something simpler and less disruptive: Get rid of the turn lanes in various places.

This would not be the only place on SR-522 without designated turn lanes. If you exit I-5 onto Lake City Way the first intersection you encounter is at 80th & Lake City Way. This is the first place on the highway were a driver can turn left. It may be difficult to see, but there is a left turn arrow (below the green light) for drivers in that left lane. But it is not a dedicated lane. This means drivers in that left lane can turn left or go straight. As a result, someone in that left lane routinely delays riders trying to go straight. The same thing is true for the next intersection at Lake City Way & 15th. Yet drivers manage. It is worth noting that this is a fairly congested area since additional traffic coming from 12th and 15th merge onto Lake City Way before those intersections. There isn't nearly as much traffic entering the highway along the problematic section of Bothell Way.

This doesn't mean there wouldn't be turn lanes along the corridor. In some places it will be relatively easy to add them. South of 153rd, the plan largely involves taking parking spaces on the east side of the road. This is relatively cheap and easy. Likewise, as you get close to Ballinger Way the road is wider and there is plenty of room to add BAT lanes on both sides.

There are other options as well. For example right now you can turn left from southbound Bothell Way to eastbound 153rd. While it would not be as direct, drivers could turn left at 147th and access the same area. Similarly I could see them getting rid of the left turn from southbound Bothell Way to eastbound 165th. The same is true for the left turn to 41st. Drivers could access that area by turning at 45th instead. By eliminating the center lane north of 165th you have six lanes to work with which means you don't need to widen the road at all.

Through a combination of shared left turn lanes and simply eliminating left turns, this project could be completed at far less cost and without the local opposition that could further delay it.