Roosevelt Utility Work Map

At 6:30 PM on Tuesday, January 29th, at Roosevelt High School, Sound Transit is hosting a construction open house, to inform the neighborhood about upcoming work in 2013 and early 2014. Demolition is drawing to a close in the station area, and the next phase is utility relocation and power-line work throughout the neighborhood.

These construction open houses don’t usually discuss substantial design or policy issues, and the design for Roosevelt Station is probably close to its final form by now, but even of you don’t live in the neighborhood, it’s a good chance to talk to staff and hear how the project is progressing. Roosevelt Station, along with the rest of North Link, is due to open in 2021.

27 Replies to “Roosevelt Station Construction Open House”

    1. They did do an analysis about that after 30% design. The cost to overbuild the station to be able to support additional floors above it was barely covered by the expected value of the air rights. Zoning limited it to only a couple of additional floors if I remember right. I don’t recall if that accounted for the height in the new (contentious) rezone or if it was based on what the zoning was last year.

    2. They are going to build on the other part of the old-QFC site, though, right? Otherwise we need to create a lawsuit; I’m even joking.

      1. Yes, they were very clear that the remainder of the former QFC site would be made available for TOD.

  2. I walked by the station site just last week — it’s great to see the buildings gone and an obvious move towards the construction phase. 2021 is a long time to wait, but it will be worth it.

  3. Too bad they didn’t post the truck hauling route in the meeting announcement. That would save a lot of time during the Q&A period.

  4. Crap I should go to that; I need to figure out what that “utility work” is. I own a house there on 67th, if they’re digging up the street that might affect my ability to rent it.

    1. Nice. If you’re invested for the long haul, you are going to have some extremely valuable land once the station is operational.

  5. Observed:

    This is the Chinatown station on San Francisco’s upcoming Central Subway project. It is the key station on the line (politically and in terms of expected ridership). It will be extremely deep.

    On the surface, however, it occupies less than 1/4 of a block. 140 feet by 120 feet. Barely.

    And yet somehow, our minor, low-expectations, stuck-in-a-mostly-single-family-expanse Roosevelt station “must” stretch two blocks and occupy 400+ feet of blank, useless frontage. Although no dirt will be hauled from the site, and no TBMs will be extracted, and boardings at the station will be a fraction of the station pictured above.

    “Must”.

    We have the strangest definition of “must” in Seattle.

      1. It’s about to snow? I need to head home immediately and find a place to abandon my car…!!!!

    2. Roosevelt is the launching site for the TBMs that will mine the tunnels to Husky Stadium, and the TBM from Northgate will be extracted from there.

      1. “Tunnels will be constructed from north to south using tunnel boring machines. Two TBMs will launch from the Roosevelt Station site and travel south to the University of Washington Station at Husky Stadium, passing through the U District Station along the way. A third TBM will launch from the portal at NE 94th Street and travel south to Roosevelt Station, where it will be disassembled, transported back to the portal and launched for a second trip to Roosevelt Station.”

        Aargh. So I guess that does mean dirt hauling will happen here, and that one TBM will need to be surfaced (twice) at the site.

        I baffled as to why they would do any significant hauling here, when you’ve already got a huge long-term pit outside Husky Stadium, and when the other tunnel portal will be along a highway embankment that could have become a staging ground with hardly anyone batting an eye.

        Also, if Roosevelt is being used as the primary central staging ground for North Link, why the hell is Brooklyn station construction set to take over three square blocks? Shouldn’t it at least have been one or the other?

      2. Brooklyn Station requires significant special work to avoid disturbing the UW tower and the historic apartment building to the south. I bet that imposes some significant logistical challenges which are best answered by the planned closures.

        The Brooklyn Station design meeting showed them working with about a 1ft clearance around the UW tower foundation with the accepted design. It’s riskier than the alternatives, but I’m glad we convinced ST to go with it.

      3. “a huge long-term pit outside Husky Stadium”

        What pit? The one they’re building the station in? Construction there will be done by the time North Link tunneling starts, and I’m sure they have an agreement with the UW to return their land.

        “why the hell is Brooklyn station construction set to take over three square blocks?”

        It’s not 3 square blocks, it’s barely 1.

      4. It is my understanding that a fairly sizable pit next to Husky station will remain open until after the TBMs from North Link come through. As in, it will continue to resemble a major construction site for some time to come.

        And https://seattletransitblog.wpcomstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Brooklyn.png

        That’s quite a chunk of extra staging ground when you consider that the final footprint is only under the right-side third of the gerrymandered orange shape.

        Kyle, how can it possibly be so close to UW tower when the final design placed the station box almost entirely east of the street?

        I point you, again, to the San Francisco comparison. You think nothing flanking that site is fragile?

      5. All I’m saying is why can’t we dig in place? Ever? Just once?

        New York can dig in place. San Francisco can dig in place. (And those are just the examples under the same “FDA mandates” we use to excuse our follies.)

        But at every single station, we’ve got some excuse!

        The dirt and the TMBs might make at least some sense, though we clearly overcompensate: we destroyed half of Broadway in order to serve it. But even when we’re not removing dirt or TBMs (Brooklyn), again there’s some excuse.

        Just dig in place! You might like the un-fucked-up street that results!

      6. Just dig in place! You might like the un-fucked-up street that results!

        Amen, brother!

      7. I’m sure if there was a legitimate reason for constraining the construction site they would. It costs nothing to close the street and the rest of the staging area is composed of vacant lots that ST will sell off after construction is done.

    3. Yes, that is ridiculous. On a cost basis, the Central subway is actually a similar cost relative to U-Link (U-Link is longer, but Central Subway will have more stations). So it’s not even a budget thing.

  6. I’m sure Steinbrueck is salivating at the opportunities here for more barren, windswept plazas.

    3. I don’t see any homeless people in Northgate Park or SLU Park. Probably because its windswept nature makes them too visible in the line of sight.

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