We’re laying the groundwork to open the Blue Line, a new Link line that will begin taking riders from Northgate to Redmond in 2023.
As part of that work, we need to reduce Link service for three weekends this fall. On the weekends of October 12-13 and October 26-27 there will be no Link service between SODO-Capitol Hill.
Trains will run from Angle Lake-SODO and UW-Capitol Hill, and free buses will connect the six stations in between. (We chose those particular weekends because there are no Seahawks or Husky games.)
Crews will use these three weekends to construct a temporary center platform at Pioneer Square Station. The work includes pouring concrete, laying tactile strips along the platform, upgrading lighting and more. The service disruption extends beyond Pioneer Square because crews have to fully power down the overhead wires at all of the older downtown stations.
That new platform will prepare us for an even bigger project in early 2020: building a track junction to allow future Blue Line trains to branch off at International District/Chinatown Station and run to the Eastside. We’re calling that project Connect 2020. Read our previous blog post about Connect2020 here, or check out the project page.
We know these disruptions are totally annoying, but come 2023 the Blue Line will make it up to you by providing permanent relief from I-90 traffic, including a seamless one-seat ride from Northgate to Redmond via downtown Seattle.
And this is just one of many projects underway. 28 new Link stations are opening in the next 5 years, including:
- 2021: 3 new stations at Northgate, Roosevelt and the UDistrict.
- 2022: 6 new stations extending Tacoma Link to Stadium and Hilltop.
- 2023: Blue Line opens with 10 new stations in Redmond, Bellevue, Mercer Island and Seattle.
- 2024: 9 new stations in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline, Redmond, Kent/Des Moines and Federal Way.
Unfortunately, that kind of mega upgrade comes with some temporary headaches. It’ll be a trick for a few weeks this fall and winter, but it’ll be a transit treat when Link is giving hundreds of thousands of riders a reliable ride free from traffic.