New Stations! #link21

 RantWoman is THRILLED that 3 new Light Rail stations are open. RantWoman talked to one of the Soundtransit ambassadors on the way home. The woman RantWoman spoke to, who did trial and error through the accessibility features on RantWoman's phone to take this photo, said the enthusiasm is pretty universal.

RantWoman, Thwack the cane,
regular baggage and some groceries
in front of the Welcome sign at the Roosevelt station
RantWoman loves color
and is not really into subtlety

RantWoman is thrilled even though not everything went smoothly and RantWoman is not charmed by some aspects of the new service.

RantWoman is just thrilled because it will now be much faster to go visit RantMom or, say, to meet her at Whole Foods, catch a meal, take some groceries home and not have to wait for a bus with half hour Sunday headway both directions. Okay, there is such a thing as timing and RantWoman has ways to use her Smartphone on the wait, but still

Anyway:  RantWoman's first trip

 After RantWoman's adventures in sidewalk / walkability evaluation in the U District, it was time to head to Roosevelt station to visit RantMom with a stop at Whole Foods. RantWoman appreciates many Sound Transit ambassadors giving directions; had RantWoman adequately trip planned instead of just winging it, maybe she would have realized the 62 is rerouted due to construction. The ambassador gave fine directions to Whole Foods, as in RantWoman already knows the area. What RantWoman should have known to ask is what's happening with the 62 bus route.

Apparently RantWoman just didn't realize she needed a good 8-block walk before the bus was back on regular route one stop away from RantMom's. 8 blocks on nice up to date sidewalk is one thing. 8 blocks with some blocks of iffy sidewalk and  more than crosswalk in progress for squishy tar surface to hopefully real curb ramps is another thing. On top of that RantWoman is required lately to argue with her body about things that used to be a lot easier, including carrying even modest grocery purchases much longer distances. And in case RantWoman needed distraction from all of that, RantWoman found time to muse about why bicyclists are crazy enough to want to ride on NE 65th at all. (RantWoman later asked a cyclist about this.)

It's wonderful to be able to visit indoors, mask free in RantMom's apartment. These days for a meal, RantWoman "cooks" on the way. This time it was pasta salads, really good oatmeal raisin cookies and some carrots and apples. RantWoman will remember grapes would be a good idea next time. The RantWoman added tea and some pear tomatoes from a recent RantMom visit to Whole Foods. It was an excellent fall feast.

A day without some tech to fiddle with is like...

After lunch, while still sipping our tea, talk turned to a tablet Verizon sold RantMom as part of some upgrade deal awhile ago. RantMom has complained for awhile about not understanding it well and RantWoman asked permission to fiddle with it.  That is RantWoman offered to invest some of her limited functioning eyeball energy. After modest fiddling RantWoman was able to make the font larger--at least for some apps. RantWoman discovered that the Kaiser Permanente app refuses to rotate screen while the Seattle Times app does that just fine. 

Other than that, RantWoman could find no evidence on that device's implementation of Adroid of several other Android accessibility features. Bah! RantMom would not even have known to check about any of that. RantWoman is pretty sure sales hype about get a cheap new device probably also omitted any mention of such deficits. Bah! 

It was time to go so RantWoman promised to send RantMom an email she could forward to Kaiser complaining about the rotate screen issue. RantWoman headed out to the return bus stop. The driver told RantWoman where the temporary stop by the station was and there were more Sound Transit ambassadors in case RantWoman needed any help from there. RantWoman settled in for a ride home. 

By this time RantWoman was in tired how can i walk as little as possible mode. RantWoman realized that what made the most sense was to ride Link to the Capitol Hill stop, catch the 8 the rest of the way home, and not even have to cross any streets after getting off the bus. Alas, RantWoman doesn't visit the Capitol Hill station very often. RantWoman forgot the Denny Way exit is a block south of Broadway and John. Welcome again to Seattle street name discontinuities! It was dusk and RantWoman, like many low-vision people had to stare and listen a bit to orient herself. Once RantWoman found the stop, all was fine though the ride along MLK is always full of bumps and rattles.

Future Station?

Wait. Wait. Wait! RantWoman forgot one of her most important homeward bound meditations, related to the proposal, when the Judkins Park east Link station opens, to route the 8 bus along 23rd Ave S instead of along MLK. The 23rd Avenue entrance to the Judkins Park Station looks out on a walkway through a wonderful park between 23rdAve S and MLK. The park is certainly less than 4 blocks wide, the distance transit planners assume people can and are willing to walk to or from transit. This time of year the park and nearby greenspace are all decked out in autumnal reds , oranges, fading green. What's not to like?

RantWoman has in fact walked this park many times day and night, in many kinds of weather. Little Sister used to live at 23rd and Judkins and RantWoman often found it easier to walk through the park and S along MLK than to deal with pedestrian crossing on the walking route along 23rd. RantWoman always felt there was sufficient lighting but would probably double check for current conditions. In other words, why even change the number 8 routing at all? People who want to catch the 8 get a beautiful walk through a park. People like RantWoman who love not having to cross streets while laden with groceries get to keep our nearest stop.

So What's not to like?

Bicycling doesn't work for everyone. Bicycling doesn't work for everyone. Bicycling doesn't work for everyone!

There. RantWoman has now gotten that out of her system. The park is also part of the Mountains To Sound Greenway, also known, at certain times of day, as a speedway for maniacal bicycle commuters. RantWoman definitely wants to think bicyclists and pedestrians needing to transfer between Link2 and the Route 8 could learn to co-exist. RantWoman definitely wants to think this! RantWoman does not want some row between bicycling commuters and people like RantWoman wantign to get our grociers home safely. san we work on that????

Things RantWoman is not charmed by:

At home, with the groceries stowed and the cat fed, it was time to inventory some quibbles.

--The new cars. Fewer seats may be good for social distancing, but standing is tiring and more people will have to stand.

--The dark tunnel walls. RantWoman would LOVE to see different color lighting on the walls in each station along with very large signs listing the names of each station.

--Having both a bus reroute and some crappy half-finished sidewalk upgrades between Roosevelt station and RantMom's. But things WILL come together. RantWoman is confident.