Let’s start with an idea, a first principle if you will, that rider experience matters. Rider experience should always be our #1 goal in station and network design. Stations should be built as close to the surface as possible, with easy-to-understand way finding, built with properly sized and redundant conveyances to the platform, and station exits should be positioned to seamlessly connect to other modes. I would use a station that did all of that, wouldn’t you?
Light rail to Ballard is in trouble due in part to a $17B hole in the budget. This cost assumes a very high bridge or a very deep tunnel. Clearly the time is right to engage in some out-of-box thinking to try to find a less expensive option. What if we didn’t need a deep bore tunnel to add Ballard to the regional light rail network?
A view of a Link light rail test train on the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge with Mount Rainier in the background. (Bruce Englehardt / CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Sound Transit’s 2 Line light rail service will carry it’s first passengers across Lake Washington in just a few days. Puget Sound residents have long envisioned a passenger rail connection between Seattle and the Eastside. In 1968 and 1970, voters failed to approve Forward Thrust rapid transit propositions. Less than a decade later, work began on what would eventually be the Crosslake Connection opening on Saturday.
Essential Groundwork: 1976-1993
In December 1976, a Memorandum Agreement was signed that outlined the construction of an “improved I-90 facility between I-405 and I-5”. The agreement, signed by Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, King County, Metro Transit, and the Washington State Highway Commission, outlined a new I-90 roadway that should include reversible lanes dedicated for buses, carpools, and Mercer Island residents. The document also stated the new “facility shall be designed and constructed so that conversion of all or part of the transit roadway to fixed guideway is possible”. This language was optimistic at the time, but vital a few decades later.
Originally Ballard was going to be served by a bridge over the Ship Canal along 14th or 15th Ave NW with a station along on that street. Either way such station would be far from the old town or the current center of Ballard along Market Street. While 3 stations were proposed for West Seattle, now that a tunnel is preferred, Sound Transit should consider another station further west and closer to the center of Ballard. This station may even be a surface or very shallow station. It could be designed as the last station on the line or allow for an extension along 24th Ave NW with the ultimate goal to connect back to the 1 Line further north.
Sound Transit should also consider how an east/west line towards Fremont and UW could connect to the Ballard station. If such connection could be made south of the Ballard station and if it would also include a crossover, then trains coming from UW could either turn around and head back or continue towards downtown.
One possible route would go one block further north parallel to Market Street on NW 56th St. and stop at the Ballard Library. A second station could serve the brewery district on 14th (or 15th) Ave NW. A UW line (thin line) could join from Leary Way.
Another possible route would go closer to the old town along Leary Way NW with a single station close to Market Street. A UW line (thin line) could add another station close to Fred Meyer.
It seems a single station along 15th Ave, or even worse 14th Ave, would not be enough to serve Ballard. In particular, if Sound Transit decides to truncate the Ballard line for now, it should consider a station closer to the heart of Ballard at a later time.
The Link 1 Line runs between Angle Lake in SeaTac and Lynnwood via Tukwila, Seattle, Shoreline, and Mountlake Terrace. In May 2025, the 1 Line had 105,586 average weekday boardings.
The 1 Line initially opened in July 2009 and ran between downtown Seattle (Westlake) and Tukwila. Since then, it has expanded north to the University of Washington in 2016, Northgate in 2021, Lynnwood in 2024, and south to SeaTac in December 2009 and Angle Lake in 2016. The Federal Way Link Extension is expected to open later this year.
The ridership data discussed in this article is just a snapshot of the current system. Link is still a growing system and many of the non-Link transit projects being built in Puget Sound will have a direct or indirect impact on ridership over the next few decades. The methodology behind the data shown below is discussed in the first comment below the post.
Average Weekday Boardings Per Station
The plot below shows the average weekday boarding count by station in each direction in May 2025. Southbound boarding counts are shown on the left and northbound boarding counts are shown to the right. The alighting count for a given station is similar to the boarding count in the opposite direction.
Average 1 Line Weekday Boarding Counts in May 2025
The 1 Line ridership patterns show that the highest ridership occurs between downtown Seattle and Northgate. U District has the higher number of southbound boardings and SeaTac/Airport has the highest number of northbound boardings. All stations north of the Montlake Cut (UW and above) have more southbound than northbound boardings. All stations south of UW have more northbound passengers.
On March 13, Sound Transit staff recommended the East Marginal Way location for the Boeing Access Road infill station rather than the originally planned location between I-5 and Sounder tracks next to the South Boeing Access Road overpass. Sound Transit held an open house in late February and reviewed both possible locations with the community.
The Boeing Access Road station was included in the 1996 Sound Move Plan but was not authorized by voters until ST3 passed in 2016. ST3 promised the station with 300 parking stalls, which is about half of the parking at Tukwila International Boulevard Station. Besides the platform and parking lot, the station will include two bus bays, a “kiss & ride” drop-off zone, as well as space for other drop off services such as Metro Flex or private employer shuttles. The targeted opening date is in 2031.
Locations considered for the Boeing Access Road Station (Sound Transit). Sound Transit staff have recommended a location on East Marginal Way near South 112th Street.
To accommodate growing passenger and cargo levels, the Port of Seattle plans to build new terminal for SeaTac Airport with their Sustainable Airport Master Plan. In addition, Concourse C will be expanded with 4 additional levels. There’s a slew of other projects but this article will focus on the transportation aspects for passengers and travelers. While earlier plans had called for a new people mover, the latest plan will only build an elevated busway.
During their meeting on October 24th, the Sound Transit Board selected the preferred alignment for the West Seattle Link Extension (WSLE). They also authorized staff to have their partners develop the final design for the stations and stub line between SODO and West Seattle. It will also include the connection to the existing SODO operations and maintenance facility. They also asked staff to look for ways to reduce cost. I reviewed the recording and staff presentation and thought I would share some observations.
Recent Hurricane Helene and numerous other weather events around the world have reinvigorated the discussion on how to slow down the climate change related to carbon emissions. Transportation is the largest contributor to those emissions, so many efforts focus on it, in particular to reduce individual car usage. Many transit advocates push for more transit infrastructure investments to make it more attractive to switch from individual car use to transit with its associated lower emissions. This was one of the primary goals of ST3, too. Of course, the initial construction of such infrastructure also generates emissions which need to be considered. I reviewed the recently published West Seattle Link Extension Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), as well as the prior Draft (DEIS), and contacted the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to learn about the trade-offs. Unfortunately, the current preferred alignment will not help the region.
A rendering of the West Seattle Link Extension’s planned cable-stayed bridge over the Duwamish. (Sound Transit)
Last week, Sound Transit released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the West Seattle Link Extension (WSLE) ahead of its scheduled publication date of September 20. Although there’s technically one more comment period allowed for the FEIS, the massive document and its findings present a detailed review of each of the potential alternative paths Link may take from SODO to West Seattle.
Although the FEIS is focused on a vast range of potential tangible and intangible impacts the project may have, left unstated are the potential impacts of the project costs significantly exceeding Sound Transit’s assumptions in their 2021 Realignment.
A Link light rail train stopped at the Lynnwood Center Station during service testing. Photo: Peter Bohler courtesy of Sound Transit.
On Thursday, Sound Transit staff presented the plan for Lynnwood Link Extension’s opening ceremonies to the Board’s Rider Experience and Operations Committee.
At 11am on Friday, August 30, Sound Transit will hold a ribbon cutting to formally open the Lynnwood Link Extension of the 1 Line. Like the opening ceremony of the 2 Line, the ribbon cutting will be preceded by speeches from elected officials, board members, and stakeholders. The first official public ride will take place from Lynnwood City Center Station following the ceremony.
That evening (4pm to 8pm), Sound Transit is planning a Night Market at Lynnwood City Center station and events at each of the stations opening along the line. ST estimates over 350 organizations are signed up to participate across the four opening stations, including performances, food vendors, arts and crafts booths, games, and more. There will also be a commemorative map encouraging participants to visit new each station along the extension.
