Sound Transit seeks two light-rail stations in South Lake Union, only five blocks apart
Sound Transit has promised a pair of subway stations for
But early route maps show these stops a mere five blocks apart, or three blocks as the crow flies, because of a bend in the
And they're expensive. The agency estimates the cost of a second SLU stop at over a half-billion dollars -- to create a slightly larger area where people can easily walk to a train. Construction is to be done by 2035, in the ST3 plan voters passed in 2016.
Meanwhile, money is tightening as community groups seek unbudgeted improvements, such as Ballard and
Dual SLU stations enjoy unanimous support by businesses, politicians and transit advocates, who compare demand here to
"I think we need to spend the money," said
But how much is too much, to give thousands of train customers a shorter walk?
"Hopefully, somebody's asking the question and looking at the options, because these are big decisions," said
Aurora station
Three years ago, a single SLU station at the corner of
Community groups requested more, and then-
Sound Transit continued to call
It was a low-profile move.
"I don't recall having specific discussions," said
Sound Transit's 25-year finance plan shows enough tax income to build both SLU stations, but not other features people are demanding.
A Ballard coalition wants a
Seattle Transit Blog supports increasing the Aurora station to two track levels, which it calls a "future proof" layout that allows a tunnel one day to Fremont and
"There's absolutely no reason to think we have to sacrifice anything. We can have everything," said
For now,
"In general, the costs and benefits should be weighed against other opportunities," said
.
"It could be extending a line somewhere else. It could be improving service. It's not so much a question of does it pass or fail. It's a question of, what's the best kind of investment?" Voulgaris said.
Ridership estimates grow
If anything, the case for building the twin stations has grown since the 2016 election.
Initially, a Sound Transit fact sheet said the additional Aurora stop would serve 3,000 to 4,000 daily boardings.
Those numbers, said Hallenbeck, ignored a cultural shift toward transit now that roads and highways are maxing out. Rail is the way to keep pace with job growth, he said.
"Unless Amazon goes bust, they're going to underestimate ridership," Hallenbeck said.
In response to
By comparison, at
That SLU is becoming like downtown is a good reason to err on the side of more capacity, said
"Depending on how successful the first station is, it would be useful to have an additional station to deal with overflow," he said. "You only get so many chances to build a tunnel through downtown."
Generally, a station adds 42seconds to a train trip. But if you build too few stations, and they're packed, any time saved would be lost as crowds jostle their way into the trains.
If a boarding platform at
By comparison, central stations in
So if Sound Transit were to build a single, consolidated SLU station, the foot traffic inside might resemble the busiest stations in peer cities.
Bus rider
"I'd think the
Underground stations
Property to build stations is vanishing. If any did exist, planners estimated
So Sound Transit assumes both SLU stations must be built under the street, said
These require an excavation 400 feet long to handle a four-car train plus exit and maintenance areas. And they'll be about 90 feet deep, so the tracks can dive under both the existing
Station construction will block more road lanes and sidewalks than earlier light-rail digs across town, where trucks could park off-road to remove dirt and deliver concrete.
"It's going to be more like when the initial
The open-trench tunnel segment of that late 1980s project closed
The dual SLU stations are proposed at 0.4 miles apart, or slightly closer than in downtown
The Mercer Stakeholders coalition, which includes big
Seattle DOT wanted the Aurora station, Kubly said, because people could hop off the RapidRide E bus there and walk down to meet a train.
Some citizens suggested a broader westward curve, placing the second SLU stop farther north along
Another option that Ridge says will be examined is moving the Aurora stop west, alongside the
"We've got lots of stakeholders and communities. To keep everybody happy, everybody gets everything they want, and the projects become more expensive," he said. "There is no discipline at this point."
Chances are, it takes a recession or catastrophic cost overruns for politicians to backtrack on any campaign promise, Polzin said.
Sound Transit did so in 2005, when feared cost overruns for a deep
No day of reckoning appears now.
"We told voters we're going to be building these two stations," said
A full 70 percent of
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated
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