Tag Archives: transit

Not every executive order is terrible — Mayor issues order hoped to speed construction of light rail to West Seattle, Ballard

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Not every executive order these days is terrible. Mayor Bruce Harrell has issued an executive order “Supporting and Expediting Sound Transit 3 Investments in the City of Seattle” hoped to help speed construction of new light rail connections to Ballard and West Seattle.

Harrell, fresh off the annual “state of the city” address in which he put forward a raft of urbanist and growth initiatives to join his continued messages around addressing public safety and downtown business concerns as he seeks reelection, said his office “will lead the development of and transmit to the City Council legislation to streamline the permit process for this major project,” saying the city will consider “land use code changes, formal adoption of ST3 projects, and supportive property transactions” to “speed up light rail delivery” of the highly anticipated new connections.

Let’s check in with the locals. Continue reading →

No Capitol Hill-SoDo light rail service this weekend due to Judkins Park Station testing

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(Image: Sound Transit)

It might be easier to just let you know what weekends light rail service will be normal in Seattle. As Sound Transit prepares for the big shift to operating connected 1 Line and 2 Line light rail systems between Seattle and the Eastside, this weekend will bring more service disruptions due to needed work to prepare for the change. Trains won’t be running between Capitol Hill Station and SoDo starting Friday night:

In order to accommodate critical systems integration testing, Link light rail will be temporarily suspended between Capitol Hill and SODO stations from 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14 through the end of service Sunday, Feb. 16. Normal operations are scheduled to resume at the start of service Monday, Feb. 17.

Sound Transit says crews will be performing systems integration tests on the control signals that will command future 1 and 2 Line trains. Continue reading →

No Capitol Hill-U District light rail service this weekend to repair damage at University of Washington Station and get trains back up to speed

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(Image: Sound Transit)

This one is a little different. Sound Transit says to prepare for another weekend of disrupted light rail service around Capitol Hill Station — but this time, preparations for the planned late 2025 full opening of the system’s 2 Line are not to blame.

Service between the University District and Capitol Hill will be suspended Saturday and Sunday as work takes place to repair equipment damaged in September that has had trains running slowly through the area:

As regular riders through University of Washington already know, Link trains have been traveling slowly through the station and interlocking since September, when a train with a broken pantograph damaged the Overhead Contact System (OCS). Crews were able to make emergency repairs, and to prevent further disruptions trains have been speed restricted entering and exiting the station until full repairs could be performed.

Sound Transit says the service interruption is necessary because repairs of the high-voltage electrical components involved cannot be performed “without a complete shutdown of the impacted area.” Continue reading →

On one hand, another weekend with no Capitol Hill-SoDo light rail service — on the other, progress on *late* 2025 opening of 2 Line

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(Image: Sound Transit)

Judkins Park Station and the rest of the 2 Line really are on track to finally open this year — late this year but still 2025. To get there, Sound Transit’s contractors must occasionally shut down parts of the 1 Line to complete some of the required work. This weekend will bring another light rail shutdown between Capitol Hill and SoDo:

In order to perform essential testing to prepare for full 2 Line operations, Link light rail will be temporarily suspended between Capitol Hill and SODO stations from 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17 through the end of service Sunday, Jan. 19. Normal operations are scheduled to resume at the start of service Monday, January 20.

During this time, crews will be performing the first integrated tests of the combined 1 and 2 Line safety communications equipment. These tests include preparing for and simulating over 100 different emergency scenarios and represent another step forward towards the full 2 Line opening. To perform the tests, power to the test area must be suspended. Sound Transit will provide Link Shuttle buses to transport passengers. The buses will run approximately every 10-15 minutes and stop at all stations between Capitol Hill and SODO. Additional information about the bus bridge is available here.

In November, a similar closure was required for the installation of a new signal house and communications system.

Last weekend, the line was also disrupted between Westlake and SoDo for similar 1 Line-2 Line work. Continue reading →

Sound Transit collecting feedback on plan to improve safety at dangerous at-grade crossings

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(Image: Sound Transit)

Sound Transit is collecting public feedback on improving safety along its at-grade crossings including areas along its light rail route in South Seattle that have killed and injured multiple people while also leaving the system vulnerable to delays and disruptions.

The effort comes as the agency is shaping a new At-grade Crossing Program with new rules and enhancements hoped to be approved by May.

On Capitol Hill, the light rail trains rumble far underground but elsewhere along Sound Transit’s systems, the line is vulnerable to dangerous collisions with vehicles at intersections crossing the tracks. The crashes are sometimes a nuisance — frequently tragic.

It is taking years for Sound Transit to fully act on the at-grade problem. Continue reading →

Seattle needs a new transportation leader

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Spotts and the mayor hop off the bus at the RapidRide G ribbon cutting ceremony earlier this year

The final acts of Greg Spotts leading the Seattle Department of Transportation have had some mixed results. The $1.45 billion transportation levy he helped shepherd cruised to victory with voters in November. The $144 million RapidRide G his department was in charge of building for King County Metro launched with construction mistakes, inadequate bus shelters, and traffic signal hiccups.

Spotts announced this week he is stepping down from the post, citing a desire to work closer to family.

CHS reported here in 2023 as the former chief sustainability officer at the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services and “15-minute city advocate” made the move from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest with a “Vision Zero” agenda and a philosophy around “self-enforcing” roads.

Under Mayor Bruce Harrell’s administration, Spotts barely got started in what will ultimately be a short tenure in the role. The $1.45 billion transportation levy will be one measure of his work. The city’s continued challenges around traffic safety will be another. Continue reading →

C) What happened to Route 2 and Route 12’s trolley wires — and when are they coming back?

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The 2 in its wired days (Image: CHS)

Last week, CHS wen through the A) and the B) of RapidRide G’s first months of service — including ridership optimism, the foreseeable future of the semi-permanent big orange panels, and the surprise tunnel at 10th and Madison.

Here is C) as CHS checked in with King County Metro and Seattle city officials on the schedule for restoring some key elements of nearby lines removed for the project’s long construction.

C)  WHERE ARE THE WIRES? G’s launch also brought a major overhaul to Metro’s routes around the new RapidRide core that included changes and cuts to dozens of bus lines including moving Route 10 back onto E Pine.

Construction of RapidRide G and the new alignments included the de-electrification of Route 2 and Route 12’s trolleys. Metro’s standard coaches are now plying both routes. Restoring the electric trolleys won’t happen quickly. Continue reading →

The A) and B) of RapidRide G’s first months of service: ridership, the semi-permanent big orange panels, and the surprise tunnel at 10th and Madison

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The big orange panels are staying — for now (Image: CHS)

Hoped to optimize an area that was already heavily served by a tangle of King County Metro bus routes in neighborhoods unlikely to be connected to Sound Transit’s light rail network anytime soon, the RapidRide G bus rapid transit line is currently serving around 4,000 trips a day up and down Madison and across Capitol Hill.

CHS checked in with the new transit line to see how A) ridership is faring and B) get updates on launch growing pains including construction problems that are making big orange steel panels a permanent part of First Hill’s streetscape.

A) RIDERSHIP: The first trip counts for the new 2.5-mile line are encouraging. RapidRide G averaged more than 4,100 trips a day on weekdays in October, doubling the boarding totals reported in the line’s first month of service in September. For comparison, the much longer 12-mile RapidRide C connecting across West Seattle to averages more than 7,500 trips per weekday and the 9-mile RapidRide D between Crown Hill and Downtown, more than 8,800. The RapidRide G’s “trip density” above 1,600 boardings per mile is tops in the city. Continue reading →

Repairs underway as city screwed up wheelchair access on platforms and every bus shelter on new RapidRide G line — UPDATE

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RapidRide G will continue to operate on Madison through the work but it turns out that more than signal timing and the line’s new “kiss the curb” coaches are in need of fine tuning.

The Seattle Times reported Monday morning that all 25 bus shelters and three station platforms along the newly launched $144 million line need to be repaired because of errors restricting wheelchair access.

Riders and CHS readers noted large orange steel panels placed at platforms at the route when the line began its first service last month. It turns out, the Seattle Department of Transportation placed the segments to raise buses the less than an inch required for the RapidRide wheelchair ramps to properly operate.

King County Metro says it is looking into solutions that could include making adjustments to the buses or lowering the cement platforms at eastbound stop 104 at Terry, eastbound stop 105 at Summit, and westbound 124 at the three-way intersection of Madison, Union, and 12th Ave. Continue reading →

RapidRide G also adding new rainbow landmark with multi-colored sculpture ‘where Capitol Hill, the Central District, and First Hill converge’

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(Image: SDOT)

RapidRide G has brought six-minute peak service, bus priority signals, and upgraded pedestrian crossings to E Madison. It will also soon add a new rainbow landmark to the neighborhood intended to “echo the surrounding architecture and reflect the diversity of the nearby communities.”

The Seattle Department of Transportation says a new public art installation is underway on the triangle wedge of concrete where Madison, 14th Ave, and Pike meet — “where Capitol Hill, the Central District, and First Hill converge.” Continue reading →