If the joint bid of five area cities is approved, infrastructure construction for a rapid bus transit could begin along State Route 522, providing a speedy commute along the congested corridor and easy access to the planned light rail link in Shoreline.

“Right now the focus is getting on the list, and staying on the list,” Kenmore City Manager Rob Karlinsey said.

Sound Transit is creating a light train rail in its Sound Transit 3 (ST3) development which will run from Lynnwood, and connect to the current rail which travels down to SeaTac airport, scheduled to be completed in 2023.

Cities all across the area have submitted plans to the company for expanded services to be included in ST3.

Current proposals from the cities of Kenmore, Bothell, Lake Forest Park, Shoreline and Woodinville include the creation of a SR 522 rapid bus transit, three parking garages and road improvements to facilitate the busses.

During what was described as an ‘unprecedented’ meeting on Jan. 12, officials and councilmembers from these cities met with county and Sound Transit representatives to discuss transit proposals for the corridor.

“(It’s the) first time I’ve seen that in my career, getting four full city councils in the same room together,” Karlinsey said. The mayor of Woodinville was also present.

Members of the grassroots citizen group ‘522 Transit Now’ were also in attendance. The group was started last summer after preliminary ST3 plans, in 522 Transit Now Chair Janet Quinn’s view, did not include adequate public transit improvements along SR 522.

“The fact that we have 522 that intersects with Interstate 405, and is such a confluence of various transportation routes, is one of the reasons that we feel 522 can’t be neglected in a regional transit conversation,” she said.

These five cities must now sign a five-point letter to the Sound Transit Board of Directors acknowledging the plans, and affirming their commitment to bringing expanded transit to the area.

These include creating transit infrastructure before 2023, affirming that the rapid bus transit on SR 522 is essential to the regional transportation network, that the bus lines will connect to the light rail along I-5 as well as rapid busses on I-405, it will be inexpensive and yield high ridership and that all the cities are united behind these efforts.

Two plans are under review by Sound Transit’s Board of Directors. They include running rapid transit busses from either two or three stops along SR 522 from Woodinville to the light rail link in Shoreline. Rapid transit busses arrive every ten minutes, Karlinsey said, ensuring greater reliability.

“It approximates being on a train as much as possible,” he said. “A train has a dedicated rail, it doesn’t have to share its rail with cars. So a bus rapid transit has its own exclusive dedicated lane.”

The City of Kenmore has already created these lanes, currently serving busses and right-turning drivers only. Other cities along the route would have to do something similar.

Along with these bus stops, three parking garages would be constructed along SR 522 to house the anticipated transit riders’ vehicles, each one holding 300 cars.

According to a study by Sound Transit, SR 522 is becoming an increasingly important corridor for crossing Lake Washington. After tolls were implemented on the 520 bridge, traffic increased nine percent along SR 522.

By 2040, according to the study, 20 percent of all cross lake traffic will use the corridor, population in the area will have increased by a quarter and traffic congestion would add 400,000 person hours of delay per year, the study said.

If approved, another study could be commissioned looking at the viability of bringing an actual light rail across the SR 522 corridor in ST4.

Sound Transits’ Board of Directors will be drafting a system plan, and deciding which project bids to cut from a long list requests and asking for public input until a final plan is adopted in June.

Sound Transit 3 will be on the ballot next Nov., giving voters a chance to approve funding and approve the plans.

Sound Transit bases its decision of which projects to include based off of multiple priorities, including ridership, completing the light rail, socio-economic equity and integration into other transit systems, according to their website.

“The reality is that even now with the narrowed list, there’s some prioritization the board has to do,” Sound Transit representative Geoff Patrick said.

The Board of Directors meets every fourth Thursday of a month, and will begin a public input phase in April.

“The key for us, and a huge lift for us, is to stay on that list and not get whittled off,” Karlinsey said.