Weekend Link 1 Line service disruptions continue this Sunday, February 23. Sound Transit will suspend Link service between Capitol Hill and SoDo stations to facilitate light rail maintenance and construction work.
During the service disruption, Sound Transit will deploy bus bridge service between Capitol Hill and SoDo stations to serve all stops, including Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel stops, with the help of King County Metro. Bus bridge service will operate every 10 to 15 minutes. Riders should consult Sound Transit’s page to find bus stop pick-up and drop-off locations for replacement service.
Meanwhile, Link service will operate about every 15 minutes between Lynnwood City Center and Capitol Hill stations as well as between SoDo and Angle Lake. Additionally, riders at Shoreline South will need to board Link trains on the eastern (northbound) side of the platform at the station regardless of service direction.
The service disruption will accommodate crews in completing various construction and maintenance tasks in and around the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, much of which will support tie-in work for the 2 Line extension into the Link mainline in Seattle. Work will focus on switch replacement, stormwater system cleaning, signal upgrades, and electrical systems improvements.
For some trips, alternative transit service options by bus and streetcar may be faster than using Link and its bus bridge connections to reach intended destinations. The agency has a handy diagram offering information on alternative service options for riders to consult. Riders may want to use real-time trip planning apps to calculate their fastest options.
Sound Transit also continues to have weekday construction impacts on the Link 1 Line until Thursday, February 27. Those impacts are limited to nightly service reductions starting at 5:30pm and lasting through end of service each day to facilitate construction of the Pinehurst infill station at NE 130th Street — which is set to open next year. As a result, trains are single-tracking in the vicinity of the infill station, forcing reduced frequencies to every 12 minutes and requiring riders to board Link trains on the eastern (northbound) side of the platform at the Shoreline South station regardless of service direction.
The final weekend of Link service impacts in this winter cycle of maintenance and construction projects will be from Friday, February 28 through Sunday, March 2. Service impacts will begin at 10:00pm on February 28 and continue through the end of service of the March 2 service day. But Sound Transit has warned that further maintenance and construction activities impacting service will happen intermittently throughout the year.
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.
