The riders at the Bellevue Transit Center have been waiting patiently for the Link Light Rail train to Seattle – and they might not have to wait much longer to know when it will get here.
This Friday, Sound Transit plans to announce its opening date of the long-awaited Link connection between Seattle and Bellevue.
Earlier this month, Sound Transit started “simulated service” for the so-called Crosslake Connection, sending passenger-less trains across the floating bridge along a similar schedule it will eventually run. They plan to link the 1 Line, which passes through Seattle, with the 2 Line, which passes from downtown Redmond to south Bellevue.
The new connection will link the South Bellevue and the International District/Chinatown stations. It will also add two new stations – Mercer Island and Judkins Park in Seattle.
By the time of Link’s projected regional completion in 2046, it’ll be a nearly 50-year journey.
The road to light rail started in 1996, when voters in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties approved Sound Move, the ballot measure that launched Sound Transit with new sales and vehicle taxes. The 10-year plan included the first part of Link’s 1 line, as well as new buses and the Sounder commuter trains from Tacoma and Everett.
In 2008, voters approved Sound Transit 2, a 15-year plan that included building the 2 Line and adding new stations south of the airport as well as new buses and Sounder trips.
The latest ballot measure, Sound Transit 3, passed in 2016. The 25-year plan includes 62 new miles of light rail and building out the system to West Seattle, Ballard, Tacoma, Everett and Issaquah. While the ballot measure listed an expected completion by 2041, the agency now says the system is expected to be built out completely by 2046.
Link Light Rail opened in July 2009 with 12 stations connecting Westlake to Tukwila. The system now stands at 36 stations. Just last month, Sound Transit opened three new stations in Des Moines and Federal Way.
The next expansions are expected to be to West Seattle, slated for opening in 2032, and Ballard in 2039. But those dates could change as project plans develop.
It wouldn’t be the first time the schedule was pushed back. The Crosslake Connection was slated to open in 2021, but was delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the discovery of faulty track supports on Interstate 90.
Sound Transit expects monthly ridership to increase dramatically after the opening of the Crosslake Connection. Sound Transit spokesperson Rachelle Cunningham said ridership is estimated to increase between 1 and 2 million more average monthly passengers, increasing from 3 million monthly passengers to 5.5. million.
But even as Sound Transit prepares for crossing Lake Washington via light rail, the public agency now faces a $34 billion shortfall in the coming decades, chalked up to declines in revenue and rises in construction costs.
In response, the Sound Transit board has planned the “Enterprise Initiative.” Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine told The Urbanist, which covers Puget Sound transportation and housing issues, last year that instead of primarily considering delays or reductions of future Link projects to cut costs, the agency is looking at all aspects of its operations across its system of buses and trains to find ways to balance its budget.
“That is basically a holistic look at not only projects that are in planning phases but also sort of Sound Transit’s operations and any way that we can be more efficient and close some of that cost gap,” Cunningham said.
That report is due by the end of 2026.
