(Image: Sound Transit)

(Image: Sound Transit)

Capitol Hill Station will be connected to four new stations by the end of summer as the $3.1 billion light rail extension to Lynnwood has a planned opening date.

Sound Transit says the 8.5-mile northern extension will open August 30th and add four new stations to the Link 1 line:

• Shoreline South/148th Station. Located just northeast of I-5 at the NE 145th Street exit, the elevated Shoreline South/148th Station includes a parking garage with approximately 500 new spaces as part of the project.
• Shoreline North/185th Station. Located on the east side of I-5, Shoreline North/185th Station serves Shoreline Stadium, the Shoreline Conference Center and the surrounding neighborhoods. Improved pedestrian pathways connect the station to the west side of I-5. A parking garage with approximately 500 new spaces is part of the project.
• Mountlake Terrace Station. Located east of I-5 at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center just north of 236th Street Southwest, west of Veterans Memorial Park, the elevated Mountlake Terrace Station straddles 236th Street Southwest and is a short walk from the Mountlake Terrace Library, new City Hall, and the future Gateway transit-oriented development neighborhood. There are 890 existing parking spaces at the station.
• Lynnwood City Center. Located at the Lynnwood Transit Center, this elevated station serves one of the busiest transit centers in the region, with extensive connections to local and regional service. A new garage containing 1,670 parking stalls in a five-story structure opened last year.

The coming light rail expansion will be joined by the debut of another major transit project for the city as the RapidRide G bus line is also planned for an end of summer debut connecting downtown to Madison Valley via First Hill, Capitol Hill, and the Central District.

The latest light rail expansion comes as Sound Transit has struggled with timelines and costs on its largest projects. Costly construction snafus have delayed the opening of Judkins Park Station and the Eastside expansion line it is part of to the spring of 2025 some eight years after the project broke ground. Sound Transit is opening a segment this month connecting Bellevue to Redmond that will operate as a stub traveling between the Redmond Technology Station near the Microsoft campus to the South Bellevue Station on Bellevue Way SE.

Long-range plans call for a light rail connection between Lynnwood and Redmond that would complete a loop over I-90 for the system’s 2 Line.

Seattle’s light rail ridership has returned to pre-pandemic levels despite ongoing service challenges and disruptions due to construction required to expand the system.

Growing the routes is going to take much longer than originally planned as Sound Transit’s push for a key expansion to Ballard is facing new battles over alignment and timelines. Delays for the planned lines serving the city’s northwest and West Seattle have grown and will cost billions more than originally planned.

Sound Transit has added a new Deputy CEO for Megaproject Delivery role as it takes on $54 billion in expansion projects.

Sound Transit must also work with city authorities to make the light rail line through Seattle’s south end safer. The at-grade alignment for 4.5 miles of the line has led to ongoing collisions and deaths as well as frequent service disruptions.

Sound Transit debuted its new station deep below Broadway in March 2016. In October 2021, Sound Transit debuted its expansion adding stations in the U District, Roosevelt, and Northgate.

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