East Link Extension
| East Link Extension | |
|---|---|
 |
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Construction at the future Mercer Island station, seen in October 2017
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| Overview | |
| Other name(s) | Blue Line |
| Type | Light rail |
| System | Link light rail |
| Status | Under construction |
| Locale | Seattle, Washington, US |
| Termini |
International District/Chinatown (west) Redmond Technology Center (east, 2023) Downtown Redmond (east, 2024) |
| Stations | 10 (initial segment) 12 (all segments) |
| Website | soundtransit.org/eastlink |
| Operation | |
| Planned opening | 2023 (Seattle to Redmond Technology Center) 2024 (Downtown Redmond) |
| Owner | Sound Transit |
| Character | At grade, elevated, and underground |
| Technical | |
| Line length | Initial segment: 14 miles (23 km) All segments: 18 miles (29 km) |
| Number of tracks | 2 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Electrification | 1,500 Volts DC, overhead catenary |
| Operating speed | 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) |
The East Link Extension is a future light rail line that will become part of Sound Transit's Link light rail system in the Seattle metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Washington. It will serve 10 stations from Downtown Seattle to the Eastside suburbs of Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Redmond, running 14 miles (23 km) from west to east. East Link is scheduled to open in 2023 as part of the Blue Line, which will continue into the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel and share stations with the Red Line. A 3.7-mile-long (6.0 km) extension to Downtown Redmond with two additional stations is scheduled to open in 2024.
The East Link project, projected to cost $3.7 billion to construct, was approved by voters in the 2008 Sound Transit 2 ballot measure. The line will use part of the Interstate 90 floating bridge, constructed in 1989 with the intent to convert its express lanes to light rail. A rail system serving the Eastside has been proposed since the 1960s, but did not gain traction until the establishment of Sound Transit in the early 1990s. During the planning process, the alignment in South Bellevue was debated by the city council, taking more than two years to be settled and delaying completion of the project from 2021 to 2023. The alignment was finalized in 2013, along with funding for the downtown Bellevue tunnel from the City of Bellevue, and construction began in 2016. The line will be the first railway constructed on a floating bridge and is expected to carry 50,000 daily riders by 2030.
The Eastside suburbs underwent rapid development into bedroom communities after the 1940 opening of the first Lake Washington floating bridge, which replaced a cross-lake ferry system as the main connection to Seattle. While private bus operators ran routes over the Lake Washington Floating Bridge from Seattle to Eastside towns, the municipal Seattle Transit System opted not to extend its routes. The 1963 opening of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge fueled further growth, leading to traffic congestion on both bridges during peak periods. By 1965, more than 150,000 people lived on the Eastside; the King County government predicted in 1965 that up to 550,000 people would live in Eastside cities by 1990.
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Wikipedia