Hearthstone resident says she is “madder than a wet hen” about proposed change to Route 16

What do you think? (3 Comments) November 20, 2011 at 8:10AM

Last month, King County Metro published a proposal for a September 2012 change to Greater Seattle’s transit system.

The proposed service change includes a new route, Route 63, which would replace Route 26. We took a close look at this possible new route here.

Metro is also proposing changes to Route 16, which connects downtown Seattle to the Northgate neighborhood via east Green Lake.

Under the proposed service change, trips would be added Route 16, and the north part of the route would be moved to N 92nd St and 1st Ave NE. Currently, the route travels via College Way N, Meridian Avenue N and NE Northgate Way between North Seattle Community College and the Northgate Transit Center.

Map, via Metro, of proposed changes to Route 16. Click to enlarge.

One Green Lake resident says that she is very unhappy with Metro’s proposal.

Route 16, she says, is heavily used by herself and her neighbors at The Hearthstone, a continuing care retirement community in east Green Lake (6720 E Green Lake Way N).

The resident, who asked that we not use her name, says that she has mobilized several other Hearthstone residents to communicate their concerns with Metro. She has also expressed her thoughts directly to Metro.

Here is the text of her written complaint:

I have completed the survey twice, once before I read the proposed changes to Route 16 and just now when I am madder than a wet hen. What are you thinking?

You are removing the vital part of the north portion of route 16. We need to get to doctors (Polyclinic, NW Hospital Annex) the college, the mall and soon BECU’s new service center.

People at the Hearthstone, University House and Green Lake Plaza are either old and/or impaired and we all use Route 16. Many of us walk with canes or even walkers. NSCC students have heavy backpacks. Again, what are you thinking?! Are you nuts?

You tried this a few years ago and came to your senses after the uproar — ask Jack Whisner, Metro planner, if he’s still around. We put petitions on his desk, signed by almost 200 residents at the Hearthstone, a retirement community at Green Lake.

Chances are we won’t get to the meeting at the Greenwood Sr Center tonight [Nov. 14] because we don’t get out at night and it is two buses away. Can you hear me now?

To provide your own feedback to Metro, use this online survey.

The Hearthstone is a My Green Lake advertiser.

Author: Amy Duncan

Topics: metro, northgate, the hearthstone

What do you think? (3 Comments)

Hik Bikski

Seems that Metro could save almost as much money reducing the number of stops the 26 makes along Latona (where I pick up the bus, so I’m not being selfish) and eliminating the weird loop on Dexter as eliminating the important service north of Northgate. Foolish to cut off service to health care facilities and North Seattle Community College.
Guest

I feel the pain of Hearthstone residents, but unfortunately the needs of some 200 of them are vastly outweighed by the needs of 1.5 million King County residents who need an improved, more efficient bus system.

The northern loop of the 16 is one of the factors that makes the 16 one of the most unreliable routes in the Metro system. Eliminating it, and adding trips, will go a long way towards making it easier and more frequent for Green Lake/Hearthstone residents to get to Northgate Transit Center, where they can transfer to another bus taking them to their destination within a few minutes. We simply cannot afford one-seat rides for everyone to get everywhere they need. That’s why I heartily commend Metro for re-designing their route system to emphasize local connections to main, frequent trunk routes.

(A small side note – how is the Greenwood Senior Center two buses away from Hearthstone? The 48 runs two blocks from Hearthstone, directly to the Senior Center. Metro’s own policies indicate that individuals who cannot make it two blocks under their own power should be using DART instead of regular Metro services.)