Metro and Sound Transit are considering big changes to transit service from the Eastside to Downtown Seattle via the 520 Bridge — changes that will make riding the bus less convenient and more time-consuming.

Specifically, they are proposing to eliminate direct service to downtown Seattle across the 520 bridge and send those buses to the UW instead. People who want to head downtown will need to transfer to light rail at Husky Stadium.

Trips to and from downtown will take 10-20 minutes longer than today. That’s because of the extra traffic lights, congestion on Montlake Blvd and NE Pacific Street, the need to walk across streets, and the time to descend three sets of escalators. It is particularly bad evenings and weekends when the buses back home only run every 30 minutes or less often. Montlake Bridge openings and stadium events will have a big impact, too.

If you ride the bus across the 520 bridge, make your concerns known. The project website is at http://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/programs-projects/link-connections/sr-520.aspx Letters to Claudia Balducci, Claudia.Balducci@kingcounty.gov, may also be useful.

Carl Stork

Yarrow Point