Shilshole Blog

One of the most remote outposts of Ballard, in terms of public transportation, may soon be much easier to reach thanks to a group of engaged neighbors. The Seaview Avenue Transit Coalition is a small but effective gang, comprised of business owners, employees, Shilshole Marina liveaboards, Sunset West condo and other Seaview Ave residents, determined to improve service to their area. Seaview Ave NW is currently served by Metro route 46, with a small number of runs a day, and only on weekdays. This means that Golden Gardens, a weekend and summer evening mecca, is completely unreachable by public transit. Also, elderly residents who can not drive anymore have a hard time making the trip to downtown Ballard and beyond, and the employees of the restaurants and businesses along Seaview have very limited options for going to work and returning home without a car. If you look at a map it is surprising to see how close Seaview actually is to the rest of the neighborhood, but due to the Sunset Hill cliff, the whole area has only two access points: from the South via Market St or NW 60th St, and from the north via Golden Gardens park. That’s a long walk, or a steep climb!

As some of you might recall, back in January 2007, Metro proposed adding a detour to some of the route 17 runs in order to add more service. At an Open House meeting, a large crowd showed up to voice their opinions, and Metro ended up scrapping the idea. Now, the Seaview Avenue Transit Coalition is proposing a much better idea: to add a loop toward Seaview to the end of the route 75 run. The final stop of the 75 is in Ballard already, so adding an extra leg would not inconvenience the current riders, and would incur very little cost.

The proposal is in a very early stage, and we will keep you updated on its progress. Meanwhile, don’t hesitate to let Metro know what you think about this idea!

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