Metro tweaking bus schedules, routes; University District, Issaquah, Kent Station most affected

Starting Saturday, a few Metro Transit bus routes and bus schedules will change. Most affected will be riders traveling to and from Issaquah, the University District-Sand Point area and the Kent Station Transit Center.

There will be new boarding locations for routes 200, 209, 210, 214, 269, 271 and 927 and Sound Transit express routes 554, 555 and 556 at the newly built Issaquah Transit Center (which formerly was the Issaquah Park-and-Ride on Highway 900 between Maple Street and Newport Way in Issaquah).

Starting Saturday, riders should board at the new transit platform between the construction area and Highway 900. But riders still will be able to park at the Tibbetts Park-and-Ride south of Newport Way or in the interim lot on the west side of Highway 900 until Sound Transit opens the new transit-center garage this summer.

Local service on Route 74, connecting Seattle Center to Sand Point by way of the University District, will be renumbered Route 30. The Route 74 Express to downtown Seattle will remain the same and there will be no change to routing or frequency of the new Route 30 or the Route 74 Express.

Route 212 will have a run leaving the Eastgate Park-and-Ride garage at 4:30 p.m. weekdays to connect with southbound Sounder train service leaving Seattle at 5:15 p.m. Route 221 will have an added late-evening northbound trip from Eastgate, at 10:11 p.m.

The bus stop for Route 358 at the south end of downtown Seattle will move to westbound South Jackson Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues. The route will no longer stop eastbound on South Main Street at Second Avenue South.

DART Routes 914 and 916 will no longer serve Bay 5 at the Kent Station Transit Center, and instead riders can board them next to the transit center on westbound Temperance Street between First Avenue North and Ramsay Way.

Metro adjusts its routes and scheduling three times a year — in February, June and September. Changes are detailed in new bright-green Metro timetables and special Rider Alert brochures available on buses, and at Metro information racks, at public libraries and many work sites.

New schedule information also will be posted on Metro's Web site, transit.metrokc.gov/, by Friday, or call Metro Rider Information at 206-553-3000.