When Capitol Hill Station opens next year, thousands of people will find some of their transit challenges solved — and some new ones opened up. How best to get to Capitol Hill Station to start your trip?
In an effort to discourage those people from driving to the station, Sound Transit and the Seattle Department of Transportation are collecting information for possible parking changes in the area surrounding the Broadway facility.
In August, Sound Transit sent out surveys to residents and businesses within a quarter mile radius of the station to ask about what parking changes, if any, should be made. Changes could include time-limit signs, loading zones, more paid parking, or expanding restricted parking zones.
“We want folks to take the bus, ride, or walk to the station,” said Sound Transit spokesperson Bruce Gray. “There are so many good options to getting to and from station without driving.”
Last month, King County Metro released the Executive’s Proposal for a restructure of bus service to be rolled out early next year to coincide with the opening of light rail stations on Broadway and at the University of Washington.
Eventually, the First Hill Streetcar will also be an option.
With parking occupancy frequently topping 100% in the area, Capitol Hill Station won’t provide nearly as many opportunities to park-and-ride as stations farther south on the line. When the Central Link came online, new residential parking zones were set up in a quarter mile radius around each station.
According to Gray, existing RPZs near the station are unlikely to change, and other parking changes should be relatively minor. After Sound Transit collects the feedback, it will be sent to SDOT where proposed changes will be drawn up later this year. Surveys were also sent out to businesses and residents near the University of Washington Station, which included a few blocks of the Montlake neighborhood.
New parking rates rolling out this year reflect how slammed parking already is on Capitol Hill. The “Capitol Hill North” zone, which covers north Broadway, will be the first parking area in the neighborhood to hit $4 an hour from 5 PM-8 PM as occupancy rates reached 100% this year. Meanwhile, morning parking along the corridor remains below the target occupancy range of 70%-85%. The morning rate will drop to $3 an hour.
(Image: SDOT)
there needs to be a drop off/pick-up zone for people going and coming from the airport with luggage to the airport with luggage
Yes! I had a friend ride the light rail from the airport up to Westlake, and I wanted to pick him up, but I couldn’t figure out where I could legally stop to pick him and his luggage up, so I had to tell him to take a cab from there.
on pine, right beside dragonfish, a block and a half from the transit tunnel entrance, there’s a load and unload zone.
plus, you just tell the person you are picking up to wait at the curb and you’ll stop to get them. taxis and uber do this all the time.
this shouldn’t be that difficult of a concept to tackle.
Well, as someone who doesn’t drive downtown often, this wasn’t obvious to me using google maps. I don’t see how it aids the discussion for you to be condescending.
Hey don’t listen to that guy about pulling over and blocking a lane. Cabs and Uber shouldn’t be doing it so it’s no excuse. It’s dangerous and hard on traffic. That loading zone sounds like a good idea even though it’s a small walk. You are right though. We need a loading zone right outside the station.
what’s to limit? There is no unused parking…
This would be more effective when paired with a frequent transit network. King County Metro has decided to not implement that. Capitol Hill residents should feel ripped off.
Agreed…the thing that will best encourage this is more frequent bus service. Including evenings. It doesn’t help to drop back to every 45 minutes or 1 hour in the evening.
METRO is still an amateur outfit compared to transit in some successful larger cities. In Vancouver BC if a bus gets bogged down in traffic (like can happen here in the afternoons with buses trying to move through downtown then out to city neighborhoods) they route an empty bus to a point on the route just out of the traffic situation that can move to keep service more on schedule.
uhhh, what part about the coming restructure did you miss? oh and prop 1 added more evening service in caphill.
The 49 is going to “every 10 minutes.”
Clearly we need plenty of racks for people to lock their bikes and little red wagons to.
I agree, something like this could be a lot of use.
http://bikehub.com/bartbikestation/
I live on Bellevue and frequently see downtown workers park in the neighborhood and walk to work downtown.
I’d LOVE to see parking restrictions here.
I never got a survey…how can I get one?
yeah, i too never saw this survey. when was it sent and what did it look like?
I’m also on Bellevue and haven’t received a survey. Would love RPZ in the neighborhood. Here’s a link to the ST survey:
http://www.soundtransit.org/neighborhoodparkingplan
Edit: Sorry, it looks like the survey is closed. There is an email address on the page that may be useful, though.
The war on cars continues. Sane people will not walk or bike in the rainy dark, and the bus service in this city continues to deteriorate. Last week I watched someone shoot up on the #2. Everyone is going to stay home, all the time. It’s already happening.
we hope you stay home the most
I realize this post is late and this article is kind of old but I feel like the issues are alive.
I have to agree with Jack here. I ride transit nearly everyday from the hill (near Bellevue & Lakeview) to downtown for work and I hate it. I often feel unsafe. If the City wants less people to drive and more people to utilize the public transit system, they need to crack down on crime so there’s less drug use and vagrants peddling and displaying angry outbursts at stops and on the buses. I don’t meant to be hard on those less fortunate or stuck in a bad way, but if you have the option of taking transit while sitting next to someone that smells, seems unstable or otherwise causes you to feel uncomfortable or driving, why wouldn’t you drive? I certainly drive everywhere other than my work commute for that very reason. Make Seattle streets safe and therefore transit safe.
Also bus frequency would need to increase for public transit to be successful. Not everyone can spare 30-45 minutes to wait for a bus, unless you don’t have a job and live on public assistance. Is that what the City wants us all to do? I don’t think so but it sure seems like that sometimes.