Local and federal officials cut the ribbon last week but you’ll have a few more days to wait for your first ride on the RapidRide G line.
Thursday’s ceremony featuring Federal Transit Administration Administrator Veronica Vanterpool and local officials in the First African Methodist Episcopal Church’s one-acre surface parking lot along E Madison was a photo op.
September 14th brings the real action as Metro buses roll out on the new $139 million route for the first time. The new five-door, 60-foot-long buses can load from both curbside and center island stations on the route. Continue reading →
It won’t open until September 14th but they are cutting the ribbon on the RapidRide G line today.
The city announced the Thursday ceremony Wednesday.
The rushed ceremony after three years of construction on the $139 million Seattle transit project comes as federal officials are also in the area for another celebration of Washington D.C.-boosted transportation spending — Friday’s opening of Sound Transit’s$3.1 billion light rail extension to Lynnwood. Continue reading →
RapidRide stops are “not yet operational,” the city reminds
The Seattle Department of Transportation says construction on the $139 million RapidRide G bus line on Madison remains on schedule for a planned September opening that will also bring major changes in service to mahy nearby bus routes and stops.
Meanwhile, King County Metro is hoping to clear up confusion for neighborhood riders stuck in the transition.
“Construction progress in July has been vital to the project as it moves toward completion in the fall, when service begins on Saturday, September 14. While heavy construction wrapped up earlier in the summer, July saw our crews complete countless details, repairs, upgrades, and finishing touches that tie the revamped Madison St. corridor together with some final details to wrap up this fall,” SDOT said in its latest construction update. “Our crews have been filling in gaps in new roadway painting and markings, adding features to bus shelters, repairing damaged sidewalks and removing debris and equipment that is old and leftover from prior eras.” Continue reading →
After a decade of planning including three years of construction, it is only in recent weeks that many elements of the $135 million RapidRide G bus rapid transit project connecting downtown, First Hill, Capitol Hill, and Madison Valley are finally visible.
The Seattle Department of Transportation is finally laying down the paint.
To cut on costs and save money while also making massive infrastructure and water main upgrades along the route of the soon-to-be completed project, the city is using painted features rather than concrete along the coming soon bus line.
“Many features along this route, such as curb bulbs, are being executed with paint instead of solid, concrete-poured structures primarily due to cost considerations,” an SDOT spokesperson said. “Utilizing paint allows us to implement traffic calming and pedestrian safety measures more affordably, while still achieving the desired improvements.”
The department says not all of the coming RapidRide G paint is a cost saving measure. Some of the paint was in the plans from the beginning like markings to help ensure drivers don’t park near crosswalks. Continue reading →
Metro’s plan is to keep the electrified trolleys of Route 12 and 10 rolling once RapidRide G comes along (Image: CHS)
With construction of the new line now at “50%,” officials are collecting feedback on proposals to alter existing bus routes that will connect with the Madison RapidRide G line when it begins service in 2024.
The new “Madison Street Area” network would alter Routes 10, 11, 12, and 47 in the Capitol Hill, Central District, First Hill, and Madison Valley neighborhoods to “improve public transportation connections and transfers,” reduce duplication with the new RapidRide G line, and “address service that was suspended since COVID began in 2020,” Metro says.
The new configurations could also fit better with the streetscape overhaul currently underway that will make Pike and Pine one-way between downtown and Bellevue Ave.
Metro’s plan is to roll the proposals out now and collect survey feedback through May before possibly revised revisions go out later in the year and are finalized in time for RapidRide G’s start of service in 2024.
Metro is promising “a final proposed bus route network that reflects community input from this survey, conversations with community members, and equity analyses” by fall 2023.Continue reading →
The city says E Madison will be closed to vehicle traffic through March 20th as the latest RapidRide G line project’s construction phase moves through the area.
Starting at 6 a.m. on Monday, March 6, we will fully close E Madison St between 12th Ave and 14th Ave. The road will reopen by 6 a.m. on Monday, March 20. There will be a signed detour for people driving and buses will be rerouted. The closure is necessary as we work on replacing a 120-year-old watermain. Continue reading →
After just over a year of work, construction is still less than 50% complete on the Madison bus rapid transit line. This week’s noisy night time work apparently pushed a few people over the edge.
In an altercation caught on video Friday night, an agitated man can be seen yelling and throwing traffic cones at a crew working on the RapidRide G route near 12th and Madison outside the Pony bar in a late night confrontation the Seattle Department of Transportation says ended peacefully.
“An intoxicated person entered the construction site and attempted to start an argument with the workers,” a department representative tells CHS about the 11:30 PM incident.
The City of Seattle says changes to its plans to build the 2.3-mile, 10-station Madison Bus Rapid Transit route have passed a key assessment and the project is now in line for tens of millions in federal funding.
The Federal Transit Authority is now moving the planned RapidRide G project forward in its Small Starts Grant program after a previous federal assessment found the Seattle plan lacked adequate contingencies for budget and schedule.
The revised RapidRide G plan could cost as much as $133 million to complete and won’t begin service until 2024 thanks to a now longer 36-month-long construction plan, Seattle Department of Transportation officials said Wednesday.
“I am thrilled that the critical Madison Bus Rapid Transit project is moving past this critical milestone. While Seattle builds the best transit and transportation infrastructure in the country, support from our federal partners has become even more critical,” Mayor Jenny Durkan said in an announcement on the $60 million federal grant process. “As we deal with the effects of COVID-19, it is more important than ever to invest in a transportation system that gets our frontline workers, historically underserved communities and communities of color where they need to go quickly and reliably.” Continue reading →
The King County Council’s Mobility and Environment Committee is expected to vote Tuesday afternoon on final approval for the alignment of RapidRide G on Madison connecting downtown to Madison Valley through First Hill and Capitol Hill.
The vote will make official the county’s RapidRide program for the planned “bus rapid transit” project expected to begin construction in mid to late 2020 and create a new east-west Metro route along Madison between 1st Ave and Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
CHS reported on the project this summer as it moved into the “90%” design phase and decisions were being finalized on features and changes along the $120 million, 2.3 mile, 10-station route including what planners hope are improved crossings for pedestrians and the major decision to focus on a new diesel-hybrid bus fleet for the line.
Pending approval of federal funding that will cover about half of the costs, the start of construction is slated to start next year with service starting late in 2022.
You will have to wait a few more years for that RapidRide G bus. Service now isn’t expected to begin on the bus-focused transformation of the Madison corridor until 2021.
Planners presented the latest update on the project to create Metro’s RapidRide G Tuesday night at the January meeting of the First Hill Improvement Association. The full presentation from Seattle Department of Transportation planners is below. Continue reading →
Local and federal officials cut the ribbon last week but you’ll have a few more days to wait for your first ride on the RapidRide G line.
