A Requiem for Seventy-Seven Bus Stops, part VI: The Route 73

Dear Diary,

Next in seniority to streetcar coverage of some of the route 20, in 1908, is bus coverage of most of the route 73, by 1965, among the areas losing bus stops.  (Blanchard's Street Railway Era in Seattle, page 114, says streetcar service along 15th Ave NE reached NE 80th St sometime between 1912 and 1925, but the route 73 currently has no bus stops that far south on 15th.)  Also, I want to talk a little more about the Northwest Puppet Center.  So let's start, shall we?

[Updated on September 23 with corrected competing bus route number and a note on dubious stops.]

All of the route 73 stops being closed are either on 15th Ave NE, or are shared with the route 322, and are covered under that route instead.  So no need for street headings this time.

I followed this route Saturday evening, and then went back today because I'd found that I'd made two mistakes - missing one stop, and mis-identifying another stop on Open Street Map.  So I had to go back over half the distance.

Again, links in the lists below go to my Google Drive, to photos of each stop.

Northbound, seven stops:

• Stop #39210, just north of NE 115th Street.
• Stop #39190, just north of NE Northgate Way.  Not far south of this, on the same side of the street, is the mural of the cat that I showed you, dear Diary, in part I of this page.
  
• Stop #39170, just north of NE 103rd Street.
• Stop #39160, just south of NE 100th Street.
• Stop #39140, just north of NE 95th Street.
• Stop #39120, just north of NE 90th Street.  This is the closest northbound stop to the NW Puppet Center, which is two blocks north and across the street.
  
• Stop #39100, north of NE 85th Street, a block from Maple Leaf Reservoir Park, and across the street from Waldo Woods.
  

I was going to say that none of these have any amenities except pavement, but then noticed that my photo of stop #39100 appears to show the top of a trash can attached to the pole:

So I dunno.

Southbound, seven much more interesting stops:

• Stop #38950, north of NE 115th Street.  Has all the amenities.
• Stop #38970, just south of NE Northgate Way.  Has a shelter with art and a bench.  The art may or may not be the best art on these shelters, but anyway this photo is the best one I took of these shelters.
  
  
  
  
• Stop #38990, south of NE 104th Street.  Has a shelter and a trash can.
• Stop #39010, just south of NE 98th Street.  Has a shelter with art and a bench:
• Stop #39030, just south of NE 94th Street.  Has all the amenities.  This is the nearest stop in this direction to the Puppet Center, which is a block to the south.
  
• Stop #39050, south of NE 89th Street.  Has a shelter.
• Stop #39070, south of NE 82nd Street.  Has a shelter with a bench and a trash can.  Maple Leaf Reservoir Park is a block west, although the route 67 stop at NE 85th Street is closer to the park.
  

I noticed today that some shelters I saw as not having art actually have it facing the street, away from the sidewalk.  The way I see it, that location makes the art available to drivers (including bus drivers) and passengers (including bus passengers), but not with any safety to pedestrians (including people waiting for the bus).  So I'm not sure it's a real amenity of a bus stop in the sense I'm using that word.

Anyway, Northwest Puppet Center!  I'd already looked up its bare-bones Web page, and noticed that that page describes as current an exhibit that, the same page says, closed in May.  So I got curious:  was it out of operation?  And today I went up the steps to the entrance.  Where I was gobsmacked to find, of all things, a small playground.

Now, Maple Leaf Hill is seriously under-parked, and certainly under-playgrounded in particular, but I didn't see any kids there.  Anyway, I looked at the door, where a sign announces a new exhibit in October:

So this left me curious.  Is this a private house that's also a museum?  Or is it really a public place where, for example, parents could bring small children to the playground?  A significant element is the "Carter Family Puppet Theater"; do the Carter family live there?

Not according to the King County Assessor.  But there's also an e-mail address on the bare-bones Web page, so careful parents can check for themselves.

The page's only other link is to the "World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts".  Sadly, this site doesn't return the favour:

You'll have noticed, dear Diary, that I've changed all the parts' titles.  Not until I was reasonably sure I had a complete list could I really count the stops closing, but I think the number now used is the final number.  The count of 77 excludes stop #17170 on the route 20, which [has been] acquired by the route 62, and stop #28680 on the route 28, which is already in use by the route D.  [In both cases I've now caught the relevant bus at the relevant stop.]  That count includes stop #23594 on the route 322, whose rider alert sign claims future service by the route 79, and stop #17570 on the route 20, whose rider alert sign claims future service by the route 45; neither of those buses currently serve or even pass those stops, and their promised schedules show no route changes enabling them to start doing so.

The stops will no longer be served by any buses as of September 14, which is this Saturday.  I have no idea how many people Metro devotes to stop demolition, so I can't begin to guess how long it'll take them to remove the physical stop elements.  However, most rider alert signs whose bottoms I photographed bear a note saying "Remove 10/1/24".  This implies that at least the poles the signs are mostly attached to will stay around that long, and perhaps other physical elements as well.

One of my purposes in writing this page was to notify people of these stop closures in time that anyone who might have an emotional attachment of some kind to a particular stop - most obviously, who might have experienced a proposal there - could have a chance to visit it again.  Obviously the closer we get to September 14, let alone if I fail to get those parts written until later than that, the less likely that is.  But then, I'm not seeing much reason to think they could find out about the closures from you anyway, dear Diary, so few people seem to be reading this page.  Ah well.

Before I remembered the removal date, I still hoped to get part VII, about the route 28, written in you tonight, dear Diary, and part VIII, about the route 322, is relatively short, so maybe that too.  But there are other things I spend my time on, so now that I have remembered it, I'll do those things instead.  A good night, dear Diary; we'll probably meet again tomorrow.