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    1. Rail
    2. Infrastructure

    Sound Transit's Northgate light-rail extension reaches 70 percent completion mark

    Jan. 18, 2019
    The transit authority credits the achievement to advances in track installation and station construction.
    Sound Transit
    Rails being installed with in one of the Northgate extension's tunnels.
    Rails being installed with in one of the Northgate extension's tunnels.

    Sound Transit's Northgate Link Extension has reached 70 percent completion, as project construction move ahead to start service in 2021.

    Sound Transit says progress on Northgate Link construction includes track installation, which is nearing 50 percent completion. In addition, construction at each of the three stations on the extension has reached a significant milestone. The Northgate Station is approximately 70 percent complete and the Roosevelt Station is nearing 70 percent completion. The University District Station is approximately 50 percent complete. 

    When finished, the 4.3 mile regional light-rail extension will offer riders reliable, traffic-free travel between Northgate and downtown Seattle in just 14 minutes. Trains traveling in 3.5-mile twin tunnels north to and from the University of Washington Station at Husky Stadium will stop at underground stations in the U District and Roosevelt neighborhoods, exit the tunnels at First Avenue Northeast and Northeast 95th and transition to a 0.8-mile elevated guideway to reach the station. 

    The project is a major component of Sound Transit's regional commitment to complete 116 new miles of voter-approved light rail, the largest rail service expansion in the country.  

    Sound Transit is simultaneously working to extend light-rail north, south, east and west, opening new stations every few years to form a 116-mile regional system by 2041. Northgate Link will be followed in 2023 by the opening of service to Mercer Island, Bellevue and Redmond's Overlake community. Additional extensions to Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood, Kent/Des Moines, Federal Way and downtown Redmond are planned in 2024. Further light-rail extensions are scheduled to reach West Seattle, Fife and Tacoma in 2030; Ballard in 2035; Paine Field and Everett in 2036; and South Kirkland and Issaquah in 2041.

    About the Author

    Mischa Wanek-Libman | Editor in Chief

    Mischa Wanek-Libman serves as editor in chief of Mass Transit magazine. She is responsible for developing and maintaining the magazine’s editorial direction and is based in the western suburbs of Chicago.

    Wanek-Libman has spent more than 20 years covering transportation issues including construction projects and engineering challenges for various commuter railroads and transit agencies. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content. 

    She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and serves as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.  

    She is a graduate of Drake University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication with a major in magazine journalism and a minor in business management.

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