Part of two executives on the day including an initiative to speed the creation of new shelter and housing projects launched Thursday, Wilson’s Denny Way executive order is taking on a Seattle transit issue that has decayed for years.
CHS reported last summer as advocates said they were renewing their push — Can they ever really fix the 8?, we asked. The Transit Riders Union Wilson founded and Central Seattle Greenways said yes despite King County Metro and SDOT’s failure across decades to arrive at solutions.
The 8 — connecting the Seattle Center, Lower Queen Anne, South Lake Union, the Central District, and beyond via Capitol Hill — is one of the most used bus routes in the city but the route consistently fails to meet Metro’s 80% on-time performance goal. During rush hour, its on-time rate dipped below 40%.
“The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is directed to design and install at
least one dedicated bus lane on Denny Way, with the goal of significantly improving the reliability, speed, and performance of Route 8 and other transit services operating in the corridor,” Wilson’s new order reads.
Wilson is also directing SDOT to work with Metro “to identify, evaluate, and implement additional transit‑supportive infrastructure along the Route 8 corridor and adjacent streets” including signal priority, queue jumps, stop consolidation, and “other proven tools to achieve meaningful and measurable improvements in transit travel time and reliability and to ensure operational feasibility, rider benefit, and coordinated delivery.”
Don’t expect a quick fix. The order makes the project a priority but the Wilson administration is calling on SDOT to conduct an outreach and public design process as part of the initiative.
The order puts SDOT on the hook for “a timeline, budget, and implementation plan” for the Denny lane and improvements by April 17th.
At that time, Wilson also said she wants SDOT’s recommendations for “additional corridors where transit‑priority investments can deliver high‑impact benefits for riders and the city as a whole.” There are probably a few around Capitol Hill and the Central District you can think of.
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