King County Metro Transit has finished collecting public input on the proposed bus route 50, potentially connecting a portion of Delridge Way to the Alaska Junction. Over the next month Metro will weigh public opinion and consider revising their proposal before a final recommendation is made to the King County Executive.

Route 50 was designed to connect Columbia City and Seward Park to Link light rail stations. The new bus would run from the Othello Link station through Seward Park, the Columbia City Link station, Veterans Administration Medical Center, SODO and Harbor Island to end in West Seattle.

Currently West Seattle residents only have one route, 128, that travels east to west through the neighborhood. The new route would create a new connection between both sides of 35th Avenue Southwest in the north end of the neighborhood.

If approved, the route is expected to operate at least every 30 minutes Monday through Saturday and at least once an hour after 7 p.m. on Sundays. Depending on available resources the route could even run as frequently as every 15 to 20 minutes.

"It's something we've lobbied for for a long time," says Pete Spalding of the Pigeon Point Council. "Metro needs to realize that 20 percent of the city lives on this side of the Duwamish river."

Sarah Luthens, Metro Community Relations planner, says that in general West Seattle residents support the proposal, with minor suggestions to revise it. She explained that residents living north of Genesee Street on Delridge Way are concerned they will not have adequate access to the bus route. Furthermore she noted that Ron Angeles, Seattle's Neighborhood District Coordinator, asked that the route be adjusted to connect young people living in High Point to the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in Delridge.

But she adds that residents living in southeast Seattle have more concerns over the proposed route. In gaining the route 50, south Seattle would lose a portion of route 39, which connects Seward Park and Columbia City directly to Downtown Seattle.

The Veteran's Affairs Medical Center on Beacon Hill would also lose its direct connection to Downtown Seattle in the current proposal. Still, Jack Lattemann, transportation planner for Metro, said that route 50 could be adjusted throughout February to address some of these concerns while still accomplishing its goals.

Lattemann expects that Metro will deliver a final recommendation to the King County executive in March, which could later be voted on by the entire King County Council in April. The route would likely be implemented in September of this year or the following February.