In April 2025, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) painted the Phase 2 bus lane for its Rainier Ave S Bus Lane project. This lane conversion extended the northbound bus-only lane from S Walden Street to S Grand Street. While the bus lane is the project’s flagship feature, SDOT is also repairing the sidewalk in various locations and adding 2 new crossings. Signals and crosswalks were recently added on Rainier Ave at Grand St and College St. This project, as well as other projects along Rainier Ave, have been previously covered on the Blog.

Crews installing Bus Only lane striping on Rainier Ave S near S Walden St. (SDOT)
Project Area Map (SDOT)

The extended bus lane is a significant improvement for transit riders in Rainier Valley. Metro routes 4, 7, 8, 9, 48, and 106 use the bus lane for part their route. Starting in 2031, the RapidRide R Line will use the bus lane as well (replacing Route 7). SDOT predicts the extended bus lane will save bus riders up to 6 minutes per trip along this segment.

Looking ahead, SDOT should continue the bus lane further north. As noted by The Urbanist in 2022, the segment of Rainier Ave with the worst delays is between I-90 and S Jackson St. Ridership data for Route 7 show many riders from Rainier Valley stay on the bus until downtown, instead of transferring to Link. Ensuring a fast and reliable trip for transit riders is the best way to reduce the number of cars on the road.

Safety Improvements

This northbound bus lane replaced one of the two general purpose northbound traffic lanes. SDOT initially proposed two alternatives. Alternative 1 is shown to the right and Alternative 2 replaces the center turn lane with a second northbound travel lane. SDOT chose Alternative 1, citing survey feedback and safety concerns. Removing one northbound general purpose lane will reduce traffic speeds and improve safety for all road users.

Alternative 1
Center median on Rainier Ave between S Kenny St and S Spencer St

SDOT has also started to install several center lane median islands at several locations on Rainier Ave. These medians prevent drivers from using the center lane as a passing lane, while providing a new space for trees and other plants. Unfortunately, some drivers will continue to use the bus lane for passing and speeding. In November 2024, Metro started a 60-day pilot project to record bus lane violators. The agency has yet to share the results of this pilot. The City of Seattle has not installed any Transit Lane enforcement cameras on Rainier Ave.

The extended northbound bus-only lane and the new center medians on Rainier Ave are long overdue improvements for one of Seattle’s most dangerous streets. These changes alone will not prevent all crashes and traffic fatalities, but they are a good first step.

This is an open thread.

10 Replies to “Friday Roundtable: Rainier Ave S Bus Lanes”

  1. The article basically says exactly how I’m feeling. I am happy for these changes in Rainier Valley. Having lived there for ~5 years in the past, I’d take the 7 to downtown more often than not (closer stop to me) even with Link nearby (as the article suggests many others do). Getting better bus service will be a win.

    I am wondering how the car traffic will respond. It was a raceway at times and unless something has happened, probably still is (Rainier Ave is not alone in this obviously). Glad the medians are going in to help avoid the worst of it, I hope.

  2. Bus lanes are working great! Though enforcement will need to step up to keep folks honest. The lack of lane-switching has dramatically streamlined traffic flow for drivers as well. The additional traffic lights along Rainier just south of I-90 have also helped break up traffic flow and offered a place for pedestrians to cross near the bus stop next to all the new housing in the area.

    I think what remains to be seen is how the area handles all the extra foot traffic that will come with the new light rail station coming online in ’26. Safety in/around all the I-90 on/off-ramps with additional pedestrian pressure is an area of concern for me.

    Disclosure: I am a *car commuter* coming from Othello up and over I-90 to the eastside, so I can’t speak to bus headways…

  3. Another batch of articles is coming tomorrow. There will be articles every day for the next two weeks, and this weekend will have two articles per day (while you’re at home waiting for the Link maintenance to end). There will be a 3-part series on an SDOT/Metro issue, other articles about Sound Transit and Metro, and a trail article. After those, an article suggesting a Metro restructure is in editing.

  4. If you use the calendar feature to see this weekend’s 1 Line schedules, the pages show it operating normally.

    1. For those who don’t want to or can’t follow the social media link, it says the downtown Link replacement shuttles this weekend are arriving closer to every 10 minutes than every 20-60 minutes as was previously reported.

      Has anyone been at the stops today who can tell us their experience?

      1. I saw three northbound 1-line shuttle buses in a row, all crushloaded, while I was waiting for a bus to get through traffic to pick up northbound at the 4th Ave bus stop after the football match. I realized I should have waited at the stop on Jackson across from ID/CS, where buses were not stuck in wave after wave of pedestrian crossings.

        After I finally got on a 5, it stopped at its next stop, and announced it would be there for a while due to “mechanical’ issues. I then just walked from there, but saw a couple more 1-Line shuttles pass by, both packed, and letting a few riders off and on.

        Note that this was part of the post-game service surge, so not necessarily the all-day service plan.

        People wonder why the trains could only run 15-minute headway. Perhaps that is where ST got its shuttle drivers, who, after all, were bus operators before they were Link operators. But ST still heavily under-promised the service level.

      2. My friend in north Lynnwood told me today that when she rode Link replacement shuttles during earlier maintenance periods, they were packed and she couldn’t get on until the third one.

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