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By Elizabeth Turnbull
Before a new and deeper subway tunnel opens in Seattle in the coming decade, maintenance issues at Capitol Hill Station and across the current light rail system are making riders wary of relying on a consistent escalator system for deeper transit rides in the future.
Sound Transit officials say they are monitoring the escalator problems at the station which marked its sixth year of service this month.
“We are aware of some of the issues that we’ve had with existing escalators in our stations,” said Rachelle Cunningham, a public information officer at Sound Transit. “And that’s something that we would definitely take into consideration as we’re planning for future stations.”
The escalator breakdowns make the stations less useful, frustrating riders as Sound Transit has been blaming issues like “farebox recovery” for its flagging numbers.
Earlier this month, two escalators were not working in the Capitol Hill station, one with a handrail issue that was fixed, and another which was not set to be fully repaired until April 1, according to John Gallagher, a public information officer at Sound Transit. Continue reading →
Sound Transit says it is reviewing safety and emergency procedures after a breakdown in the light rail tunnel between the University of Washington Station and the new U District Station left a train full of riders stranded with many opting to hike out of the subway on foot during the Friday night incident.
“A Link light rail train became disabled in the northbound tunnel between University of Washington Station and U District Station after the electronic cable linking the first car and the trailing three cars was severed. As a result, the train came to an immediate stop,” Sound Transit said in its statement on the breakdown that came around 8:25 PM as crowds were leaving the Apple Cup game at Husky Stadium.
Sound Transit says the severed cable prevented the train’s operator from communicating by intercom with passengers in the trailing three cars, and “an unsafe incident developed when passengers decided to use emergency exits to leave the train.” Continue reading →
Starting very early Saturday morning, Capitol Hill light rail riders will have another 4.3 miles of track to explore. October 2nd brings the opening of three new light rail stations stretching beyond the University of Washington on the new Northgate Link.
Sound Transit says the first trains will begin service on the $1.9 billion line early Saturday. Bring your mask.
The North Link openings come as Capitol Hill Stationmarked five years of service earlier this year, a milestone partly obscured by a plunge in ridership due to the ongoing pandemic. Like on Capitol Hill where construction of the station also brought carnage and rapid transformation for the immediate area’s businesses and neighbors, hopes of redevelopment and growth are also following the light rail line north. Capitol Hill Station’s development mix of affordable and market rate housing has been opening to new residents over the past year and its commercial tenants are still planning their openings after pandemic delays.
After nine years of construction on the new line, hopes of economic growth and an improved streetscape will be celebrated at the closest new stop to Capitol Hill. The U District Stationcelebration Saturday will include a “$3 food walk,” festival streets, and a beer garden. Continue reading →
As Sound Transit prepares to add 4.3 miles of service to its light rail lines, you’ll also find new “fare ambassadors” on trains starting this week. It’s an effort to address concerns about equity and heavy handed fare enforcement.
The new pilot program started Monday with fare ambassadors checking with riders for proof of payment and providing help and information about the transit service.
“We want all passengers to feel comfortable asking Fare Ambassadors for assistance, whether they need help getting to their destination, or they’re having trouble purchasing fare,” Sound Transit chief passenger experience and innovation officer Russ Arnold said in an announcement on the start of the new program. “Fare Ambassadors are here to provide help.” Continue reading →
But bus riders across the city will likely see changes to their routes starting then as King County Metro works to restore bus service to levels that are closer to where they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. Metro is adding about 200,000 hours of bus service back county wide, bringing the system to approximately 90% of what it was in early 2020.
Even as Metro brings routes back and adds trips, some of Capitol Hill’s most frequent buses will lose trips. That’s because even after Seattle voters approved an increase in the city’s sales tax to fund transit, it wasn’t enough to match the amount being funded by the old $60 car tab combined with the slightly lower sales tax. The City Council has opted to use half of the now-$40 car tab fee to use for physical street improvements instead of funding bus service hours.
The routes seeing reductions around Capitol Hill will be the 10, 11, 12 and 48. First Hill’s routes 3 & 4 will also see trips reduced. Most of the trips going away will be on weekdays, with Saturday and Sunday frequencies staying much closer to normal. The only change to Capitol Hill’s workhorse 49 will be a change of routing in the U District to directly serve the new light rail station entrance on NE 43rd Street. The Route 48 will also change to run a bit further north, to N 50th Street. Continue reading →
The star marks the approximate spot along 10th Ave E where North Broadway Capitol Hill light rail station was envisioned.
The light rail line envisioned in 1999 was planned to head directly north from Capitol Hill Station. A North Broadway station was eliminated from further study by two votes on the Sound Transit board.
By Ryan Packer
In less than five weeks, Sound Transit will open three new light rail stations in North Seattle. Northgate, Roosevelt and U District stations will bring those neighborhoods exponentially closer to Capitol Hill for transit riders, with travel times of around eleven minutes between Capitol Hill Station and Northgate Station. But the opening of these new stations offers an opportunity to look at Sound Transit’s original plan for light rail to the University District— and the plan for a second station in Capitol Hill that never came to pass.
In 1999 the Sound Transit board selected a route for the initial segment that went all the way to the heart of the University District. Rather than veer off toward Montlake, the planned tunnel was envisioned as running directly north from Broadway and John, after a circuitous detour to First Hill that would later prove too ambitious. The route made a stop at NE Pacific Street on the other side of the ship canal before the main U District Station at N 45th Street, on the east side of 15th Ave NE where the Burke Museum of Natural History stands now. Continuing on to Roosevelt and Northgate was only added as a contingency if Federal funds became available.
Even that route would prove too ambitious, with any route under Capitol Hill proving too costly to be included in the original line, a fact that foreshadows the current realignment discussion currently surrounding planned extensions of the light rail network to West Seattle and Ballard.
But in the lead up to approving that route, the board considered but ultimately voted down an amendment that would have added another Capitol Hill station on Broadway, at Roy Street. But for two votes, Broadway might have gotten two light rail stations. Maybe.
The 1998 Capitol Hill neighborhood plan, which included plans for neighborhood-wide improvements like what would become Cal Anderson Park, had ambitious plans for the area around the North Broadway Capitol Hill light rail station. Plans for the “North Anchor District” around Roy Street focused heavily on the redevelopment of the “Keystone Site”, the vacant former gas station that would eventually become 700 Broadway E, home to Kinko’s and Rapport. It’s safe to say that what ended up happening on this parcel fell short of plans, even if you put the subject of the building’s architecture to the side.
In addition to accommodating an entrance to the Capitol Hill light rail station, the neighborhood plan envisioned the Keystone site as being home to the next iteration of Capitol Hill’s public library, then called the Henry Library. “The relocation will enable the Henry Library to expand its facilities, programs, and hours. If the Henry Library does relocate, the existing Henry Library site may become available for affordable housing, a community center, or educational uses,” the plan read. Instead the library was rebuilt on the site where it stood in 2003. Continue reading →
Faced with a $6.5 billion shortfall from pandemic-shrunk tax and bond forecasts, the Sound Transit Board Thursday approved a “realignment plan” that will delay many of its transit projects for years while preserving a handful of new lines and stations.
The math will work out as major delays for the two biggest Seattle projects with light rail’s extension to Ballard now pushed back to 2039 from the 2035 goal while the line to West Seattle delayed by two years to 2032.
“The steep rise in real estate and construction costs in the region in combination with advancing environmental review and project designs have driven up cost estimates for future transit expansions, contributing to a $6.5 billion affordability gap for delivering projects on earlier schedules,” the board’s statement on the vote reads. “While projects already in construction are not affected, the adopted realignment plan will guide the delivery dates for the next generation of voter-approved projects.”
The plan will keep a handful of projects on track. The NE 130th light rail station is expected to be completed by 2025, and Rainier Valley’s Graham St station and a Boeing Access Road station are planned to open in 2031.
Meanwhile, other projects nearing completion continue including the Northgate Link light rail expansion that will open up the north of the city including the University District, Roosevelt, and Northgate when it opens in October.
Judkins Park Station— and its Hendrix inspired design — is slated to open in 2023 along with the rest of the 10-stop, voter initiative-funded East Link light rail line that will dramatically expand Sound Transit rail service in the region. The Central District station, tucked into I-90 between Rainier Ave and 23rd Ave, will be the first stop on the line that will connect Bellevue, Redmond, and Seattle across the I-90 bridge.
In 2016, voters across the region approved the Sound Transit 3 package to dramatically expand light rail in the region. The then $53.8 billion package was planned to extend light rail lines to Redmond by 2024, Ballard by 2035, and West Seattle by 2030, with extensions into Everett and Tacoma will come in the following years. The expanded system will eventually require a second downtown tunnel.
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To handle more riders as the city reopens after months of COVID-19 restrictions and as the system gears up for October’s Northgate expansion, Sound Transit is increasing the frequency of light rail service, providing more frequent rides to and from Capitol Hill Station and beyond. The result of responding to increased demand? Probably even more demand.
“The days are longer, the weather is warmer, the virus is retreating, and we are all venturing out more and more. In the coming months as more and more people return to normal routines, expanded Link service will help riders get back to enjoying fast and congestion-free trips,” Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff said in the announcement of the restored service. “With traffic congestion worsening and already at pre-pandemic levels, the benefits of Link will only keep growing, especially with our Oct. 2 expansion of service northward to the U District, Roosevelt and Northgate.”
The restored service begins Saturday with light rail trains running every eight minutes during peak hours and every ten minutes during midday and weekends. Late evening service will run every 15 minutes. Continue reading →
Sound Transit is showing off the first of its $642.5 million fleet of new and improved light rail vehicles as it gears up for the opening of its latest expansion connecting to Northgate via the University District this fall.
Friday’s first service run of the “spanking new” Series 2 vehicle, Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff said, was “a glorious day for advancing, safe, clean, and efficient mass transportation throughout the Puget Sound Region.”
While still seating around 70 passengers, the new vehicles are designed to be more accessible, with larger windows, more bag and storage space, and have more room for bikes with hooks doubled from two to four.
Sound Transit has announced October 2nd for the start of service on its Northgate Link light rail expansion that will open up the great northlands of Seattle including the University District, Roosevelt, and Northgate to riders from Capitol Hill Station and beyond. The opening will mean Capitol Hill rider visiting Brooklyn in only a-few-minutes ride.
With the Northgate link’s completion, Sound Transit says it is entering “an exciting period of opening major light rail extensions every year through 2024, nearly tripling the region’s light rail system from 22 miles to 62 miles.” The COVID-19 crisis, however, has slowed some progress and put some of Sound Transit’s future light rail plans in jeopardy. Continue reading →
The U District Station under construction in 2020 (Image: Sound Transit)
Sound Transithas announced an opening date for its Northgate Link light rail expansion that will open up the great northlands of Seattle including the University District, Roosevelt, and Northgate to riders from Capitol Hill Station and beyond:
Today, we are officially announcing the opening date for passenger service on Northgate Link. Mark your calendars for October 2 and get ready to ride! The 4.3 mile light rail extension has three stations: two underground serving the U District and Roosevelt neighborhoods, and one elevated station at Northgate. The opening will coincide with service changes on ST Express, King County Metro Transit and Community Transit bus routes that will be modified to allow riders to connect with congestion-free Link service. Voters approved the Northgate Link extension in 2008 as part of the Sound Transit 2 ballot measure. Construction on the project began in 2012 following six years of planning. Twin boring machines began tunneling in 2014, completing the 3.5-mile twin tunnels in 2016.
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