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(Image: Sound Transit)
Thousands last weekend celebrated the opening of new light rail stations in Redmond as Sound Transit has now grown its Eastside line to ten stops. Connecting Seattle’s line across the lake via I-90 — and the Central District’s new Judkins Park Station — to join up with those new stations has been pushed back again to 2026.
Amid the Redmond celebrations, Sound Transit head Dow Constantine said this week that the latest time estimates have pushed plans for the 2 Line connecting from downtown through Judkins Park and across I-90 to “early 2026.”
Originally planned for a 2023 opening, construction of the line on the I-90 bridge has been a much larger technical challenge than expected with the defective track bed having to be rebuilt twice.
Testing on the tracks has still not started.
When it launches, Sound Transit will shift to operating connected 1 Line and 2 Line light rail systems between Seattle and the Eastside. The Seattle Times reports the $4.9 billion price tag to connect across the lake means the Eastside isn’t planned to see another light rail project for at least 20 years.
Two crucial Seattle expansions remain on the horizon with hopes of reaching West Seattle by 2033 and Ballard by 2039.
The city under an executive order from Mayor Bruce Harrell is pursuing measures to help make those dates a reality. This week, the Seattle City Council’s land use committee took up legislation “to support efficient permitting processes for the construction of light rail transit facilities.”
The West Seattle Blog reports the order “also says that while there’s currently a team with 20 full-time city employees focused on ST3 (the ballot measure that included the West Seattle/Ballard extensions), that will be multiplied.”
My Ballard reports the city is allocating $5.2 million in 2025 and $6.8 million in 2026 to hire up to 50 additional staff members to focus on design, permitting, construction, and station planning.”
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Exciting!!!
Need serious road diets on Rainier in this location
Oof painful delay after painful delay.
There’s a saying in football(soccer).
“It’s the hope that kills you.”
The reason for the higher failure rate of transplanting larger trees is twofold.
1. PATIENCE you treat a tree like you treat transferring fish to a tank. Tree roots depend on the soil not only for nutrients but also oxygen exchange. Tree roots breathe atmospheric gasses and soil movement and compaction can suffocate a tree. The whole surface area of the root system needs a life support system that maintains exchanges of fluids, gasses, and temperature regulation. Depending on the water content of the soil that the tree likes will determine the tree’s heat exchange/storage needs.
SUPPORT a tree relies on soil for their nutrient, respiratory, and thermoregulation needs but also structural needs. There is a need to gradually lift a tree from multiple points to prevent too much stimulation of energy expending root growth. By relieving weight off the root system slowly, root growth is minimized and steps can be taken to amend the soil with modified life support. Steps such as soil liquefaction with nano-oxygenated water at the correct gas exchange rate will prevent drowning the roots and over compaction of the soil. As the soil liquefies, more support needs to replace the load bearing of the soil and the reverse is true. Gradually drying out the soil allows adjustment for the root system but also the microorganisms, insects, and fungi time to reestablish to support the root ecosystem as compaction of the soil is supported with new soil arteries/channels of various sizes. While other approaches may work to maintain the root ecosystem and functionality, liquefaction may preserve more root surface area for the roots to breathe, drink, and feed.
In my humble opinion, this is why I believe larger trees have a lower survival rate. And, I ask that you don’t take my word on this but take time to read up on causes of aquaponic & aeroponic system failures, fragility of fungi to soil disturbance, nano bubble aeration of oxygen deprived ponds, lakes, and other water bodies and how trees survive large temperature swings.
Why even say “on track” if it’s actually further delayed? It’s misleading!
Seriously? UGGGHHHHH.
Why can’t the city prioritize Judkins going into the city?
Those tracks never should have been laid down on a floating bridge. First of all… There is nothing light about Light Rail. It’s heavy rail, with steel wheels rolling on iron rails. The floating bridge was designed for semi trucks, cars, & pedestrians per the requirements of the 1956 Interstate Freeway Act. No vehicle can be in excess of 80,000lbs and the bridge was designed as such. Trains, especially packed with sports fans, weigh more than the bridge was designed for. I don’t know if ST retrofitted the bridge, possibly, but there is more.
In the case of high winds or an moderate earthquake, waves crash onto the bridge & it sways back & forth & up & down. How many aircraft carriers have a railroad. Anybody know of any barges or boats with a railroad built on top of them? There is a good logical reason trains don’t ride on rails on boats. They are simply very heavy & it’s steel wheels on iron rails & if the boat rocks, the train details. Now this new design has claws that grab the tracks to keep the trains on the track as the floating bridge sways.
Have they tested that on the bridge with a full lineup of 5 cars packed full of fans? Because the first time a train details it will be from a sudden bridge movement caused by wind or earthquake. Nothing is going to stop that trail once it’s derailed & tilted. It will follow the course which will either be into the westbound lanes or the other side where there is a cement barrier which is no match for a train. The train crashes through that barrier & plunges 400′ to the bottom of Lake Washington.
When this was first brought up for proposal ST consulted the Dept of Transportation & my Mother was an Engineer on the i-90 project. From the very start Engineers said the idea of crossing the lake using Public Transit sounds good. But not on rail. Monorail would of been far safer, but at the time Sound Transit was at WAR with the Seattle Monorail movement & they promised all kinds of lies… such as this train over a floating bridge. It still isn’t ready & the cost overruns are unacceptable because they were warned. The Highway Engineers were correct & Sound Transit LIED to the public. But all I am doing is warning people. Trust me, it’s just a matter of time until one of those trains derails. Because ALL TRAINS DERAIL eventually. And when on the floating bridge a moving train when it derails can not stop. It veers off to the left or right & then what? It flattens all cars it hits, breaks through concrete barriers enforced with rebar and… usually plows into the dirt & stops. But… there is no dirt on Lake Washington except at the bottom. This was a huge bad decision & when this disaster occurs someday, somebody is going to ask,.”Who in the heck built a railroad on a flexible moving floating bridge? Who approved this?!” Wasn’t me. And the person who did at Sound Transit, trust me, is now retired. She spent her working career to make this a reality & failed. They say 2026 now. 🙄 Right? It will never run.
Image: Sound Transit train derails (image K-5)
You do know top paid engineers have been able to accomplish this and that reinforcement was added for about three years from 2018-2020 under the bridge.
You should go work for Sound Transit! They clearly need someone with a skeptical eye like yours, who can spot these seemingly obvious issues their whole team of professional engineers somehow never thought about during all the years they spent designing the project.