King County Councilmember Larry Phillips is asking Mayor Mike McGinn to convert the current bus-only lanes on 15th Ave West to HOV lanes. Our sister site, MagnoliaVoice, reports that Phillips wrote a letter to McGinn asking him to support the Magnolia Community Club (MCC) efforts to switch the lanes. He cites underutilization of the lanes by buses and heavy traffic in the area and says there are carpools full of students who attend Ballard High School who could use the lanes. You can read the entire article here.
Councilmember Phillips wants HOV lanes on 15th
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.
BUS ONLY lanes should remain that way.
You people who are lucky enough to be able to commute in your cars need to just suck it up. You might be sitting in traffice, but at least its in your car, and not on a smelly bus infested with the unwashed and obnoxious.
Bus commuters should be rewarded with a faster commute.
I drive my car to work and I'm against this idea.
Great, so you too can be stuck behind a spandex nim nut going down that lane blocking traffic.
Why open a bus lane to cars, especially for only a couple years?
No shyte. How can they even think this will solve any traffic problems? HOV lanes are not the end all be all solution. Many drivers just use them as passing lanes, anyway.
Once they get rapidride up and running on 15th, they'll need the dedicated lane again.
Just wait until they start charging you for the privilege of using this lane.
Mark my words, that's coming.
Larry Phillips is an idiot, just one of the many on the Council.
The Magnolia Community club should wake up as well. Those lanes need to remain as is, period.
In addition, I find the argument of 'underutilization' laughable, and the complaint of 'carpools of Ballard High students' even more rediculous. When do classes start? Is this to keep the tardy from being MORE tardy? lol
Focus on the real issues and challenges facing this city, Mr. Idiot.
Have you voted on Children's Hospital yet??? Big blow-hard idiot…
As opposed to being stuck behind a car?
Oh, and cut your staff in half, which remains at the same levels as before the council redistricting and reduction. Unbeleivable missuse of our money, idiot.
I think they already charge us for using the roads via some sort of “tax” system.
Especially hair-brained since the lanes ONLY EXIST IN THE RUSH-HOUR DIRECTION (toward downtown in the morning, toward Ballard in the evening).
It's just one of many ways reverse-commuters on Metro get screwed (see also: Inbound frequency drops at 5:30, making the 6:00 bus the most crowded, frequently-stopping, and slowest of the entire day; Lights on Elliott are synced for outbound drivers at the expense of inbound buses that turn at Mercer.)
Are these mythical Ballard High carpoolers taking classes overnight?
I don't think that HOV, bus lane, + bicycles traffic is a good idea. Bus traffic will block the HOV. HOV is typically becomes the Fast lane which is a bad mix with Bicycles.
I think we need to wait until the Rapid Bus system is in full swing before we make any mistakes like converting the traffic to allow HOV. I personally think that it should be Bus ONLY. The Bus is going to have to be Monorail substitute for Ballard.
If we were to ever have HOV on 15th it should be 3+ or 4 occupant required.
Exactly. I couldn't agree more.
Excellent point, BISILA.
I thought the biggest lame excuse for the deep-bore tunnel was the lack of freight mobility from Interbay. Instead of opening up the transit lane to personal vehicles, why not open it up to commercial trucks, and cancel the tunnel, since its only purposes are to encourage people to continue driving downtown and jobs for the sake of jobs.
While we are at it, can we make the transit lanes all day? Do personal vehicles really need a third lane during off-peak hours? Won't BRT require all-day use of the lanes.
Yes, they do.
The existing taxes for roads will not go away. But now they also want to charge you every time you USE a road. They'll cloak it in terms of “congestion relief” (their favorite current buzzword is “smart” traffic management). That means when things are busy, you'll have to pay to get in that lane. It will be sold initially as a HOV lane, then they'll add the provision that you can “buy your way in” to that lane even in a single occupancy vehicle. The wealthy don't have time to sit in traffic!
The worst part is that most of the revenue they derive from this scam is siphoned off by a private company, who the city contracts out to “manage” the program.
See previous examples of privatizing public resources e.g. SR 167 and it's “HOT” lanes, and the 2nd Tacoma Narrows bridge. m Coming soon to local roads.
actually, they are currently transit-only lanes all day, every day.
cars are only supposed to use these lanes for right turns, 24 x 7, and/or for parking during non-peak hours.
if you are a passenger car or motorcycle in these lanes, you are *always* supposed to make a right turn at the next intersection – always.
these lanes are never supposed to be used as a 3rd lane for through traffic other than bicycles and transit (not even motorcycles).
bingo. we're in seattle. laws? what laws?
not once, but when and if.
mr phillips doesn't recognize that there are other neighborhoods that are effected by this. his votes are obviously bought.
Correct, which is why it should be buses only: no cars, no bikes.
I thought Seattle's loony left loved jobs for jobs sake?
Opening this lane up is just a bad idea, leave it as is and leave the traffic engineering to the engineers.
How does a lane full of parked cars function as a “transit” lane, exactly?
Typical thinking from auto-holics. Any time a piece of pavement isn't completely congested, car addicted people want to take it over. Same reason we have HOT lanes now, single occupancy drivers just couldn't stand being stuck in traffic and staring at seemingly empty lanes. I wonder what type of lane caries more capacity, a free flowing lane full of buses or a congested lane full of cars?
“cars are only supposed to use these lanes for right turns, 24 x 7, and/or for parking during non-peak hours.”
sorry, let me reword it:
only buses and bikes in these lanes are not required to make a right turn at an intersection, 24 x 7 x 365.
the lanes can be used for parking any time except for peak hours (7-9 southbound, 4-6 northbound)
the lanes cannot be used as “through lanes” (at intersections) at any time by cars or motorcycles
since these lanes opened, changes have been made, including the extension of the “approch lane” length for the magnolia bridge.
as a cyclist and bus rider, I like it the way it is and don't want hov lanes
engineers? i beg to differ. as a general statement, check out the traffic in ballard and you might reconsider.
Grrrrrr! Fascism! Socialism! No health care! No jobs! Change my diaper!
BUZZZZZ!
Wrong! Read the signs. They are only special use lanes during rush hour.
I don't think so. Read this article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/bumpertob…
an excerpt:
“The right-turn-only signs at intersections apply at all times, says Bill Bryant of Seattle's Department of Transportation. The time-restriction signs, such as 7 a.m.-9 a.m., refer to the hours during which parking is not allowed, and buses and right-turning vehicles have exclusive use of the curb lane. But parking is allowed at other times.
Because of the right-turn requirement, however, traffic does not have a straight shot through the corridor in the curb lane, except for buses and bicyclists.”
And I suppose the time I saw a cop give someone a ticket at apx. 9:15 am for using the southbound lane as a through lane, and ignoring the right-turn only 24×7 requirement, was my imagination.
I'm sorry, but carpooling high school students don't take precedence over grown ups commuting.
I bike down 15th every day. I'm not a spandex-clad cyclist, just a normal dude trying to bike to work. I prefer this route. It minimizes the times I have to merge/cross traffic (once I survive The Bridge) and it's way faster than cutting over to the train yard path.
My experience is that maybe 1 bus comes up behind me. Usually it's a bus marked “Central Base” and it honks at me (that guy's a dick—in-service buses never honk). Most of the time I ride up onto the sidewalk to get out of the way. Traffic moves much faster than a bike, so it's really easy for buses to change lanes and pass. If you bike to work you should consider this option. That train yard path can be more treacherous than the road.
Traffic is traffic. This is akin to that silly idea that more roads will ease congestion. Heavy traffic on 15th is practically nonexistent most days.
Driving is expensive and causes many externalities (pollution, health concerns, congestion), tolling will force drivers (like myself) to pay the full cost that driving places on society.
The current gas tax isn't designed to take into account these externalities. If you don't like tolling (which allows you to make choices like driving at non-congested times without paying a fee) then we could always raise the gas tax instead to account for all of the costs cars impose…
Also, it has worked really well other places.
Nonsense.
You want to cover externalities? OK by me (but that's not what this is about). I'd be fine with a higher gas tax.
I am opposed to tolling city streets, and handing over the majority of the revenue to a private, for-profit corporation.
That's anti-democratic. It's sleazy. And it's stupid.
I'm glad you would be fine with a higher gas tax but RESIDENTS in the area like me
who don't use that road
who don't contribute to the congestion
who don't contribute to the extra pollution by slugging through during rush hour
SHOULD NOT have to pay a higher gas tax for externalities they aren't creating.
You are right its not about externalities like it should be which is why Phillips' idea is SO BAD. If it were buses/ biking would be promoted and would keep their lane as is.
Also congestion pricing (in the form of tolling) doesn't have to be contracted out… and AGAIN, it has worked very well in other places.
Bottom line, there are a large amount of people trying to get the same place at the same time and nothing you do will get rid of that, especially not opening up an HOV lane.
The best form of relief would be to get more people on the bus or biking which tolling would encourage.
i appreciate that fact that you bike to work. i personally walk. but since 15th doesn't have a designated bike lane, i have no sympathy for you when the bus driver honks. i would too. you become part of the problem. it's too bad that the train yard path is inconvenient for you. and yes i know, you're to share the road but come on, were moving traffic here. and yes i know there's probably only one person in every car. i get it. carbon footprint…..contact your councilperson on this one too.
Sheesh, Kim. I mean, easy does it. Last time I checked, “bicycles ok” means it's pretty much a bike lane. Your damn right share the lane. Good for you for walking. We could all be so lucky.
I'm just asking why all the griping about traffic? 15th Ave is a cakewalk in a car (or on a bike or walking). What am I missing? It's not a highway. It's a city road.
Why aren't the Ballard High School kids taking the bus instead of driving? Is encouranging them to drive by giving them the carpool lane really a good idea? The buses have to be faster than cars or no one uses them. No cars in the bus lanes or replace the buses with overhead or underground rail.