SEATTLE — The Seattle Department of Transportation says there is a temporary fix in place at three new bus stops to make sure they are ADA compliant.
All three stops are along the new RapidRide G Line service connecting downtown Seattle with the Central District and Madison Valley. Service began Saturday, Sept. 14.
Impacted stops:
• Eastbound Madison Street between Terry and Boren Avenues
• Eastbound Madison Street between Summit and Boylston Avenues
• Westbound Madison Street at East Union Street and 12th Avenue East
Road crews installed steel platforms that lift the arriving buses so the wheelchair ramp matches the level of the platform.
For those with disabilities, especially those unable to drive, a bus ride can mean freedom.
“Public transit can be a real, again, door opener. It can be frustrating when it’s not as accessible as you would like it to be,” said Lianna Namovic, the program manager for the Disability Empowerment Center, a nonprofit organization that works with people of all backgrounds in King County.
“Our purpose is to help people with disabilities be able to live their fullest lives in their communities,” she continued.
Hearing that the new Rapid Ride G-Line stops very literally missed the mark was disappointing. An SDOT spokesperson insists no passengers have been impacted and says that crews, not riders, noticed the issue.
“What we discovered when we were doing the operational testing is that there were some places where the platform was a fraction of an inch off from what the plans were and so we implemented an effective, short-term solution to make sure that they worked smoothly on day one,” said Ethan Bergerson, an SDOT spokesperson.
An inch can make all the difference for someone with a disability who relies on public transit – Namovic hopes this mistake is a chance to start a dialogue.
“It’s not being able to go to work. It’s not being able to get to your friend’s house. It’s not being able to go grocery shopping independently. It’s fabulous that Seattle was able to fix this problem so quickly, but it does show that there needs to be more conversations between metro and the transit," said Namovic.
SDOT says it’s currently working on a long-term fix. Options could include hydraulic lifts on buses or pouring additional concrete to raise the street.
About $80.5 million in funding for the project came from the Federal Transit Administration. The rest of the money came from the Move Seattle Levy, Sound Transit ST3, King County and state funds.