With the 2008 passing of Sound Transit 2 (ST2) and this month’s passing of Sound Transit 3 (ST3), light rail is coming to the Eastside in less than 10 years.
To give residents a better idea of what that will look like, as well as gather public input, Sound Transit held an open house meeting on Nov. 17 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Redmond.
“It’s an opportunity for us to listen,” said Ron Lewis with Sound Transit.
The event focused on East Link and for those who could not attend, there is also an online open house available at soundtransit.org/eastlink.
Lewis, who is executive project director for East Link, said this is the 14-mile extension of link light rail that will run from Seattle’s International District, through Mercer Island and Bellevue and end in the Overlake neighborhood of Redmond. East Link was part of the ST2 package that was approved eight years ago.
Lewis said construction throughout the East Link route will begin next year and it is scheduled to open in 2023.
ST3 will bring the route to downtown Redmond and that station is scheduled to open in 2024. Redmond Mayor John Marchione, who also sits on the board of directors for Sound Transit, said for the last two years, he has pressed to get the design work for downtown so there would not be too much time between its opening and the opening of the Overlake stations.
A Sound Transit press release states that once East Link is complete, riders will be able to travel from south Bellevue to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in 50 minutes. Travel time from the Overlake Transit Center to the Bellevue Transit Center will be 10 minutes.
In addition to the 10 stations, Lewis said there will also be added parking in certain locations. The stations will be accessible by foot and bicycle and bicyclists will also be able to take their bikes on board the trains as well. All stations will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
There will be two light rail stations in Redmond as part of East Link. Both will run along SR-520. According to the East Link website, the Overlake Village Station will be north of the Overlake Village Park and Ride on 152nd Avenue Northeast, where riders will enter, just south of SR-520. The Redmond Technology Center Station will be located at the current Overlake Transit Center site and will be a major transit hub with connections between public transit and private transportation services, the website states.
Marchione said both stations will have bicycle/pedestrian bridges over SR-520.
Thursday’s open house also included a presentation, during which Sound Transit staff discussed the two stations.
Staff presented renderings of what the stations will look like, pointing out features such as sound walls to protect riders from the noise from SR-520, the safety measures taken at crossing points across tracks, weather protection on the platforms, parking and more.
Sound Transit staff also told attendees that they will incorporate art into the stations, pointing to the Angle Lake Station in Seattle and the Lynnwood Transit Center as examples where this has been done in the past.
While Thursday’s meeting was focused on the two Redmond light rail stations, Bellevue resident Glenn Christy attended because he plans to use light rail when it comes to the Eastside.
One of his concerns was how they would be building the stations. Christy said he was happy to see that Sound Transit will be building them correctly, in parts, adding that his trust in Sound Transit was elevated after he visited the Angle Lake Station.
Christy said he plans to use light rail to go into Seattle as he does not like to drive there if he doesn’t have to because of the hassles, which include paying the SR-520 toll and parking once you are in downtown Seattle. He is also looking forward to being able to take light rail to get from Bellevue to downtown Redmond.
Christy was also impressed by the City of Redmond’s approach toward light rail. He said in Bellevue, city officials tended to stall and drag their feet. In addition, at similar Sound Transit open house meetings in Bellevue, Christy said attendees would sometimes stand up and yell their objections. This did not happen at Thursday’s meeting in Redmond.
“Looks like things are going to go well,” Christy said about the light rail situation in Redmond.
Redmond resident Rama Moravaneni is also looking forward to being able to take light rail into Seattle, where he works. He also sees light rail as an easier way to get into downtown Bellevue and downtown Redmond as it can be tough to find parking.
