With six weeks left before the grand opening of the Lynnwood Link extension, Sound Transit has announced additional details about the opening day festivities as well as an update on progress completing the tasks necessary to open the 8.5-mile extension.
“Every day brings us closer to the launch of Lynnwood Link, and the anticipation is building,” said King County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair Dow Constantine. “This extension, approved by voters as part of ST2, is now in the final stages, and we are eager to deliver on our promise.”
“It’s exciting to see the trains running every few minutes on the alignment now, because it’s a sign that we’re on the verge of delivering for our residents, the environment, and the region’s economy,” said Snohomish County Executive and Sound Transit Vice Chair Dave Somers. “The opening day is going to be a major step in acknowledging the significant investments of our taxpayers and our vision for giving people more options to get to where they need to go.”
The agency will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Lynnwood City Center Station at 11 a.m. on Aug. 30. The event will include remarks from elected officials, board members and stakeholders. At the conclusion of the event, regular service to and from Lynnwood will begin.
Starting at 4 p.m., members of the public are invited to enjoy festivities, including activities, exhibits and entertainment, at each of the four new stations led by the North City Neighborhood Association (NCNA), Shoreline Chamber of Commerce, Mountlake Terrance Chamber of Commerce, Snotrac, Asian Service Center and Lynnwood Chamber of Commerce. Visitors will also be able to participate in a Discover. Stamp. Win! activity at the new stations to win exciting prizes.
“This is a different format for celebrating an opening than any we have had before,” said Sound Transit Interim CEO Goran Sparrman. “By having festivities for the community late in the day just as the Labor Day holiday weekend begins, more people will be able to join us in marking this major milestone for transit in our region.”
Since July 8, trains have been running “simulated service” on the extension, Sound Transit said in a news release announcing the celebrations. This is the final phase of pre-revenue testing that the agency conduct before opening a new light rail extension, making sure the stations, tracks, utilities, escalators, elevators, systems, and vehicles all work together as expected before customers are welcomed aboard.
During this phase, all passengers disembark at Northgate station and empty trains continue on to Lynnwood City Center station on regular practice runs. Video and photos of trains in simulated service is available at this link.
In addition, almost all assets on the project, such as stations and tracks, have been transferred from the construction team to Link operations, a major milestone among the goals necessary for opening.
The Lynnwood extension will serve the following stations, all of which provide multiple transit connections:
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.
Shoreline North/185th Station. Located on the east side of I-5, the 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 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.
That sounds great! This will lessen the traffic congestion a lot.
Thanks for the great job!
This will be a great improvement to our community. Now hire a ton of security and step up the police presence to keep the homeless that have taken over the surrounding area OUT OF HERE or you are going to have nothing but trouble. they have already disgrace 48th ave W between 196th and 200th Street with leaving there trash shopping carts junk cars and camping in there cars along 48th ave.
I am just stoked for this opening. For most of my 72 years negative people have said light rail was not needed & just too expensive. Meanwhile traffic and costs grew 10 fold. So happy politicians with foresight pushed past that nonsense, knowing solutions required not one but a multi-faceted solution. Have my Orca card and salivating for first ride.
Finally!
This extension of light rail (LR) from Northgate to Lynnwood is part of ST2 passed in 2008. In 2016 ST3 was passed to extend LR from Lynnwood to Everett, Federal Way to Tacoma and Bellevue to Issaquah. The cost was to be $54 billion. It is now $148 billion and counting. It includes overruns for ST1 and ST2. According to our regional planning agency, the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) in 2050, after 50 years and full build out of light rail we will see the following:
1. Traffic increases 35%
2. Only 3% of the 24,000,000 trips/day will be on Sound Transit light rail and commuter rail trains.
3. We will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by only 6% – and that does not take into account all the emissions from building these structures.
4. The average household is paying $1,784/year in ST taxes.
5. Just 64,000 new riders will be using light rail by 2050, the equivalent of about 7 express bus routes.
It’s time to rethink ST3 – before any further planning is done. There are much more effective and less expensive ways to provide alternatives to driving alone. Please see SmarterTransit.org (https://smartertransit.org/) for more information and source for our numbers. Also, please sign our Petition to the state legislators to hold ST accountable starting with having the Board directly elected not appointed.
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We really appreciate you board members for the hard you have just done for everyone