RIP L8: City completes $4M project to unclog Route 8’s path to Capitol Hill

(Image: Seattle Department of Transportation)

There is red paint in place to help speed up Route 8.

The final phase of the Denny Way Bus Reliability Project is now complete. Mayor Katie Wilson says the upgrades will create “irresistibly good bus service” on the route.

The second phase of transit improvements on Denny Way between 5th Ave and Stewart wrapped up over the weekend as crews installed red paint for the new eastbound Bus Only lane. Crews also installed a new westbound bus stop between Minor and Stewart and completed signal work to restrict the left turn from eastbound Denny Way onto Dexter Avenue N.

The work follows Seattle Department of Transportation changes around Denny Way earlier this month that redirected traffic with new markings and signs directing drivers headed to I-5 south from eastbound Denny to turn onto Boren instead of the previous route on Yale Ave.

These changes fulfill Wilson’s $4 million order to fix Route 8. Serving 7,000 daily riders, the route has long suffered from heavy gridlock, with rush-hour buses crawling as slow as 3 mph. The project began with queue jumps in Lower Queen Anne before expanding into nine new blocks of Business Access and Transit lanes from 5th Ave to Fairview Ave N, alongside pedestrian safety redesigns at Boren and Lenora.

Denny Way Bus Reliability Project

The 8 has been a drag for thousands of riders for decades with the lowest on-time performance of any line in Seattle. While King County Metro sets a target of 80% on-time performance, Route 8 has historically fallen far short.

The route is hoped to now travel closer to 10 mph, effectively halving travel time between Seattle Center and Capitol Hill Station from over 20 minutes down to around 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, September will bring increased service to the optimized route as Seattle Transit Measure funding will boost Metro by adding 50 weekly trips to Route 8.

Wilson and City Hall are also preparing to expand these transit-priority designs to other notorious bottlenecks. SDOT is evaluating nine additional corridors across the city for similar bus-lane upgrades, including Route 43 and 48 service along the east side of Capitol Hill.

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