Howell Street Changes

This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.

Metro and SDOT have yet another joint project to speed bus flow through the CBD:

Metro and SDOT will begin a project in May to make the following changes along Howell Street between Ninth Avenue and Eastlake Avenue at Stewart Street:

• Convert Howell to four eastbound lanes, with one lane reserved for transit only during the evening commute period from 3-7 p.m.;

• Convert Eastlake Avenue to a one-way northbound corridor between Yale Avenue and Stewart Street;

• Eliminate westbound lanes; and

• Create approximately 40 new paid parking spaces along the corridor.

Good stuff.  Small projects to make bus service more efficient and reliable are big wins in this cash-strapped era.

If I wanted to make it all about me, I would say that this is a minor bummer because I liked to use that rarely-used stretch of Eastlake between Denny and Howell when driving between Eastlake and points South, but considering that I was often the only one doing that, this is certainly a better use of the right-of-way.  And, of course, any time we’re moving street ROW from cars to buses it’s a big win for urban mobility.