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Week of Mar. 26, 2007
Metro makes a few adjustments to its Mariners service lineup
Mariners First Baseman Richie Sexson (Courtesy Seattle Mariners). | Next week, Metro Transit kicks off another season of special service to deliver baseball fans to Seattle Mariners home games. And, there will be a little more power in this year’s lineup with a new shuttle to help regular bus riders deal with post-game congestion near Safeco Field. Once again, Metro and the Mariners are teaming up to offer a combination of regular bus routes and special shuttles to and from the stadium.The 2007 Seattle Mariners baseball season opens next Monday, April 2 with a 3:35 p.m. game start. For the season opener, Metro will have plenty of regularly scheduled service near Safeco Field both before and after game. There are more than two dozen routes that stop at, or near, the ballpark. Metro’s convenient online Trip Planner allows you to easily research which routes provide the best connection from your home or office to the ballpark. Beginning with post-game service on Tuesday, April 3, the Mariners and Metro will offer special service to 12 outlying park-and-ride lots for night and weekend games. The fare for special buses is $3 each way. This premium Park&Ride service operates after weeknight games and both before and after weekend games. It is not available for weekday games that begin before 5 p.m. It serves the following park-and-ride lots: Northgate; Northgate Transit Center; South Kirkland; South Bellevue; Eastgate; South Renton; Tukwila; Kent Transit Center; Kent-Des Moines; Star Lake; Federal Way Transit Center; and Federal Way/South 320th. The Bellevue/Eastgate shuttle also stops after games on North Mercer Way on Mercer Island, but passengers should be aware the Mercer Island Park-and-Ride is currently closed for construction. There is also a post-game bus that travels northbound from the stadium via the Alaska Way Viaduct to the heart of downtown Seattle, making stops at First Avenue and University Street and along Second Avenue at Pike, Seneca and Marion streets. The fare for the downtown express is $1.
The Moose riding Metro to Safeco. | New this year is a 1st Avenue shuttle that will help both fans and other bus passengers slide through the traffic near the stadium and make connections with regular routes that have been re-routed away from the game traffic. It will start 90 minutes after the first pitch.Normally for night and weekend games, First Avenue near the stadium is closed to traffic about 90 minutes after the first pitch is thrown to free up the roadways for fans leaving the game. Metro’s regular bus service is re-routed several blocks away, and it has meant long walks for fans and regular riders who simply want to hop on a bus to West Seattle, White Center, Burien, Ballard, Magnolia, or other points served by the First Avenue buses. The new shuttles will be allowed to travel on First even when the street is closed to other traffic. They will make a loop up and down First Avenue between Marion Street to the north and Spokane/Lander to the south, which will allow passengers to transfer to their regular route. Normal Metro fares apply on the shuttles. If bus service doesn’t fit your needs, use Metro’s “Event Match” to find a carpool partner who has tickets to the same game you do. The Rideshare program offers an alternative way to get to the next Mariners game, concert, festival, or any of a hundred special events going on in the Puget Sound area by sharing the ride. Registration is easy; simply visit the Rideshare Online Web page. Detailed information for all Mariners service is available on the Metro Online website. Or, call (206) 553-3000 (voice) or (206) 684-1739 (TTY)
Metro Transit Police recently welcomed two new members to the squad – Dep. Tim Morgan and his explosives-sniffing partner “Stevie.” Stevie is an 18-month-old Black Lab. He and Morgan graduated from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Training Center in Fort Royal, Virginia in December. They are assigned full-time to Metro Transit Police, thanks to federal grants including funding from Homeland Security. Their duties include bomb sweeps of Metro buses and facilities, with a special emphasis on the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel when it re-opens. Check out an online video to see Stevie in action.
It’s easier than ever to ride Route 644 Metro Route 644 is a partnership between the county and state to help commuters navigate through the construction traffic on Interstate 405 in the Totem Lake area. It was designed specifically to connect the Kenmore/Juanita area and the north I-405 express commuters to Overlake – one of the largest employment centers in the state. The partners have just made it even easier to ride Route 644 by posting an interactive map on Metro Online. The map offers a list of connection times for each transit center served by Route 644, along with other helpful information. |
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Upcoming meetings hosted by the King County Department of Transportation include: Tuesday, March 27 – King County Road Services Division will host a drop-in open house on Tuesday, March 27, from 7-9 p.m. at White Center Heights Elementary School, 10015 Sixth Ave. SW, Seattle. The purpose is to update the public on how the county and its partners plan to make Southwest 98th Street more inviting for pedestrians and bicycles between the White Center business district and the new Greenbridge housing area. Wednesday & Thursday, April 4-5 – Metro Transit is making plans to extend the electric trolley overhead wire in neighborhoods in the Rainier Valley and Beacon Hill to connect the bus system with stations on the Link light rail line now under construction. Before finalizing the design for the extension, Metro is looking for public comments about these plans, and will host two open houses. The meetings will be held: April 4, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Rainier Community Center, 4600 38th Avenue S., Seattle; and April 5, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the New Holly Gathering Hall, 7054 32nd Avenue S., Seattle. Thursday, April 5 – The King County Road Services Division will hold two separate public hearings to gather public comments about lowering the speed limits on sections of West Snoqualmie Valley Road Northeast (9 a.m.) west of Duvall and on four streets near Enumclaw (11 a.m.). Both meetings will be held in Room 2A of King Street Center, 201 South Jackson Street, Seattle. Written comments are also being accepted through March 30. | Subscribe to DOT DashSign-up to receive an e-mail text version of "Transportation Today," along with other significant DOT news by sending an e-mail to us with subscribe King County DOT Dash in the subject line.
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