The PI published an article on Beacon Hill Tunnel progress when Sound Transit put a tour on Sunday.
“It is probably the most challenging construction project along the whole Link light rail line,” said transit-board member Larry Phillips, a Metropolitan King County Council member from Seattle, said during a tour Sunday morning. “The methods used to mine out this station have never before been used at this depth. We are standing here in an engineering and construction marvel that will be known throughout the world.”
That’s pretty awesome if just a bit exaggerated.
Phillips said the tunnel proves Sound Transit has the know-how to deliver 50 more miles of light rail, if voters approve it this fall. But the mining is tricky enough that officials canceled a deep train platform they once promised at busy First Hill.
Hmmm… I wonder if my fantasy ballot measure could some how include the First Hill station…
Even when I lived on First Hill I didn’t think a light rail station there was a good idea. The problem is that the more curves you put in the track, the higher the track maintence cost.
It’s such a short distance away, and there isn’t much further east to justify an entire rail line going straight east from downtown. I think a better idea would be to just have an escalator run up James or Madison, like the Mid-Levels escalator in Hong Kong.
There’s going to be a street car from ID through First Hill, so that’s pretty good by itself.
I think the streetcar will be a better project in ST2 – and a lot less risky to build than the First Hill station.
http://www.soundtransit.org/Documents/pdf/st2/st2_final/N07a_Streetcar_Downtown_Seattle_to_Capitol_Hill_via_First_Hill.pdf
http://www.soundtransit.org/Documents/pdf/st2/st2_final/N07c_Streetcar_John_Street_to_Aloha_Street_Extension.pdf
http://www.soundtransit.org/Documents/pdf/projects/link/north/FHTransitAltsRpt2007-04-17.pdf
I guess those website addresses were too long. The two First Hill / Capitol Hill Streetcar projects can be found here: projects N 7a and N 7c
http://www.soundtransit.org/x3951.xml
Street car will be fabulous, but it’s not as fun as a subway station. B
First Hill is going to be interesting. I think a streetcar would serve just as well as a subway station. I think because we are talking about “Pill Hill” do you need to account for the extremely high rate of emergency vehicles? Does that change anything in planning? Maybe not, but it seems a street car may be better for the neighborhood. I always rode the wonderful #3/4 route. If you have never experienced such entertainment, or need some proof that your life is better than it seems, ride this route. Any bus that has the King County Jail, King County Courthouse, Drug and Rehab center, and Harborview in a matter of 3 stops is bound to make you feel better. Too bad they couldn’t build that line as a streetcar route?