Starting March 28, Sound Transit’s long-awaited Crosslake Connection will open to riders, completing the 2 Line and creating the region’s first continuous light rail link across Lake Washington. For the first time, the light rail will run directly between Seattle and the Eastside on a floating bridge, connecting with the 1 Line at International District/Chinatown Station. Sound Transit announced the date today and also promised to share details about the opening day celebrations soon.
Read on for all the details!
This final East Link segment adds new stations at Mercer Island and Judkins Park and finishes a voter-approved expansion first passed in 2008. With it, the light rail system grows from 55 to 63 miles and fully links communities on both sides of Lake Washington. Pinehurst Station is also expected to open later this year.
“The completion of the 2 Line exponentially expands employment, housing and recreation opportunities for people on the east and west sides of Lake Washington,” said King County Executive Girmay Zahilay. “When the 2 Line opens, it will serve 26 stations and more than 35 miles, while knitting together five King County cities and two Snohomish County cities, creating new transit hubs throughout the region.”
Once service begins, the 2 Line will run between Lynnwood and Redmond, while the 1 Line continues between Federal Way and Lynnwood. The trains’ operating hours will be roughly from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, and from 6 a.m. to midnight on Sundays. During peak hours, trains will arrive about every 8 minutes at the new stations, with 10 to 15 minute service the rest of the day. In Seattle’s busiest stretch—between Lynnwood and International District/Chinatown—combined service will arrive every 4 minutes.
The project is also a global first: the design of a light rail on a floating bridge. “WSDOT operates the longest floating bridge in the world and now operates the only floating bridge in the world that carries light rail,” said Washington Secretary of Transportation Julie Meredith. Sound Transit engineers developed new solutions to safely operate electric trains over a moving body of water, making the Lake Washington crossing possible. (If you’d like to know more about how they did it, you can watch this YouTube video.)
“If you build it, they will come,” said Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson. “The Crosslake Connection unlocks worlds of opportunity for transit riders like me, and I’m so excited to welcome new riders as the system grows. Our whole region deserves world-class mass transit, so let’s continue expanding the network and delivering on what voters were promised.”
Sound Transit will mark the opening of the Crosslake Connection with community celebrations on March 28. You can keep tabs on details about the opening day by checking the Sound Transit website here.