After decades of ideation, deliberation, and planning, the Eastside finally gets modern rapid transit tomorrow, when the East Link “2 Line” opens for service. But tomorrow’s opening is really to whet riders’ appetites for the full connection to the Central Link “spine,” which is tentatively slated for late 2025, thanks to construction mishaps on the I-90 bridge.
Weāll be at the opening ceremony at Bellevue Downtown Station at 10 am. Wear a hat, and we can be the Hatted Transit Fans. People from The Urbanist and other groups will be there too. When train service starts at 11 am or soon after, we’ll take the 550 down to South Bellevue Station, and then ride Link end-to-end from South Bellevue to Redmond Tech.
The 241 and 249 also go from Bellevue TC to South Bellevue Station, if both Link and the 550 are too crowded.
If you’re coming from Seattle, the 550 leaves 5th & Union at 8:53am (arrive 9:24), 9:08am (arrive 9:49), and 9:23am (arrive 9:54). On top of regular 550 service, Sound Transit is also providing a shuttle from South Bellevue to Bellevue Transit Center between 8:30 and 11am.
The Seattle Times has a good timeline of East Link history, from 1994 to present.
On Sunday morning (the day after) routes 550, 240, and 249 will bypass stops between NE 2nd Street and SE 16th Street due to the “All in for Autism 5K Run/Walk” on Bellevue Way. Metro’s Service Advisories page has specific details on each route.
Sights and Sounds from the Preview Ride
Members of the press were invited to preview the full length of the 2 Line yesterday. We rode north from South Bellevue Station, with brief stops at Bellevue Downtown, Spring District, and Redmond Technology stations, before making the return trip southbound. Below is a selection of brief clips of the journey. The full album is available here.
Departing South Bellevue Station with a view of the park-and-ride and Mercer Slough
Platform shot of a Redmond-bound train departing Spring District Station
Crossing I-405 from Wilburton Station into Downtown Bellevue
This is an open thread.
Thanks for the videos!
I could quibble about the use of the word āmodernā. While the stations and track and vehicles are new and hence modern, the technology isnāt so modern.
Curious fact:
Bellevue: 6 stations for 150K population
Seattle: 16 stations for 750K population
As of tomorrow, Bellevue will have way more light rail stations per capita than Seattle does. Itās almost double (1 per 25K for Bellevue and 1 per 47K for Seattle).
No more Bellevue stations are planned until after 2040 assuming 4 Line opens with 3-4 more inside the city limits. In contrast, Seattle gets 2 more by 2026. Beyond that, Seattle has ST3 plans for 1 more infill station, 3 with West Seattle Link and 6-11 with Ballard + DSTT2 (variable ways to count or not count second platforms at transfer stations as well as different alternative numbers) but most of those are almost assuredly delayed to past 2040 too (except for West Seattle Link which at best will likely be in the mid 2030ās).
And within the next year or two, Redmond at 4 stations for about 80K population (1 station for 20K residents) will be higher than even Bellevue ā with Mercer Islandās 1 station for 25K making it about even with Bellevue and way higher than Seattle. Of course, Shoreline will have 2 stations for 60K residents, and Mountlake Terrace gets 1 station with 22K residents ā besting Seattleās ratio too by the end of this year.
That puts Seattle as #6 city in terms of station density for at least the next decade.
Yikes! I forgot Tukwila at 1 station for 21K residents and SeaTac at 2 stations for 30K residents! And Redmond will have 2 opening tomorrow or 1 station for 40K residents starting tomorrow. That makes Seattle the #6 in the station density rankings starting tomorrow rising to #8 with Lynnwood Linkās opening.
Seattle #5 tomorrow. (Mercer Island wonāt open tomorrow).
Interesting. To some extent this is just trivia, but it also shows that they simply shortchanged Seattle when it comes to stations. Big stop spacing in the suburbs is actually quite reasonable. But it is really unusual to have so few stations in the urban core. Mainly because it is a really bad idea. This is the most important area to cover. It is where you get the bulk of your ridership and you tend to add the most value (in terms of time saved). It benefits both urban and suburban riders to cover the city well, and Link just skips over various potential stops.
I still shake my head as to why there wasn’t a station at Volunteer Park and Montlake Neighborhood.
Iād agree that ST should have dropped in stations on the existing line in a few more places. Montlake/520 and Volunteer Park at the Water Tower would have been good. Pike and Boylston would have been good, as well as a station under the 12th Ave bridge south of Dearborn. But itās too late now.
Of course, Seattle has lots more subway track per capita. This is just counting stations. And Seattle is supposed to somewhat ācatch upā in station density when both West Seattle and SLU/ Ballard are opened. Had West Seattle and Ballard extensions been designed on the surface like MLK, there too would be more stations.
Anyway, when some suburbanite naively complains that Link is too Seattle-focused, here is a fact that contradicts that perception.
“Kent and Auburn enter the room…”
@ Cam: Renton too.
Even though both are right in the city limits, Kent is getting two stations in FWLE.
Renton, Kirkland and then Auburn are the most populous King County cities missing out on Link after 2026. ST3 gave all three modest consolation prizes in garages and/or Stride.
Kent is getting service almost literally in name only. The station is on the far far western edge, where very few people actually live. If they named it, more appropriately, Highline College, people wouldn’t be suggesting that Kent was being served. Because they aren’t. The Valley where most people live has, and will continue to have, horrendous transit options.
And its the 6th biggest city in the state.
Kent is getting service almost literally in name only.
Agreed. The “Kent” stations aren’t really in Kent. I mean technically they are, but that isn’t the main part of Kent.
āKent and Auburn enter the roomā¦ā
Kent and Auburn are both low-density outer suburbs. The main part of each city is served by Sounder. This is appropriate given the location and density. In contrast Seattle is where most of the density is. Not only in terms of where people live and work, but where they go to learn, get health care or be entertained. The density is mostly in Seattle which means that the trips are bound to be relatively short, yet be relatively slow for a lot of trips. This combination of density, proximity and lack of fast driving alternatives is where mass transit really pays off — yet Link seemingly ignores this universal truth.
Of course, Seattle has lots more subway track per capita. This is just counting stations.
Right, but that is the problem. Track is useless without stations. I could be standing over Link in Montlake and it does me no good if I’m trying to get downtown. In contrast a station at 23rd & Madison would at least make it easier to transfer to the train. Of course if I lived close to there — and plenty of people do — it would dramatically change things.
@Cam,
āKent is getting service almost literally in name only. ā
Kent Des Moines Station actually isnāt named after either city. Itās named after Kent Des Moines Road, which is the nearest thing to a recognizable landmark in the local area.
āThe Valley where most people live has, and will continue to have, horrendous transit options.ā
Yep. They have good commuter type service via Sounder and Sound Transit commuter buses, but the rest sort of sucks.
Part of that is just that the development patterns donāt lend themselves to efficient transit systems, but the rest? Talk to Metro. They are the responsible party.
Talk to Metro.
Yeah, talk to Metro. But remember that Lazarus thinks Metro shouldn’t have more money to provide more service. Or change the routes. So … good luck.
“The main part of each city is served by Sounder. This is appropriate given the location and density.”
I disagree. Sounder is insufficient to the need, beyond the 7:30am crowd, if you want to have people actually use transit.
Kent is half the size of Seattle and half the density, but that doesn’t mean they should get very close to nothing.
Deep bore tunnel construction method means expensive mined stations which means fewer stations
Sounder is insufficient to the need, beyond the 7:30am crowd
Right, but that is the only time of day when you have the ridership where a train can be justified.
Kent is half the size of Seattle and half the density
Kent is maybe 1/5 the size of Seattle and less than half the density, but a single number doesn’t tell the whole story when it comes to density. It doesn’t account for distribution. A city where everyone lives in a small area and the rest of the city is all parkland is very different than a city where everyone is evenly spread out. What you really want to look at is how many people live in dense neighborhoods (and how dense). Thus there is no single number that represents that. But if you look at population density for the region (using census data) you’ll notice that just about every dense neighborhood is in Seattle. There are a few clusters on the East Side (mostly Bellevue) and little pockets here and there, but the vast majority of dense neighborhoods are in Seattle.
Then there is proximity. The few pockets of density in Kent are not near other density. Again, I mean density of all types (population, employment, education, etc.). There are definitely some destinations within Kent itself (or nearby cities) but it is nothing like Seattle. Do you really think that Kent could justify a subway system if not for Seattle? That is like saying the Tri-Cities should build a subway system. Kent (like the East Side) is highly dependent on Seattle when it comes to transit ridership. This starter line would simply not exist if not for the connection to Seattle. The difference is that Bellevue has way more dense areas than other suburbs, and Bellevue is also fairly close to Seattle. Unfortunately, Kent is not an inner suburb. It is too far from Seattle to generate much ridership (outside of peak commuter trips).
but that doesnāt mean they should get very close to nothing.
No, it means they should have bus service, as investing in expensive rail service (outside of relatively cheap commuter rail) would be a huge waste of money. What Kent needs — hell, what most of the region needs — is just better bus service. Restructures help (they definitely would make a huge difference in Seattle) but Kent basically just needs a lot more money for the buses.
Deep bore tunnel construction method means expensive mined stations which means fewer stations
Or you spend more money to do it right. Stations are expensive but urban stations pay for themselves well before long-distance suburban extensions do. Oh, and it is worth pointing out that even when Link is elevated there are large gaps without stations. Even when the train runs on the surface there are large gaps. Some of that is due to the routes they chose, but that just demonstrates flawed thinking. If the route doesn’t have the opportunity for good stop spacing, then choose a better route.
Even in the city you see this. West Seattle Link has no new stations between West Seattle and downtown. Why? Because there is basically nothing there — it is essentially a freeway. So why are we building this if there is already a freeway connecting West Seattle to downtown? Aren’t there better corridors?
Even Ballard Link — the only major project in ST3 with lots of merit — has the same problem. If you are going to build a second downtown tunnel, shouldn’t you maximize coverage downtown? If there are really big gaps between stations with the Interbay route, shouldn’t we consider getting to Ballard via the UW (where there are much better stops along the way)?
Oh, and West Seattle Link is not going to be deep bored, but it will still cost a fortune. Ballad Link isn’t cheap either, despite the fact that much of it is elevated. Federal Way Link is all elevated and is very expensive now.
So yeah, you are right. Deep bore does tend to have more expensive stations. But that really isn’t the problem. The problem is ST undervalues urban stations, and overvalues suburban ones. They bought into the BART model hook, line and sinker. They are building a hybrid system, instead of building what makes sense to build: A really good metro for the city/inner suburbs, a good complementary bus system and good connections between them.
Itās not the deep bores that raise the cost. Itās the depth of the station vaults to get down to those deep bores that get costly.
And the extra time to get down deep discourages ridership. San Franciscoās Central Subway is underperforming because the analysis did not effectively include the extra time penalty to get deep.
“Kent is maybe 1/5 the size of Seattle and less than half the density, but a single number doesnāt tell the whole story when it comes to density.”
Yeah, sorry. when I said size, I meant, well size. It’s about half the square miles. And because it has half the density, it’s about a quarter the population.
“Kent and Auburn are both low-density outer suburbs.”
It’s about 18 miles between Redmond and Westlake. And it’s about 20 miles between Kent and Westlake. The only real difference is the need to serve rich people. Yes, Bellevue has a couple census tracts with a handful of towers full of rich people, but it also has a vast gulf between the eastside and Seattle of absolutely nothing called Lake Washington. Mercer Island should be considered a subtraction, because of their refusal to upzone near their station. If they were poor that would have been steamrolled. Yes, I’m playing the class card.
“….the vast majority of dense neighborhoods are in Seattle.”
The reason for that is they are (drumroll) streetcar neighborhoods. In other words, back a hundred years ago, people built transit, and density built up around it. Hmmm… maybe that would work again… Nah.
Itās about 18 miles between Redmond and Westlake. And itās about 20 miles between Kent and Westlake
Right. And building a train out to Redmond would be silly if Bellevue didn’t exist. But it does. Like it or not, Downtown Bellevue is a major employment center. It also has plenty of people (not all of them rich). Microsoft is also a major employment center. Buses from other areas will be truncated. This doesn’t save riders much time (if any) but it will save the transit agencies some money, and allow them to run the train and buses more often. It is really the combination of all of these things that makes it a worthy project.
But if it was just Redmond to Seattle they would be better off with buses. As folks have pointed out, Redmond to Downtown Seattle is actually faster with the existing express buses. But Redmond is basically a relatively cheap add-on to the Bellevue line, and since Downtown Bellevue (and Microsoft) are destinations, the extension is reasonable.
In contrast there aren’t major destinations in the South Sound. You’ve got SeaTac, but that is nowhere near as big a destination as Downtown Bellevue (or the UW) let alone Downtown Seattle. If Link ran to Kent a lot of riders would continue to just take Sounder to get to Downtown Seattle. Like folks in Redmond they would be better off with express buses to downtown in the middle of the day (versus Link). Unlike riders from Redmond there wouldn’t be much between downtown and Kent that would justify a train. It would be best to invest in better bus service.
Of course they aren’t doing that either. If you look at things from a provincial standpoint, it is a pretty easy it is easy to make the case that Kent (like Renton) is not getting a good deal when it comes to Sound Transit spending. Subarea equity was designed so that each region got their “fair share”. But the areas are huge, and the benefit tends to be concentrated.
When it comes to local benefit, it is neither here nor there. If the suburbs chipped in for a better Seattle system you could justify it because a fair number of people (from outside Seattle) end up using it. Or you could justify it based on economic growth. But placed like Kent are paying a bundle for things like for Federal Way Link, and not getting that much out of it. But I would say this has more to do with poor spending decisions rather than just bad luck (or political forces). Even projects that directly benefit Kent — like the expanded parking garage — are of dubious value.
Question for Mike (or anyone who is going to use the starter line). You said you would start incorporating the starter line into your Seattle to east Bellevue trips. I don’t doubt your belief it will help you, but I am curious if trip planner will recommend the same thing. If you put in where you first board transit in Seattle, and your final destination in east Bellevue, is it telling you that your best option is to use the starter line? Again, not doubting you. I’m sincerely curious what trip planner recommends.
I’ve been playing around with trip planner a little, and when I change the date to when the starter line is running, it does seem to work pretty well. For example, it recommends the way to get from the Redmond TC to the Bellevue TC is to take the B Line to the Redmond Tech, then transfer to the 2 Line to Bellevue Downtown. From a time-saving perspective, that makes perfect sense.
I don’t use trip planners so I don’t know. They usually give me less efficient routes than I could do myself, or I want the whole schedule because I don’t know when I’ll leave. I sometimes consult them when I have no idea what routes fill a gap, like from Lake City to Lynnwood, or anything north of downtown Kirkland.
B+Link from Redmond to Bellevue probably is a good idea. The B takes surprisingly long from Crossroads to downtown Bellevue in the afternoon, and you’d only be waiting for Link up to 10 minutes. It’s similar to taking Link to Roosevelt and the 62 to Magnuson Park, rather than taking the 62 from downtown.
Maybe the trip planners should be revamped if all that is true.
So does the line actually open to the public at 11:02 am local time?
Or does it open at 1102 Zulu as the countdown timer says?
Because the ceremony and the opening donāt need to align. And Zulu aināt local time.
But Iām darn sure I wonāt be there. Donāt want to hassle with parking.
I’d be really surprised if it’s running at 1102 Zulu (4:02 AM) tomorrow.
Not disappointed, but surprised.
@William,
Concur 100%. But that is what the countdown timer says.
I think the timer is probably wrong, but Iād prefer if it wasnāt.
Oh well.
This is going to be very bittersweet for this Eastsider. When we were seeing the East Link being built the last few years, my mother said she hoped she would live long enough to ride it. Sadly, she got a surprise stage 4 cancer diagnosis last year, and passed away a month ago, just a few months short of her 80th. birthday. It’s sad she wasn’t able to hang on long enough to experience that opening day ceremony, as she, her caretakers and I were excited to enjoy a ride together on Link that didn’t require a trip to Seattle to board.
On the other hand, there is a growing interest in East Link for Eastsiders and others who aren’t normal transit users. One brother never takes the bus, for example, but is interested in the train, especially for times like festivals and airport trips when parking will be hellish. My young niece in Beacon Hill is excited that she can soon take the train to Redmond Town Center, her favorite mall. And outside the Eastside, one of Mom’s caretakers is so excited for the train, she’s going to drive up here from her home in Federal Way for the inaugural day of East Link.
“And outside the Eastside, one of Momās caretakers is so excited for the train, sheās going to drive up here from her home in Federal Way for the inaugural day of East Link.” That’s what a real Link fan would do.
Thanks for sharing this; we’ll remember your mother as we do our first ride.
My mom has only ridden Link once, when I took her on the initial segment. We must have driven to TIB so she could park, since it was hard for her to walk to bus stops or transfer. She always told me stories of riding the San Francisco cable cars in the 1950s and biking with her dog. I was born in San Jose and we moved here in 1972, so we completely missed BART, the Market Street subway, VTA light rail, and Silicon Valley. She didn’t recognize Caltrain when I mentioned it, so the penninsula trains must have other names then.
My friend in north Lynnwood didn’t think she’d be alive for Swift Orange or Lynnwood Link, but we rode Swift Orange on its opening. I wonder if I’ll still be able to go out and ride transit when Ballard Link opens. P.S. She’ll be there Saturday.
Credit to Sherwin Lee for doing the media ride, taking videos, and finishing the article.
Is Seattle Sound Transit systems going to have 24/7 service šāš¦ŗ in Seattle, Washington eventually.
Early long-term plans had potential 24-hour service someday, but I haven’t seen it in reports since around 2014. It’s probably like Ballard automation and a CID center platform, which ST said ca. 2016 it would look into, but then apparently didn’t.
It tends to be very expensive to operate a subway system 24 hours a day. You also don’t get that many riders. It is common for even very busy systems — like the Paris Metro — to close at night. The key is to have really good bus/tram service then, so that riders have an alternative. Traffic tends to be very light when the trains stop running and you have reduced loads, making buses a good alternative then.
In this area late-night service is a bit of a mixed bag. I don’t think ST has ever focused on it.
I would agree, Ross.
Two little comments on the topic:
1. As an airline hub, SeaTac gets late night and early morning flights. Ideally, the first train arrives from Downtown Seattle at 5:48 and the last train leaves for Downtown Seattle at 11:58 pm. There are earlier and later trains but they stop in SODO. As Link goes further, the times to get a train may shrink. Some sort of all night accommodation is needed.
2. I get why stations need to be closed overnight. What I donāt get is why there isnāt a limited stop bus service at each station overnight. Other systems do this. There should be a 1 Line overnight bus and a 2 Line overnight bus.
Taxi lobby.
Planning your Line 2 excursion: Lindblom on the goods and bads of each East Link station. ($)
Bellevue Downtown: “It requires only a stairway walk down from the street-level plaza to the train level”. We’ll have to double-check whether there’s a down escalator. If not, it’s another case of ST sabotaging its light rail network at the core transfer points. Surely people will be transferring to Stide 1 and 2, and to RapidRide B and the 250 and 271. I’m wondering how many people will transfer to the B at Wilburton to avoid the long gap at Bellevue TC, or whether Wilburton will be any better.
BelRed: “Sound Transitās 300-stall commuter parking lot.” To be fair, it was in the middle of nowhere when the line was planned, and Spring District growth wasn’t expected to reach the area until some years later, But, “Development is beginning, namely a 249-unit apartment block named Ondina and 298-unit Bellevue Station”. Each one those is almost as many units as the P&R’s parking spaces. And the P&R is designed to be convertable to housing later.
Pretty sure the 110th entrance has stairs, escalators, and elevators, and the 112th entrance just has stairs and elevators.
And the P&R is designed to be convertable to housing later.
Which is huge. So many of our garages are not only extremely expensive, but can’t easily be converted to another use. Looks like they did this one right.
The lack of a Downtown Bellevue down escalator is by far the biggest rider-hostile feature that I observed. People will complain for years to come. I think they did have two elevators adjacent to each other, which should cut down on waiting.
At some point, I hope some advocacy for revisiting STās cultural hostility to down escalators occurs. It is a systemwide issue. I hope someday that ST will do a study that describes how to add a down escalator off of every platform, and estimates costs to make that happen.
I will commend ST for providing good weather protection for vertical devices in the new stations.
South Bellevue has down escalators, but few other stations did. I have to assume it was due to space limitations – they need to provide stairs in case the escalators fail, but there often seemed to be a lack of room for stairs and bi-directional escalators in the egress areas at each station.
@Al S,
ā People will complain for years to come.ā
LOL. A truer statement has never been said.
This is Seattle, and the āSeattle Whineā is a thing. People will complain. Provide down escalators? People will complain about public bathrooms. Provide public bathrooms? People will complain about the color of the tiles. Or the blah blah blah. Itās a thing.
I tend to think down escalators are important and should be included, but Rogoff was a government bureaucrat, and he decided to hit his budget instead. Oh well.
But maybe someday. But now it comes down to a decision to re-engineer existing stations, or to fund expansion? And we all know how that story will play out.
But it sounds like a really successful first day for ELSL. ST might have even hit their ridership target on day one!
Me? I stayed home and cleaned the grout in the shower. Much more productive than fighting the crowds.
Lazarus:
ā People will complain about public bathrooms. ā
ST has clearly pointed the public to use Bellevue City Hall bathrooms today.
My wife is on a southbound 1 train that’s been stuck at Westlake for a while now. They can’t open the doors on it. I imagine the whole system is backed up.
Apparently they are somehow off the rail.
But apparently they will be getting out of the train so I will have no further updates.
Unfortunately East Main is kind of a folly station in the SE corner of Downtown then 200 ft south of Main Street literally wedged between a giant wall, a stroad and I-405. Even the minimal events being held at that station tomorrow for the grand opening show it will have little use.
Similarly a real shame the busy and destination-rich west side of Downtown Bellevue has no Link service.
poncho, you can complain about station placement with any number of stations. East Main should have been on Bellevue Way. 130th should have been on Lake City Way. Rainier Beach should have been at Rainier and Henderson. South Bellevue should be in Factoria. BelRed should be on 140th, not 130th. UW should be in the center of campus. Northgate should be in central Northgate. Mountlake Terrace should be in central Mountlake Terrace. Lynnwood City Center should be in the center of commercial Lynnwood. Star Lake should be on Pac Hwy. And on, and on, and on. The East Main placement has been unfairly singled out, when a lot of stations aren’t in the ideal location.
By the way, 112th isn’t a stroad.
Whatās planned for East Main and 112th dwarfs whatās at East Main and Bellevue Way. Here are the three projects at the other three corners of the station (located on the fourth corner).
– 22 story residential tower opening soon along with lots more on the northwest corner:
https://www.bellevuedowntown.com/go/broadstone-bellevue-gateway
– Proposed project in the southeast corner with six towers up to 38 stories::
https://www.theurbanist.org/2022/04/11/east-main-village-redevelopment-to-bring-1350-homes-office-space-and-retail-near-light-rail/
– Project on the northeast corner up to 20 stories:
https://collinswoerman.com/bellevista-place
It may seem like a folly right now, but itās going to be very different very soon.
As to residents of the 38 story tower in the southeast corner, they will be blocked from accessing Surrey downs park without going all the way to Main. There used to be a pedestrian connection between the park and 112, until Sound Transit closed it off with a fence and locked gate.
I’m sure the residents of Surrey downs who strongly opposed the train even being built will be happy to know that they won’t have to share their park with the riffraff living in future TOD on the other side of the station.
Old Bellevue is more of a destination than a couple high rises. Just because you build housing units near a station it doesn’t necessarily mean ridership.
The problem with East Main is that the density that does exist (or will exist) overlaps with the main Downtown Bellevue station. The stations are about a half mile from each other. They line up pretty much due north-south. Any development in between is at best simply reducing the amount of walking that a rider takes. You want development to the east, west and south. Now consider that:
East — This area has some development potential but there are issues with the freeway. Not only does the freeway take up a lot of space that would otherwise be within walking distance of the station, but it prevents easy egress. The station isn’t actually on Main, but a little bit south of it. For example this trip is less than 400 meters as the crow flies, but since people aren’t crows it takes a long time.
West — This is Surrey Downs, a low-density area that isn’t likely to change any time soon. Making matters worse, various streets don’t go through. For example, this is the walk from the high school. If there was a normal grid then the walk would be cut in half.
South — Pretty much the same story. Southeast you are hemmed in by the freeway; southwest you run into Surrey Downs. Oh, and there is also a park and wetlands (on either side).
In contrast, a station at Bellevue Way & Main doesn’t have those problems. To begin with, it is far enough away from the main Downtown Station to avoid poaching riders. There is density all around it (right next to it, right now). The grid is not perfect, but it works quite well for most trips. In short, it would complement the main Downtown Bellevue Station quite well.
Asdf:
ā A pedestrian bridge over five-lane 112th Avenue SE will connect the site with East Main Station and will supplement three at-grade crossings at Main Street, SE 300 Block, and SE 6th Street.ā
Source:
https://www.theurbanist.org/2022/04/11/east-main-village-redevelopment-to-bring-1350-homes-office-space-and-retail-near-light-rail/
@Al S,
Yes, there is a lot of development activity planned and in progress near the East Main Station.
That station will only do better in the future, and the ped bridge will be a great addition.
Really hope they can run the 2 better than they do with the 1. Single tracking from stadium to westlake on a Friday afternoon is a bad look.even when it was over thsb trains at westlakeat 3pm reminded me of trying to ride singapores mrt at rush. No chance forget about Lynnwood they ALREADY have a crowding issue but at least people are riding again…
Looks like WSDOT is closing off the Montlake area and the 520 bridge this weekend, creating a long detour for North Seattle folks who were planning to take ST542 straight to Redmond Technology station. Bummer.
Wow. That’s terrible.
It’s actually kinda confusing. On google maps it shows the entire bridge as being closed, but on the wsdot page it seems its just the montlake entrances/exits.
No idea if the 542 can just use the i5 southbound to i520 ramps rather than montlake ramps or if it is going to detour around on i90.
> Keep in mind that if youāre heading east on SR 520 this weekend, you can expect to cross the bridge and pay the toll. With the ramps to Montlake Blvd closed, you wonāt be able to exit beforehand.
https://twitter.com/wsdot_520
It looks like 520 bridge itself is still open??
Metro and ST schedules seem to have the appropriate alerts. It looks like the buses don’t stop south of Campus Parkway. I would imagine they work their way over to I-5. At that point I would assume they just go on 520, but as WL pointed out, Google Maps doesn’t seem to accept that.
How many politicians does it take to cut a ribbon? Assuming a dozen, how long would it take? Bonus essay question: Compare and contrast a dozen politicians cutting a light rail ribbon to Murder on the Orient Express.
Ha! That’s funny.
It apparently takes more politicians to cut a ribbon than it does politicians to change a light bulb (one; he holds the light bulb up, and the universe revolves around him).
Dang, light bulb jokes are more fun than knock-knock jokes.
In true Sound Transit fashion, the speeches are going overtime and the start of service is delayed. Lots of excited folks here at South Bellevue! Although, it sounds like theyāre running a ceremonial train from Bellevue Downtown to South Bellevue first.
11:32am – doors open for first in-service train from South Bellevue!
Claudia Balducci and other pols just boarded the train in Bellevue Downtown
@Nathan,
30 minutes late. Not bad for a bunch of politicians giving speeches and patting each other on the back.
The people I know who have ridden ELSL say that it surprisingly fast, and with surprisingly good views too.
Iāll probably ride in June. Unless I get word next week that I need to go to Bellevue to do this one pick up.
I was waiting at South Bellevue too!
A few comments:
– ST was running several original fleet trains on 2 Line today. Like car 105! I guess that they were hauled over from the 1 Line. My hunch is that ST made a choice to move kesss reliable vehicles to the East OMF.
– Waiting so long for a train meant that I elected the station. For some reason, the emergency phone at the northern platform end is behind a restricted area gate. Design fail! You canāt use an emergency phone behind a security gate!
– Also donāt get why ST builds discontinuous awnings. Not only were there several along platforms but some platforms have awning that stop a foot shy of the train doors! Why have an awning that doesnāt get you all the way into the train as well as keep water from sprinkling into the train when doors are open?
– The lack of Downtown Bellevue station down escalators is notable. 54 steps!
– the a Redmond Technology station has a loading area for shuttles as well as buses, and inside the coffee shop at the station is a cool real-time arrival display! We need more of those!
I was at the South Bellevue station for that first northbound trip as well! I probably passed by Nathan and Al S in the crowd. I appreciate that Sound Transit staff kept us informed about why the train was leaving late.
To assuage Eastsidersā fears about crime, the Bellevue Police Department is establishing a Link patrol unit. https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/bellevue/bellevue-police-light-rail-unit-sound-transit-2-line-opening/281-51d791aa-e4f6-4e74-8b26-971177f78f49
Iām going to wait for the crowds to lessen somewhat before I take my first ride today. Itās like how I waited for a few days before I visited the new Dickās and Krispy Kreme on the Eastside because I knew the initial crowds would be ridiculous.
I also needed to get to Bellevue today anyway. I need a new coffee table, and Iāll take the train to the Wilburton station, where Iāll peruse the Kasala and Ethan Allen stores in the mall north of Whole Foods. I may also get lunch at the 3 Pigs Barbecue in that mall, while taking something home from the food trucks for dinner.
Agreed. Iām going to wait until tomorrow to check it out and let the crowds die down. Happy to hear lots of people turned out for this event though. It really will be a regional game changer when the full 2 line opens. But this for now, is a great compromise. Congrats to Bellevue and Redmond!
I met up with some of my friends at Redmond Tech (aka Microsoft) Station and rode the full line round-trip. It was fun! Pleasantly surprised how crowded the trains are.
Been watching the news coverage of todayās ELSL opening. Lots of happy people, and pretty good crowds.
King5 has already pivoted to talking about the Lynnwood Link opening later this summer. That will be a huge event for the entire region.
At least two Link extensions will open in less than a year, and probably three actually. Awesome. Good things are happening.
Just two ā Lynnwood and Downtown Redmond
The ST February progress report states October 23, 2025 for East Link across Lake Washington and April 15, 2026 for Federal Way.
https://www.soundtransit.org/sites/default/files/documents/agency-progress-report-capital-program-feb-2024.pdf
Ive never seen the progress report be later than the opening date when the date is less than two years away.
@Al S,
I was counting ELSL as one of the āextensionsā, even though it isnāt technically attached to anything.
So ELSL, LLE, and likely RLE should all open in less than 1 year. Awesome.
And now that Sound Transit has shown that they can open a partial extension, is it too soon to start talking about a Federal Way Link Starter Line?
Ya, it would only be one more station. But it is a pretty darn important station.
@Lazarus: Yes I didnāt count today. I was mistaken.
If it was up to me, KDM would open when East Link across Lake Washington does. By then the East OMF and its vehicle storage will be open so the rail tracks would be free to use. However, FW full opening date is slightly less than six months after this date. Plus a partial opening requires changing out lots of signs, systems and driver schedules. So I expect ST to open it all at once.
I donāt see how theyād be able to get Federal Way Starter Line open, unless theyāve also got OMF South open as well. Otherwise thereās no way to maintain the cars.
If the replacement bridge is done enough for shoving cars across with a trackmobile, then it wouldnāt be that much longer until itās ready for regular operation.
Obviously, KDM doesnāt suffer from these problems.
@Al S,
ā If it was up to me, KDM would open when East Link across Lake Washington does.ā
I concur, but Iām not sure if they could handle that logistically. Seems like a lot to juggle. But ST worked magic with ELSL, so who knows.
āPlus a partial opening requires changing out lots of signs, systems and driver schedules.ā
The resources required to open a Federal Way Starter Line are actually pretty small. Part of the line to KDM has already been cleared to operate LRVās, because that is where they are storing them now in support of LLE.
In fact, that line actually got cleared per fit and function testing before LLE did. Iām just not sure if that extended all the way to KDM itself.
And the operators are actually operating on part of it now, in support of distributed storage. But again, Iām not sure if they are going all the way to the station. And it is only for storage.
@Glenn,
A Federal Way Link Starter Line would only open after full ELE opens. Storage requirements are actually pretty small and would be handled at OMF-E.
No need to use the new span across the unstable soil area.
Is there going to be a post about the events of Line 2 Opening Day? I’m putting together a write up of my experience and want to add it to the comments. What a great day it was!
I’ll collect the notes that have accumulated.
Here’s one of the best videos I’ve seen about the opening day experience, the ride, and various stations.
https://youtu.be/Fi4ktBX3HXg?si=ip25A2Ra_Ntf2C9k
@Psycho Train,
ā What a great day it was!ā
I did not ride on day one, but I get the impression it was a very good day, and that people were very excited to finally have Link on the Eastside.
I can also tell that it must have gone exceptionally well because everyone on this blog seems to be going out of their way to make negative comments about Link, even off topic comments.
Over the years I have discovered that that usually is a good indication that Sound Transit/Link did something good.
Progress. And apparently good progress at that!
Now on to the big one, the opening of Lynnwood Link!!!!!!
āI can also tell that it must have gone exceptionally well because everyone on this blog seems to be going out of their way to make negative comments about Link, even off topic comments.ā
Itās like having a new warm jacket, Lazarus. If youāve never had one before, any new jacket is great!
Then as you wear it every day, you begin to understand its mistakes. Too few pockets. Doesnāt keep the rain or wind out. Difficult to put on. Easy to discolor permanently. Having a zipper in the wrong place. Even too warm like a parka when what would work better is a light rain jacket with cuffs.
Yes it was a great day. I donāt think any regulars here feel like 2 Line is a boondoggle, even with the South Bellevue alignment controversy of 15 years ago.
But now that the East side has its first tailored ājacketā, there will be things that riders will quickly conclude could have been done better. Itās not like they are ungrateful; they simply are commenting on how it could have fit better.
Lots of the criticism is often a matter of spending public money. St spent public money in some areas but not others. So we all have been paying for East Link for 15 years now. It simply finally arrived on our doorstep! Critiques are valid even if we generally like the jacket and need the jacket.
I think ST did some things to keep East Link costs down that Iām not seeing in the ST3 projects. For example, four of the eight new stations on this segment have level pedestrian track crossings at stations, with two more having center platforms with down escalators. The remaining two have two adjacent elevators down to the platform. The fewer levels that a rider must negotiate the better the station accessibility generally and the cheaper the station is to both build and maintain, so I commend ST for generally making pedestrian access easier than theyāre doing elsewhere. Transferring to a bus or shuttle at Redmond Technology is much easier than at Downtown Bellevue. Still, other people concerned about safety would criticize ST for allowing those crossings.