SEATTLE — In the Seattle transportation grid, it might as well be the spine. It is the only road that connects the fresh water of Lake Washington to the salt water of the Salish Sea.
Right now, the spine is getting some heavy chiropractic work in what may be the biggest roadway reconfiguration since the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
The 2.3-mile Madison Street Bus Rapid Transit line, which has been in development for a decade, is now moving forward at a faster pace. The $133 million project, which received nearly $60 million from federal coffers, will eventually connect Martin Luther King Junior Way and the Madison Valley to First Avenue in downtown Seattle.
But there will be some pain with that gain.
The orange cones outnumber the green lights, and there has already been one injury in the construction zone. According to Seattle Fire and Metro officials, a 65-year-old man slipped while walking through the roadway and made contact with a Metro Bus. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center and is in stable condition.
Fred Dimas runs Westman's Bagels, which has a view of all the construction directly in front of their grab and go window.
"It's almost like you're in the middle of the haircut, and it doesn't look good just yet," he joked. "When it's done, it'll look good. Just give it time to edge itself out I guess."
The project is scheduled to be completed by 2024, and when it does, SDOT said it will run every six minutes during peak hours in a dedicated bus-only lane on the street.