Lynnwood Link extension

Future light rail expansion in Snohomish County, Washington
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Lynnwood Link Extension
Legend
Everett Link Extension
Lynnwood City Center
Sound Transit Express Parking
I-5.svg I-5
Mountlake Terrace Parking
WA-104.svg
SR 104
Ballinger Way
Shoreline North/185th
Swift Blue Line Parking
NE 175th Street
Shoreline South/148th Parking
WA-523.svg
SR 523
NE 145th Street
NE 130th Street (2026)
NE 130th Street
Northgate Parking
to Northgate Link tunnel

The Lynnwood Link extension is a planned Link light rail extension traveling north from Northgate to Lynnwood in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The 8.5-mile (13.7 km) light rail extension includes stations in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, and Shoreline along Interstate 5. It will be served by the 1 Line when it opens on August 23, 2024, and the 2 Line in 2025. The project was funded by the Sound Transit 2 (ST2) package approved by voters in November 2008, and began construction in 2019.[1] Ridership is expected to be 63,000 to 74,000 daily in 2035.[2]

Route and stations

Construction south of NE 145th Street, on a long section of viaduct, viewed from southbound I-5 in 2022

In April 2015, the final environmental impact statement for the extension was released, and a Record of Decision from the Federal Transit Administration was received in July 2015.[3] The southern limit of the extension will be the Northgate Link station, connecting southward via the Northgate Link Extension to Seattle via the University District. The route will parallel Interstate 5, with stations at NE 145th St, NE 185th St, Mountlake Terrace Transit Center, and Lynnwood Transit Center. Accommodations will be in place at NE 130th St and 220th St SW to allow for future infill stations.[2]

History

In August 2017, Sound Transit announced that the project would be delayed six months (from late 2023 to mid 2024) and would cost $500 million more than expected, bringing the final budget to $2.9 billion. The changes were due to rising costs associated with land acquisition, labor, and materials in the local market.[4]

The project's groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 3, 2019, and included Governor Jay Inslee, U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and U.S. Representatives Rick Larsen and Suzan DelBene.[5] Testing of trains on the extension began in January 2024.[6] The project is scheduled to be completed in late 2024, but construction delays on the 2 Line will limit the number of available trains until 2025.[7] Under a Sound Transit proposal, bus service that was initially planned to truncate at Lynnwood would instead continue to provide Downtown Seattle service to add capacity on the corridor.[8]

Service on the 1 Line to Lynnwood is scheduled to begin on August 30, 2024.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Lynnwood Link Extension". Sound Transit. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Lynnwood Link Extension" (PDF). Sound Transit. July 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  3. ^ "Sound Transit's Lynnwood Link extension passes environmental review". Progressive Railroading. July 16, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  4. ^ Lindblom, Mike (August 24, 2017). "Sound Transit's Lynnwood extension running $500M over budget". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  5. ^ Giordano, Lizz (September 4, 2019). "Historic groundbreaking for Lynnwood light rail extension". The Everett Herald. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  6. ^ Hansen, Jordan (January 22, 2024). "Sound Transit starts testing light rail on track bound for Lynnwood". The Everett Herald. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  7. ^ Timm, Julie (December 8, 2022). "An update on Link projects in construction". The Platform. Sound Transit. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  8. ^ Hansen, Jordan (January 17, 2024). "Sound Transit seeks comment on bus changes ahead of Lynnwood Link". The Everett Herald. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  9. ^ Lindblom, Mike (April 4, 2024). "When will light rail reach Lynnwood? Sound Transit sets opening date". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 5, 2024.

External links

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