Tag Archives: capitol hill station

Seattle Fire’s ENERGY 1 battles damaging electrical vault fire below Broadway

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(Image: Seattle Fire)

Seattle Fire Department crews including its ENERGY 1 Energy Response Unit battled a major electrical fire Saturday afternoon across from a busy Capitol Hill Station.

SFD reported it responded to the electrical fire just after noon at Broadway and John behind Dick’s Drive-In.

Nearly an hour later, Seattle Fire reported its ENERGY 1 unit had extinguished the fire but not before substantial damage in the Seattle City Light vault.

SCL tells CHS the fire was caused by equipment failure and that full restoration of service from the systems utilizing was a complicated endeavor. “It was a complex restoration process that required several pieces of equipment to be repaired or replaced within the vault system,” a SCL spokesperson said.

Reports of internet outages in the area were being blamed on a power outage by service providers hours after the incident. Continue reading →

There are still single family-style homes across from Capitol Hill Station

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A rendering of the planned affordable Alnus building as viewed from 11th Ave E (Image: Hybrid Architecture)

A long-running effort to replace a set of old single family-style homes and duplexes north of Cal Anderson and across the street from the mixed-use development above Capitol Hill Station with a new eight-story apartment building is moving forward this summer.

There is still a long path ahead including the public process around a proposed rezone to allow the project to rise to 85 feet even as the city is going through the final months of settling out a compromised overhaul of its zoning hoped to more equitably distribute growth across Seattle as part of its new 20-year plan.

Developers behind the Alnus project in the 100 block of 10th Ave E have filed paperwork for land use and construction permits for the planned affordable, eight-story, multi-family building with 221 residential units above an underground 30-stall parking garage.

Affordable housing developer Great Expectations says the 10th Ave E project’s design will require a contract rezone with the city. Continue reading →

A year later, court proceedings continue in Capitol Hill Station fatal stabbing case

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Bellett

Court proceedings continue a year after the fatal stabbing of Corey Bellett on the busy light rail platform of Capitol Hill Station,

A planned June trial start seems unlikely.

In the most recent hearing in the case, the court heard that new counsel has not yet been assigned to represent defendant Shawn Patrick Moore who is accused of stabbing Bellett to death in a Saturday, May 11th, 2024 fight over a run-in on the crowded station escalator.

The hearing over the change in counsel in April due to a new conflict of interest for his public legal team was the latest step in a long path to justice in the case.

It followed a significant attempt to bring the case to a sudden halt earlier this spring. Continue reading →

Fugitive who gave authorities the slip at Sea-Tac last spotted at Capitol Hill Station — UPDATE

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A handcuffed man slipped his transport agent and escaped Sea-Tac airport by light rail Sunday was last spotted exiting Capitol Hill Station, officials say.

We’re checking to find out if Sedrick Stevenson, 28, has been picked up yet by Seattle Police. There was at least one report overnight of a person matching the escapee’s description in the area.

Stevenson was being readied to board a flight with a contract agen when he made his escape through the busy airport Sunday morning around 11 AM, the Port of Seattle said.

Stevenson, about 5’8″ and wearing white shoes, gray pants and a white hoodie at the time of his escape, was wanted on warrants out of Kentucky, the port said. Stevenson’s hands were cuffed in front of him at the time of his escape.

Sound Transit security video showed Stevenson arrive at the busy Broadway light rail facility and exit onto Capitol Hill.

Authorities are asking anyone with information to call 911.

UPDATE: When asked for any updates or information on a possible arrest in the city, SPD referred our questions to the private security provider Prisoner Transport Services. CHS has not yet heard back from the company.

 

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No Capitol Hill-U District light rail service this weekend to repair damage at University of Washington Station and get trains back up to speed

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(Image: Sound Transit)

This one is a little different. Sound Transit says to prepare for another weekend of disrupted light rail service around Capitol Hill Station — but this time, preparations for the planned late 2025 full opening of the system’s 2 Line are not to blame.

Service between the University District and Capitol Hill will be suspended Saturday and Sunday as work takes place to repair equipment damaged in September that has had trains running slowly through the area:

As regular riders through University of Washington already know, Link trains have been traveling slowly through the station and interlocking since September, when a train with a broken pantograph damaged the Overhead Contact System (OCS). Crews were able to make emergency repairs, and to prevent further disruptions trains have been speed restricted entering and exiting the station until full repairs could be performed.

Sound Transit says the service interruption is necessary because repairs of the high-voltage electrical components involved cannot be performed “without a complete shutdown of the impacted area.” Continue reading →

On one hand, another weekend with no Capitol Hill-SoDo light rail service — on the other, progress on *late* 2025 opening of 2 Line

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(Image: Sound Transit)

Judkins Park Station and the rest of the 2 Line really are on track to finally open this year — late this year but still 2025. To get there, Sound Transit’s contractors must occasionally shut down parts of the 1 Line to complete some of the required work. This weekend will bring another light rail shutdown between Capitol Hill and SoDo:

In order to perform essential testing to prepare for full 2 Line operations, Link light rail will be temporarily suspended between Capitol Hill and SODO stations from 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17 through the end of service Sunday, Jan. 19. Normal operations are scheduled to resume at the start of service Monday, January 20.

During this time, crews will be performing the first integrated tests of the combined 1 and 2 Line safety communications equipment. These tests include preparing for and simulating over 100 different emergency scenarios and represent another step forward towards the full 2 Line opening. To perform the tests, power to the test area must be suspended. Sound Transit will provide Link Shuttle buses to transport passengers. The buses will run approximately every 10-15 minutes and stop at all stations between Capitol Hill and SODO. Additional information about the bus bridge is available here.

In November, a similar closure was required for the installation of a new signal house and communications system.

Last weekend, the line was also disrupted between Westlake and SoDo for similar 1 Line-2 Line work. Continue reading →

No light rail this weekend between Capitol Hill and SoDo as work continues to finally open Sound Transit’s 2 Line in 2025

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(Image: Sound Transit)

It has been the longest of public transit waits for Sound Transit to finally fully open its 2 Line connecting Seattle to the Eastside. This weekend will bring another round of work to prepare to connect the lines:

In order to perform work connecting East Link to the existing 1 Line, Link light rail will be temporarily suspended between Capitol Hill and SODO stations from 10 p.m. Friday, November 8 through the end of service Sunday, November 10. Normal operations will resume at the start of service Monday, November 11. During this time, crews will be commissioning a new signal house and communications system that will enable the connection of the 1 and 2 lines. Sound Transit will provide Link Shuttle buses to transport passengers. The buses will run approximately every 10-15 minutes and stop at all stations between Capitol Hill and SODO. Passengers traveling southbound from Capitol Hill station will have to get off the train and take the shuttle, reconnecting at SODO station if they are continuing to travel south. The same will be true for passengers heading north through SODO station. Link trains will be running approximately every 15 minutes between SODO and Angle Lake and between Lynnwood and Capitol Hill.

Continue reading →

Hilloween spirit will live on with new Halloween Pop-up Market above Capitol Hill Station

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A scene from Hilloween 2023

The neighborhood’s annual kids carnival may have gone poof in the night but a new event planned for the heart of Capitol Hill on October 31st should scare up some interest.

Seattle’s Urban League has announced it is making its next REVIVAL pop-up market and party in the plaza above Capitol Hill Station a Hilloween event.

“Get ready for a ghoulishly good time at the REVIVAL Market, the thrilling Halloween vendor market that promises tricks, treats, and plenty of shopping,” the announcement reads. “This spooktacular event is a must-visit for ghostly friends and families looking for an evening filled with eerie excitement and unique treasures.”

The organizers are promising “Spooky Vendor Stalls” with “a curated selection of unique goods and services from BIPOC and AAPI-owned businesses, including artisanal crafts, fashion, beauty products, home décor, and much more,” plus “spooky sweets, savory bites, and seasonal drinks from local food artisans and vendors.” Continue reading →

Hopes for cleaning up filthy Capitol Hill Station? Sound Transit’s new graffiti-friendly art program and a pressure washing contract

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This bird is not a fan of pressure washing

Workers installing one of the new art panels (Image: Sound Transit)

Sound Transit is hoping a new initiative will help address graffiti at Capitol Hill Station.

Meanwhile, a new $4.7 million contract will hopefully help clean up the filthy facility.

Sound Transit says a new art installation at the west entrance to Capitol Hill Station across Broadway is hoped to be a solution rolled out to its facilities that are “highly targeted by graffiti.”

New art panels installed at the station entrance are part of a pilot project organized by graffiti artist Danny Melbihess to showcase the artform and hopefully cut down on clean-up costs by discouraging tagging elsewhere in the station. “It’s a different approach than hammering down or painting over,” a Sound Transit official said. “Graffiti has always been a thing. We can’t get rid of it entirely, but we can channel it.”

Under the program, Sound Transit says Melbihess “curated a group of graffiti writers” to produce art for the project. Two 6×4 Dibond panels are painted offsite and installed at the west entrance where they will be displayed for a couple months before begin rotated out for new work.

The first in the series features work by artist Aerub.

Sound Transit says it “hopes to create a long-standing partnership and some goodwill with graffiti writers” with the new pilot program. Continue reading →

SODA and SOAP — Seattle City Council approves return of exclusion zones including new Capitol Hill ‘Stay out of Drug Area’

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The Harvard Market shopping center which has wrestled with increasing challenges around drug crimes at the corner of Broadway and Pike is within the new Capitol Hill SODA borders

Capitol Hill will have a new “Stay out of Drug Area” covering the neighborhoods around Capitol Hill Station and Cal Anderson Park and Seattle will re-implement exclusion laws hoped to throttle drug and prostitution-related crimes in new zones across the city.

In a five hour session Tuesday filled mostly with public testimony against the laws and with a phalanx of security and police officers called in to quell any disruptive protest in chambers, the Seattle City Council voted to approve the twin bills re-creating the city’s SODA and “Stay out of Area Prostitution” zones — regulations repealed by the council only four years ago after years of criticism over their ineffectiveness and dangerous implications for the victims of sex work-related crime they were supposed to be helping.

The new zones will be located on Capitol Hill, and in the International District, Belltown, the University District, and Pioneer Square with the new SOAP zone covering Aurora. More could be added.

Bob Kettle, chair of the council’s public safety committee, said Tuesday night after the successful vote that this new push for SODA and SOAP will be different than the city’s past attempts at exclusion zones. “This legislation uses a data driven approach to achieve the goals in our Strategic Framework plan,” Kettle said. “I am appreciative for the support our legislation has received from the community and my colleagues, and I am grateful for the opportunity to make Seattle safer.”

Under the legislation passed Tuesday, a designation will allow a judge to bar drug or prostitution law offenders busted in a zone from reentering the area for up to two years. A SODA or SOAP order can also be imposed as a condition of release from jail. Violating an order will become a new gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine. Continue reading →