Starting this weekend, signs will start to be added along Aurora Avenue N converting bus lanes that are currently only active during peak commuting hours to 24/7 operation, helping the busiest bus route in Washington State remain on-time and more reliable at all times of day. The move, which had initially been planned in response to major maintenance work on Interstate 5, is still moving forward even after the most impactful work on the corridor has been delayed to 2026. The additional transit priority won’t be enforced until all signs are added and their coverings removed — something that may take a few weeks.
Aurora’s RapidRide E Line attracts 14,000 rides on an average weekday, but the line boasts among the lowest on-time performance rates among King County Metro’s eight RapidRide routes. As of April, the E Line was off-schedule on more than 26 out of every 100 trips, with those trips running at least five minutes late.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) had originally been planning double-lane closures along I-5 for around nine months each in 2025, 2026, and 2027. But early this year WSDOT revamped the plan, citing state finances as the primary driver behind the change. That additional time has allowed local governments — primarily the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) — more time to coordinate on mitigation measures. But so far, broad mitigation measures to keep transit moving haven’t been forthcoming.
Late last year, The Urbanist reported on the fact that encouraging remote work was being explicitly kept out of the toolbox, a nod to Mayor Bruce Harrell’s focus on activating the city’s downtown neighborhoods.
To convert the bus lanes to all-day operation, SDOT will add signs prohibiting parking and loading along much of the corridor, giving buses priority along southbound Aurora between N 115th Street and N 38th Street, and northbound Aurora between N 38th Street and N 59th Street and between Winona Ave N and N 115th Street.
The City of Seattle still remains noncommittal on the question of whether all-day bus priority will remain on Aurora after I-5 work concludes as scheduled in 2027.
“We’ll monitor the performance of the 24/7 bus lanes on Aurora Ave once they’re installed to make sure RapidRide service is as reliable as possible,” SDOT spokesperson Mariam Ali told The Urbanist. “Any future evaluation would be informed by bus speed and reliability data, community input, and coordination with WSDOT and Metro to support the most effective use of the street. We also have our ongoing project to upgrade the entire Aurora Ave corridor, which will look at longer-term RapidRide priority and bus lane design.”
“In general, the expanded hours of the bus lane mean there will no longer be parking or loading on Aurora as the new bus-only lane signs are installed. A few additional signs are being installed in locations where there will be parking and loading exceptions,” SDOT wrote in an announcement late Friday afternoon.
In addition to the bus lane conversions happening now, SDOT also plans to add a northbound bus lane along Aurora Avenue N in Queen Anne later this year, along a stretch that currently lacks any transit priority. The northbound lane between Prospect Street and Lynn Street received approval from WSDOT last year.
These near-term improvements are happening against the backdrop of work to determine the long-term future of Aurora, one of the city’s most crash-prone corridors. A promised $50 million earmark in the state transportation budget — with no clear allocation date — is set to be combined with $30 million from the newly approved Seattle Transportation Levy to fund a full corridor overhaul, but exactly what that will look like remains very much up-in-the-air.
A 2024 SDOT survey of thousands of respondents asking about potential improvements found nearly 70% supported continuous bus lanes on the corridor, but saw much lower support for the idea of center-running bus lanes. A feature in place on routes like the RapidRide G, center-running lanes would result in the biggest boon to RapidRide E’s speed and reliability, but would require adding median islands along the corridor for riders to board buses.
Survey respondents also favored creating safe space for people on bikes — an option that has already seen considerable push back among North Seattle business and freight groups.
The new all-day bus lanes are a clear no-brainer for the E Line, a workhorse of a route that sees more riders in a day than many routes see in an entire week. But more work will be needed to fully provide riders on the corridor with the reliable transit options that they deserve.
Ryan Packer has been writing for The Urbanist since 2015, and currently reports full-time as Contributing Editor. Their beats are transportation, land use, public space, traffic safety, and obscure community meetings. Packer has also reported for other regional outlets including Capitol Hill Seattle, BikePortland, Seattle Met, and PubliCola. They live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
