Seattle keeps rolling out new and improved bus lane segments. Coming on the heels of new red “Elmo” paint for existing bus lanes on Westlake Avenue, 5th Avenue, and Pike Street, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will upgrade bus lanes on Olive Way. The bus-only lanes will be in effect 24 hours a day on Olive Way between 4th Avenue and 8th Avenue.
In facilitating the bus-only lanes, SDOT is making several changes to the existing configuration and restrictions on Olive Way. The existing bus lanes only have restrictions during the morning (6AM to 9AM) and afternoon (3PM to 7PM) peak hours. This will become a permanent all-day restriction with red paint markings. An existing commercial loading zone on Olive Way, located between 4th Avenue and 5th Avenue, will be moved. SDOT plans to do this in order to allow for better right turning movements off of Olive Way.
As a one-way northbound street, the Olive Way bus-only lane benefits outbound trips from Downtown Seattle heading for I-5. The location of the bus-only lane weaves from the center lane between 4th Ave and 5th Avenue to the furthest right curb lane on the remaining three blocks.
SDOT has indicated that the bus-only lane will benefit about 33,000 daily riders. A long list of bus routes use the corridor, topping 39 different local and commuter routes on weekdays. On Wednesday, Dongho Chang, the chief city engineer, tweeted a preview of the bus lane layout.
