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Puget Sound Transportation Projects |
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Seattle/Central Link Light Rail
This is Seattle's first light rail system running from downtown to the airport. This line was originally designed to serve riders from the University District through to the airport, but the line was shortened after costs increased. Soon after voters approved Sound Transit, discussions began on extending the line to Northgate, which has a large regional bus transit center. Even future extensions to the Eastside or to Tacoma were proposed. Then the problems began. Due to the unique topography of the Seattle area, as well as its urbanization, a significant portion of the line needed to be in a tunnel under Capitol Hill and the University District. It turned out the tunneling would cost more than predicted due to difficult soils along the route. Then, another large portion of the line was designed to run at street level through the Rainier Valley. The community was upset by this, and demanded concessions. These issues led to years of delays, at a time when property values were just about doubling every year. Note that Sound Transit didn't own any of the right of way for the project at the start. The current project has been scaled back, yet is still more costly. Now the line will stop at the Westlake station of the downtown bus tunnel and will run to the airport after a short extension is completed. This line was opened in July 2009, while the airport extension opened in December of that year. The hoped for extension to Capitol Hill and the University of Washington begun construction in 2009. Due to the 2008 passage of Sound Transit 2 extensions will continue North from UW to Northgate and eventually Lynnwood. South extensions will continue from the airport to North Federal Way. East the line will continue over the I-90 floating bridge to Bellevue and out to Microsoft. 
While I don't doubt the ridership numbers for this project as the line will pass through some of the most urbanized areas in the Northwest, and so far the line has done well in that regard, it doesn't seem to do a lot for solving the areas' traffic problems. The two major traffic problems here are between Tacoma and Seattle/the Eastside, and between Seattle and the Eastside. However, Seattle to Tacoma is best handled by Sounder, preferably with an eventual cross-connection to the Eastside Monorail, and a possible Tacoma to the Eastside Sounder line. As for light rail to the Eastside, this would have a major impact on local traffic, but it would also have a major cost. Due to the depth and width of Lake Washington, it is only possible to cross it via floating bridge. Given problems utilizing the I-90 corridor, and with the current need for a new 520 bridge, that is the most logical path. But the current cost of a 520 bridge with light rail is 9 BILLION dollars. That is just for the bridge. Add more for the infrastructure on the Seattle side and the Eastside. Even with cost overruns the current Link system is much cheaper than this extension would be. The passage of Sound Transit 2 in 2007 does plan to run an Eastside Link over the I-90 floating bridge through Bellevue to Redmond. This line should be open by 2023. Another think to keep in mind, in my opinion, is that especially for a starter system such as this or the Tacoma Link, you may not see a lot of traffic benefits in the beginning, but it may help with business and tourism. There are still a lot of companies in downtown Seattle, with people who fly in and out to do business with them. To illustrate this case: in 2002 I flew to Idaho Falls, Idaho. On the way back, when landing at Sea-Tac, someone asked how close to downtown the airport is, if they could walk to it. So, for this tourist, having light rail at the airport going into downtown would be a MAJOR convenience. Even the MAX Red Line in Portland was built expressly for airport access. Furthermore, the line allows for a new way to access downtown: by parking at one of the outlying stations and riding the train in. Interesting Facts: Back to Top
Thoughts: Back to Top The opening of the line in 2009 has added more transportation options to the Seattle area. While the trains don't run packed full, when I have seen them in use they do have decent ridership. Also, the line serves as a convenient way into downtown Seattle without having to sit in traffic or pay for parking. I have already used the line to access downtown from the Tukwilla station and it was very convenient. One big plus of this system is using it to access sporting events at both Qwest Field and Safeco Field. With a station within a block of both stadiums the line again provides a fairly inexpensive, convenient way to the games. When the extensions are finished I see ridership skyrocketing on the line. When I lived on First Hill (right next to Capitol Hill) in college, we didn't visit the University District much since I didn't have a car and the bus took a long time to get there. With the train (and a station on Capitol Hill) this would have allowed us to access the area much more rapidly. Furthermore, the train allows students at UW to head downtown. Extending to the Eastside and North and South should dramatically help traffic in the area, as so much traffic heads to the Eastside for the high tech jobs that exist there. Future: Back to Top
Links: Back to Top
Map: © Sound Transit |
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