Sound Transit says crosslake light rail connection will open in late March – king5.com
Transit officials on Friday shared when the 2 Line will open over Lake Washington after years of delays.
SEATTLE — Sound Transit officials announced light rail service across Lake Washington will begin on March 28, completing a long-delayed connection between Seattle and Bellevue that has faced years of setbacks.
The operation of the 7.4-mile Crosslake Connection will allow transit riders to travel between South Bellevue and International District/Chinatown stations. It will also mark a total of 50 stations open and 63 miles of light rail service, Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine said.
He told KING 5 in December that the agency was targeting May 31 as the latest opening date for this stretch of the 2 Line, with hopes of launching service earlier if possible. They were aiming to open ahead of FIFA World Cup games in Seattle beginning in mid-June 2026, to support the influx of soccer fans expected to travel to the region.
When the Crosslake Connection opens this spring, it will mark the first time light rail carries passengers across a floating bridge. This will mark the completion of the regional light rail system voters approved under the Sound Transit 2 ballot measure.
Construction issues cause years of delays
The project has faced significant delays from its original timeline. Sound Transit initially scheduled the full East Link Extension to open in mid-2023, then pushed that back to late 2025. Updated projections earlier this year suggested a possible April 2025 opening.
Constantine attributed the delays to construction issues rather than the budget shortfall the agency announced in fall 2024.
The biggest obstacles involved construction quality and durability concerns about plinths — raised concrete structures supporting the tracks on both sides of the Interstate 90 floating bridge. Work to fix problems with the plinths led to the discovery of additional issues, according to Sound Transit.
Line partially in service on east side
Sound Transit opened a partial “starter line” in April 2024, providing service between South Bellevue and Redmond Technology stations near the Microsoft campus. That segment includes six of the East Link Extension’s 10 planned stations and has operated while crews worked on the Lake Washington crossing.
The starter line cost $43 million within the overall $3.68 billion East Link Extension budget.
The new Crosslake segment will connect with the 1 Line at International District/Chinatown station, greatly increasing capacity in the system’s busiest section. Trains will run on the 2 Line across the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge.
Sound Transit has recently opened several other extensions, including lines to Lynnwood in August 2024 and Federal Way in December 2024.
A number of other extensions and lines are in the works, including one to West Seattle expected to open in 2032, a continuation of the 1 Line to Tacoma slated for a 2035 opening, as well as a number of others.
