On Saturday, BhamByBus was riding a Whatcom Transit Authority Route 1 bus from Fairhaven into Downtown Bellingham when the bus operator announced to passengers that the downtown-bound stop adjacent to the Community Food Co-Op parking lot had been relocated one block north from N. Forest Street & E. Chestnut Street to N. Forest Street & E. Holly Street.  

BhamByBus hasn’t found a WTA service bulletin detailing the move — perhaps one is coming soon — but the relocated Route 1 bus stop is also now co-located with WTA’s downtown-bound Blue and Plum GO Line bus routes, which moved around the corner from Holly Street to Forest Street.

Two WTA bus stops near Community Food Co-Op's Downtown Bellingham location, marked with diamonds, have been relocated and consolidated at a new stop, marked with a circle, on N. Forest Street just north of E. Holly Street.
Two WTA bus stops near Community Food Co-Op's Downtown Bellingham location, marked with diamonds, have been relocated and consolidated at a new stop, marked with a circle, on N. Forest Street just north of E. Holly Street. (BhamByBus illustration using OpenStreetMap)

Any bus stop relocation and consolidation decisions have winners and losers, but this move is mostly a win-win for a few different reasons.

  • The main benefit of the change, presumably, is mitigating some safety concerns on E. Holly Street. In May, the City of Bellingham reconfigured Holly Street’s three westbound one-way travel lanes leading into and through downtown, between Ellis Street and Bay Street, to accommodate a new bike lane pilot project. Unlike the downtown section of Holly between State Street and Bay Street, where parking spaces now buffer the right-side curb-running bike lane from the two one-way westbound travel lanes, the section between Ellis Street and State Street in the Sehome neighborhood, which includes the Forest Street intersection, has a buffered bike lane adjacent to the two westbound travel lanes. Although right-turning vehicles are always concerns for bicyclists and pedestrians, the previous bus stop on Holly Street for downtown-bound Blue and Plum GO Line buses (Routes 14, 105, 108, 190, 197, 512, 525, 533, and 540) created other conflicts, forcing WTA bus operators on Holly to cut across the bike lane to serve the bus stop and then cut back across the bike lane before making the right turn onto Forest Street. The relocated stop doesn't eliminate all potential bus-bike conflicts at the intersection, but it helps reduce some of complexities bus operators have had to deal with at Holly and Forest.
  • While the bus stop changes at Holly and Forest may help mitigate some bike lane conflicts with buses serving the stop on Holly, they also, presumably, help keep general-purpose traffic moving on Holly heading into downtown. Now that WTA bus operators on Blue and Plum GO Line routes no longer need to pull into the bus stop and then back out into traffic on Holly before turning right onto Forest, that could help ease some recent motorist frustrations during the limited moments of the day when Holly sees some mild congestion, including special events downtown when throngs of downtown-bound motorists use Holly as their downtown gateway before circling the streets of the Central Business District looking for on-street spaces, a surface parking lot, or parking garage.  
  • The bus stop changes also help redistribute the tight spacing of Route 1 bus stops along N. Forest Street heading into Downtown Bellingham through Sehome. Previously, northbound buses stopped approximately every block between the traffic circle where N. State Street meets N. Forest Street and Community Food Co-Op: One stop between E. Rose Street and E. Laurel Street, another at E. Maple Street, and a third at E. Chestnut Street, with no additional stops the rest of the way into Bellingham Station. Now, the relocated northernmost stop of that Forest Street trio is more spaced out while still being close enough to Community Food Co-op for transit-oriented shoppers, especially when the grocery store’s deli-side entrance is open. If WTA planners are considering any additional bus stop changes along N. Forest Street, the E. Maple Street stop would be a natural priority location to maintain due to the adjacent YWCA Bellingham (1026 N. Forest Street at E. Maple Street). But that should be studied in conjunction with corresponding southbound Route 1 bus stops along N. State Street, where there’s currently only one stop, south of E. Chestnut Street, between Bellingham Station and the traffic circle. 
  • For some Route 1 bus riders heading into Downtown Bellingham from Fairhaven, the relocated stop at N. Forest Street & E. Holly Street could prove a popular alternative to riding into Bellingham Station and then walking to downtown destinations on or adjacent to Holly Street.    
If you're into transit paired with coffee and a biscuit sandwich. The Coffee Shop by Hammerhead Coffee Roasters, at N. Forest Street & E. Holly Street, is one of the best bus-spotting locations in Bellingham. (Photo by Michael Grass / BhamByBus)
  • The biggest winner of the bus stop relocation is The Coffee Shop by Hammerhead Coffee Roasters (405 E. Holly Street at N. State Street), which is now even more transit-accessible than it already was, with Downtown-bound Route 1 buses joining those from Route 14, 105, 108, 190, 197, 512, 525, 533, and 540 stopping out right out front.  Additionally, the relocated Downtown-bound Route 1 stop at Holly Street makes Aslan Brewing Co. (1330 N. State Street at E. Magnolia Street) slightly more transit-accessible, especially for those coming from Fairhaven.  

Ultimately, relocating a bus stop to an adjacent block or around the corner may not seem like much, but these are the types of smaller, easier-to-implement transit improvements that can have meaningful benefits that may be harder to recognize if you’re simply driving by while stressed out by the prospect of finding parking downtown.