Sound Transit announced the start of light rail service on the South 200th Link Extension for Saturday, Sept. 24.
The $383 million extension will open $40 million under budget and four years earlier than planned in Sound Transit 2, the ballot measure voters approved in 2008 to continue expansion of the regional mass transit system.
“Opening the Angle Lake Station marks another milestone in building a vibrant, regional light rail system,” said Sound Transit Board Chair and King County Executive Dow Constantine. “Trains running every six minutes will give thousands of riders fast, reliable service to jobs, schools, and Huskies, Seahawks, Sounders and Mariners games.”
The 1.6-mile extension from Sea-Tac Airport to South 200th Street and 28th Avenue South consists of an elevated guideway and station that will serve as the southern terminus for Link until the extension to Kent/Des Moines opens in 2023. A 1,050-stall garage, 70-space surface lot, van pool parking, and passenger drop-off/pickup area will help address the demand for parking in a busy transit corridor. The facility offers covered waiting areas, a nearby transfer area for local and RapidRide bus connections, and secured bicycle storage.
A prominent feature of the station is a public art sculpture entitled “Cloud” by artist Laura Haddad. The sculpture, installed on the elevated platform straddling South 200th Street, consists of 6,000 hanging disks that change appearance in response to fluctuations in light, weather, or at the approach of a train.
The Sound Transit Board approved accelerating the project by four years after U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and other congressional leaders helped secure $10 million in TIGER funding. The extension will be the first design-build project completed by the agency.
By 2018, Angle Lake Station will serve 5,400 riders coming and going each weekday. Riders will enjoy a four-minute trip to the airport, a 41-minute trip the Westlake Station downtown, and a 48-minute ride to the University of Washington Station at Husky Stadium.
On the web: www.anglelake2016.org/
Wireless service coming to transit tunnels
Sound Transit has partnered with wireless infrastructure provider, Mobilitie, to design and install a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) network that will allow transit riders to use their cell phones while traveling underground. The DAS network, which has been under construction since earlier this year, is beginning a phased rollout this week. By late September, the Mobilitie network will provide wireless cellphone coverage to the tunnel between University of Washington and Westlake in Downtown Seattle, followed later this fall to the tunnels in Downtown Seattle and to Beacon Hill in 2017.
All cell phone service providers in Seattle will have the opportunity to access the tunnel DAS network through license agreements with Mobilitie, which is funding and maintaining the network under an agreement with Sound Transit. Starting this week, T-Mobile customers will be the first to have cell access between University of Washington and Westlake. Verizon and AT&T customers are scheduled to have access next month, with Sprint coming soon.
– Sound Transit
