Organizers are queuing up the next big push to Fix The L8

We need to continue to push the city and county to Fix the L8 — and we need you to do that. Three ways you can help:

• Read up on the status of the Route 8 in our new Op-Ed from Jason Li and Sam Luikens at The Urbanist!
• Sign our NEW action letter and check the option to stay in the loop! There’s been some turnover on King County Council, at SDOT, and on Seattle City Council, so this new action letter ensures that these newer leaders know we need them to step up to Fix the L8 and reminds the rest that we expect them to act. We will be sending out email updates to those who decide to opt into them in the Action Letter, so be sure to check that box if you want to stay engaged!
• Keep checking back here for opportunities to take other actions like reaching out directly to L8 riders and other in-person and online events or join our campaign to push for quicker fixes!

Last summer, Fix The L8 supporters sent over 1,000 letters to each Seattle city councilmember (Seattle owns the roads) and County councilmember (King County runs the buses/Metro) as well as directly to SDOT.

As a result of that campaign, SDOT agreed to fund some spot improvements along the route. These are typically relatively cheap/small (reconfigure a signal, rechannel an intersection, add a small bus lane, etc).

As a first step, a traffic analysis of the whole bus route at all times of day was done. Normally SDOT will only include rush hour in these analyses, but we pushed for all day and weekends to reflect the kind of chronic unreliability that Climate Pledge events and other off-peak conditions create. That study was delayed a number of times due to construction on Dexter Ave in SLU. We originally anticipated to get results in June but ultimately the study wasn’t completed until late 2024. Fix the L8 organizers met with SDOT to learn what their study told them was feasible. The result was disappointing: SDOT will add some stop shelters this year on MLK Way in the Central District — but they’re delaying all speed and reliability upgrades until after 2025 and aren’t studying a westbound bus lane at all.

SDOT’s Denny Way Paving Project Doesn’t Include Transit Improvements — and Threatens Route 8

Seattle’s complete streets ordinance mandates that SDOT consider multimodal improvements for any major repaving, so we were hopeful that the Denny Way Paving Project being designed last summer would be altered to be more transit oriented. Unfortunately, when the finalized design was published in Spring of 2024, there were no real transit improvements reflected. Construction is scheduled to start March 26 and will last through the fall. SDOT has told us they will have flaggers to expedite bus service during construction, that’s not likely to help speed up the route during construction and threatens to slow the route even more.

There’s Some Good News

30% of SDOT’s budget comes from the 2015 Levy to Move Seattle, which expired at the end of 2024. In November, Seattle voters passed an 8-year $1.55bn levy to replace it.

This levy includes funding for all things transportation: street repaving, transit improvements, bridge repair, bike lanes, tons of sidewalks, etc and calls out some specific ‘signature projects’ funded at over $10M each.

As the levy was being crafted, it wasn’t obvious that Route 8 would be prioritized. We worked with District 3 (east of I-5, north of I-90, south of the ship canal) Councilmember Hollingsworth to make sure the levy included funds for “Denny Way / Olive Way” transit improvements. This likely means something like full bus lanes along Denny Way or major re-channelization to re-route cars to speed up the bus. Currently, however, this is not mentioned in SDOT’s 2025 Levy Delivery Plan, so our work includes pushing SDOT to expedite these improvements in 2025.

Join Us!

The changes funded by the new levy are welcome, but aren’t likely to happen for years. And the L8’s riders shouldn’t have to wait years for faster, more reliable service. Join our campaign to push for quicker fixes!