The Seattle Department of Transportation presented its recently announced plan to create a turn-only lane at one of Ballard’s most congested intersections to the Ballard District Council April 14.

Right turn lanes on Market Street where it meets 24th Avenue Northwest could be temporarily made turn-only as early as June for a three-month trial period.

“As most vehicles on Market approach 24th—going east or west—most are turning right,” Seattle Department of Transportation spokesperson Bill Bryant said at the meeting.

Buses would be able to turn right or cruise straight through the traffic signal.

If residents decide they like the change after the trial expires, the department would have to uninstall it in order to reinstall and make the change permanent, Bryant said.

“It’s sort of unique in that it would be installed as a temporary project,” Bryant said. “Usually, transportation departments are very conservative with traffic changes.”

Some residents worried the lane change would draw traffic to streets that run parallel to Market.

Dale Jech of the newly formed Ballard Preservation Association said he often drives down Northwest 56th Street, a block north of Market.

“Fifty-sixth street is the only street that goes straight through downtown Ballard like Market,” Jech said. “I see great traffic increases if [drivers] can’t get through downtown Ballard.”

Jech said he thinks the city should have studied traffic during the summer instead, when boaters and park-goers flood Ballard’s downtown streets.

“I don’t think their study is complete,” he said.

Others worried the change would increase traffic on Shilshole Avenue Northwest, which veers off of 24th Avenue Northwest.

Bryant said they will finish receiving feedback from the community in three to four weeks.

This is part of an effort to speed up buses that often get tangled in traffic on this street, the main drag through Ballard’s downtown commercial district.

Metro route 44, which is estimated to ferry 6,000 to 8,000 people a day through the U-District, Wallingford and Ballard, is one such route. The plan aims to consolidate its stops, which would save transit time and improve reliability, according to the Department of Transportation.

It will also create nine bus bulbs where buses can stop in the travel lane instead of pulling in and out of traffic along the route.

Usually, stops are spaced about one-eighth of a mile apart, Bryant said. But some in Ballard are even closer. The department hopes to up the distance between stops to 0.25 miles as part of an ongoing program to more reasonably pace bus stops.