King County Metro representatives Ashley DeForest and Ted Day visited the Ballard District Council on Wednesday evening to present the revised recommendations for transit service changes affecting the Ballard District come September.

Last November, Metro asked the public to comment on the suggested service changes and revise its recommendation accordingly.

DeForest started off the presentation by thanking Ballard for the input they received.

"The Ballard District Council helped shape the revisions seen in tonight's revision," DeForest said.

The biggest and most welcoming news came from transit planner Ted Day who announced that the 15 Express will be saved.

"We heard loud and clear that people wanted to keep the 15 Express and that's what we'll do," said Day. "But we are pushing the envelop by putting the 15 Express back in there and it is going to be something we'll have to monitor to see which service people will actually be using."

While the 15 Express is faster than the RapidRide D Line coming in September, the RapidRide service will offer more frequent service, a longer span of service, and better facilities, said Day.

The RapidRide D Line will replace the local 15 route and change various other routes.

"We don't want routes that compete with the D line. We want routes that complement it and connect with it," Day said.

With the D line and the 15EX offering a fast connection between Ballard and downtown via 15th Avenue NW, route 18 will change so that it goes down to Fremont, across the Fremont bridge and along to Westlake Avenue.

"It is designed to improve the connection between Ballard and Fremont," Day explained.

Route 24 will change to become a direct connection between Magnolia and Ballard.

The 46 will be eliminated due to the low usage and there will not be any buses serving Seaview.

King County transit is reaching out to the community and hosting various open house events to present the revised recommendation before it goes to the King County Council.

Comment period ends February 29th and Metro encourages people to provide input by completing an online survey, available at www.kingcounty.gov/metro/HaveASay.

There will be a community open house on Monday, February 13, at 6 p.m. at Ballard High School, 1418 NW 65th Street.