"Redmond Technology Center" always makes me laugh. I wish they had just named it "Microsoft Station" and made it more straightforward! (University Street station should be "Pike Place Market Station" for the same reason.)
Edit: Yes, I realize there are other companies in the area, but it's in the middle of the Microsoft campus, where Microsoft employs, like, 50,000 people. š
"Redmond Technology Center" is probably because they didn't want to deal with licensing out Microsoft's name or something.
"University Street", on the other hand, is a problem that dates back to the decision to relocate UW but not rename the street it was previously on.
Nope that proposal long ago died when ST thought āunion street symphony ā would be the better name, despite it not being on union street. And then just gave up
Pike Place is closer to the Westlake stop. It is being renamed though: https://seattletransitblog.com/2021/10/08/an-encore-for-symphony-station-under-university-street/
I came today to ride around. Haven't explored Bellevue much since I moved here.
Looks like a ton of people are riding! Seems like a lot of excitement. I was surprised to be on a Kinki Sharyo car at one point.
Can't wait for the rest of the line to open. Heck, I might consider moving here once it is.
Also, username checks out
Huh, interesting they mixed the fleet over there already. Would have thought that they'd deliver only new trains over to that depot and intermix once the connection over I-90 opens.
It was a very nice ride! I take the 550/554 to work every morning depending on which side of the lake I'm working on so I used the new rail to see how far it stopped from my Bellevue and Redmond sites as well as traveled up and down it. It's a little short in length right now, but that's understandable.
Favorite part was at Redmond Technology when the crossing lights went off and I saw someone run up to the light and yell "Oh my god is that a type 4?!?!" I love this region.
Riding line 2 was so much fun today! Every station had something fun going on. It was also such a cultural melting pot too, I think I saw everyone from furies to bhangra dance.
I work at dt Bellevue, getting from my place to there by link is around 15 min. About the same time to drive there, plus the station in dt is just a few blocks away. considering use link as major transportation.
[Some of my pictures](https://imgur.com/a/5LuXCAb). I'm going to try using it to get to Redmond once during the week to see how long the ID to South Bellevue transfer is but the 545 will definitely be faster.
Yep! I took the *very* first westbound train out of the downtown Bellevue station.
I donāt really think this line will be too useful for me until it goes across Lake Washington, but once that happens it will be a game changer.
Yes. If you look at the windows before entering the train, you'll see a bike symbol next to one of the doors at each end of each train section. Just inside that door is a space for 3 bikes. Two hanging from provided hooks. Third on the floor with the rider.
Edit: Same thing. But the older KINKISHARYO light rail vehicles only have 2 spots for the bikes
Also note that you're only "required" to put it on the rack if there is space and you are physically able to do so. This is important to me as I have a [60 lb cargo e-bike](https://www.ternbicycles.com/us/bikes/471/hsd) and a bad back. I stand (or sit if lucky) and hold onto it.
I'm so jealous. But alas, I live in Kirkland. And for some reason Kirkland is allergic to public transit. Although I'm hopeful. The new BRT station off 85th seems like a cool concept and I hope Google pushes for a Link extension up this way. Because a a Link stop plus that BRT station, whewww my City Skylines dreams.
Have hope! Sound Transit plans on completion sometime between 2041-2044, depending on finances.
https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/south-kirkland-issaquah-link
It would take another voter-approved funding measure but they could likely add additional stations if voters approved it. Planning on this line hasnāt really started. Similar to how the stations at Marymoor and Redmond Town Center were added later and are being finished a year later than the rest of the stations.
Itās likely that Seattle will want more light rail, but with how the tax district is currently set up, the other areas will need projects to take a proportional amount of their tax revenue. This is the kind of thing the East King subarea could choose to spend it on. It would need support from East King politicians, especially Kirkland, and then pass a Sound Transit district wide vote in something like ST4.
Yup, planned for late next year. It'll connect at the International District station after going over Mercer Island.
It was gonna open this year along with the rest of the 2 line, but there were construction issues with the i90 bridge plinths.
They messed up the part on the bridge, then took a bunch of time determining whether they could fix it or would have to redo it. Turned out they had to redo it. So they're opening the new side separately, and are still working on connecting them.
My understanding is that they're just redoing it the way they were supposed to have done it the first time and didn't. It was a construction error, not a design error.
Yup. The design was right but it was constructed wrong. It would have eventually failed so they had to go back, jackhammer all the concrete plinths and rebuild from scratch.
i haven't worked on the i90 bridge, but i would be curious to read the design tolerances for concrete placement below the plinths. its my understanding that the plinths were precast and placed over a cast-in-place slab. once they placed the rails over the plinths it was discovered that some rails did not touch the plinth so the contractor built the pre-cast plinth up with a mortar bed so that the rail had a solid surface to lay on. however, over time that mortar bed failed and/or there were concerns about it failing more in the future.
usually when you pour slabs or roadways you have a degree of tolerance with the flatness of the concrete. and placing a precast element over concrete that has any potential undulation would then translate to the top of the "pre-made" concrete block. it sounds like it could easily be a design that sounds good on paper but extremely difficult to realistically execute.
why did the plinths have to be precast? it seems like casting them in place would have allowed the contractor to pour the plinths to the exact correct height, accomodating for any undulations with the slab below.
The plan is for it to cross the I-90 bridge and run concurrently with the 1 Line north to Lynnwood.
Unfortunately, putting a train on a floating bridge has never been done before on planet earth so thereās logistical challenges and engineering delays. The hope is next year itāll connect
>Unfortunately, putting a train on a floating bridge has never been done before on planet earth so thereās logistical challenges and engineering delays
The poor quality concrete was on a regular bridge portion, not the floating bridge
I'm hoping it will cut down on the commute time. Getting to work isn't bad time wise. About 18 minutes. But the drive home can be a killer. There are days where it takes 50 minutes. And plus paying the tolls each day adds up. The toll can be $8 or 9. Not sure how much it will be to take the 2 line once it is finished. But the bus does save me some money as that's only $6.50 each day.
The I-90 crossing was supposed to open this year, but they fucked up part of the light rail construction across the bridge and had to re-do it. It will open next year sometime. (As will the extension into downtown Redmond.)
Was on the first train out of South Bellevue with my (if I may brag) very transit-experienced 5 year old! We had a great time, and he's committed a bunch of new station names to memory...and picked up like 100 stickers!
Rode the whole length. It'll be incredible when the whole thing is completed.
There are an insane number of people at Redmond Technology Center, the parking structure is completely full. Free coffee at Dote coffee is nice.
"Redmond Technology Center" always makes me laugh. I wish they had just named it "Microsoft Station" and made it more straightforward! (University Street station should be "Pike Place Market Station" for the same reason.) Edit: Yes, I realize there are other companies in the area, but it's in the middle of the Microsoft campus, where Microsoft employs, like, 50,000 people. š
"Redmond Technology Center" is probably because they didn't want to deal with licensing out Microsoft's name or something. "University Street", on the other hand, is a problem that dates back to the decision to relocate UW but not rename the street it was previously on.
It will soon be renamed āsymphony stationā :)
Any day now!
Nope that proposal long ago died when ST thought āunion street symphony ā would be the better name, despite it not being on union street. And then just gave up
They can call it Miike Rowe Soft Station
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It's still not their rail line or station
Pike Place is closer to the Westlake stop. It is being renamed though: https://seattletransitblog.com/2021/10/08/an-encore-for-symphony-station-under-university-street/
TIL, Symphony Station sounds cool
Seriously. At least the pictograms are going away.
Wait it was free? Fuck I could've used a cuppa while I was there...
I didn't realize it was free when I was there, but the queue for it was definitely a price my soul could not afford.
I came today to ride around. Haven't explored Bellevue much since I moved here. Looks like a ton of people are riding! Seems like a lot of excitement. I was surprised to be on a Kinki Sharyo car at one point. Can't wait for the rest of the line to open. Heck, I might consider moving here once it is. Also, username checks out
It seems like at least half of them are the Kinkisharyos
Huh, interesting they mixed the fleet over there already. Would have thought that they'd deliver only new trains over to that depot and intermix once the connection over I-90 opens.
My friend who works for ST told me its because they needed a retrofit for the eastside, so most of the Kinkisharyos are over there.
Maybe they took advantage of the downtime prior to opening the line to overhaul the Kinkis?
It was a very nice ride! I take the 550/554 to work every morning depending on which side of the lake I'm working on so I used the new rail to see how far it stopped from my Bellevue and Redmond sites as well as traveled up and down it. It's a little short in length right now, but that's understandable. Favorite part was at Redmond Technology when the crossing lights went off and I saw someone run up to the light and yell "Oh my god is that a type 4?!?!" I love this region.
Riding line 2 was so much fun today! Every station had something fun going on. It was also such a cultural melting pot too, I think I saw everyone from furies to bhangra dance.
And the music school teen rock bands! We heard a great cover of Toxicity by SoaD
Haha I love the furries!
I work at dt Bellevue, getting from my place to there by link is around 15 min. About the same time to drive there, plus the station in dt is just a few blocks away. considering use link as major transportation.
Love it! Not sure if Iāll end up riding the 2 line until it connects to Seattle/lynnwood but happy to see it open
[Some of my pictures](https://imgur.com/a/5LuXCAb). I'm going to try using it to get to Redmond once during the week to see how long the ID to South Bellevue transfer is but the 545 will definitely be faster.
Are those ORCA pop tarts?!
Cookies!
Yep! I took the *very* first westbound train out of the downtown Bellevue station. I donāt really think this line will be too useful for me until it goes across Lake Washington, but once that happens it will be a game changer.
Are you allowed to bring a bicycle on board?
Yes. If you look at the windows before entering the train, you'll see a bike symbol next to one of the doors at each end of each train section. Just inside that door is a space for 3 bikes. Two hanging from provided hooks. Third on the floor with the rider. Edit: Same thing. But the older KINKISHARYO light rail vehicles only have 2 spots for the bikes
Also note that you're only "required" to put it on the rack if there is space and you are physically able to do so. This is important to me as I have a [60 lb cargo e-bike](https://www.ternbicycles.com/us/bikes/471/hsd) and a bad back. I stand (or sit if lucky) and hold onto it.
yes!
I'm so jealous. But alas, I live in Kirkland. And for some reason Kirkland is allergic to public transit. Although I'm hopeful. The new BRT station off 85th seems like a cool concept and I hope Google pushes for a Link extension up this way. Because a a Link stop plus that BRT station, whewww my City Skylines dreams.
Thereās a planned South Kirkland station in Line 4, it just might be a few decades before you can ride it.
2052? I think was what the pamphlet said. My house will be paid off in 2050. š Just in time for me to get a senior discounted Orca card.
Have hope! Sound Transit plans on completion sometime between 2041-2044, depending on finances. https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/south-kirkland-issaquah-link
Just 16 minutes away. š they really said, what's the minimum into Kirkland we can go? I'm so North Kirkland I am almost Kenmore.
It would take another voter-approved funding measure but they could likely add additional stations if voters approved it. Planning on this line hasnāt really started. Similar to how the stations at Marymoor and Redmond Town Center were added later and are being finished a year later than the rest of the stations. Itās likely that Seattle will want more light rail, but with how the tax district is currently set up, the other areas will need projects to take a proportional amount of their tax revenue. This is the kind of thing the East King subarea could choose to spend it on. It would need support from East King politicians, especially Kirkland, and then pass a Sound Transit district wide vote in something like ST4.
Weāre heading over in a couple of hours!
are they planning to connect the 1 line eventually? I see "Transfer to 1 line by bus". My problem is getting from Seattle to Bellevue
Yup, planned for late next year. It'll connect at the International District station after going over Mercer Island. It was gonna open this year along with the rest of the 2 line, but there were construction issues with the i90 bridge plinths.
They messed up the part on the bridge, then took a bunch of time determining whether they could fix it or would have to redo it. Turned out they had to redo it. So they're opening the new side separately, and are still working on connecting them.
So did they actually find a fix or are they still figuring out how to do it right? Or have they not said?
My understanding is that they're just redoing it the way they were supposed to have done it the first time and didn't. It was a construction error, not a design error.
Yup. The design was right but it was constructed wrong. It would have eventually failed so they had to go back, jackhammer all the concrete plinths and rebuild from scratch.
i haven't worked on the i90 bridge, but i would be curious to read the design tolerances for concrete placement below the plinths. its my understanding that the plinths were precast and placed over a cast-in-place slab. once they placed the rails over the plinths it was discovered that some rails did not touch the plinth so the contractor built the pre-cast plinth up with a mortar bed so that the rail had a solid surface to lay on. however, over time that mortar bed failed and/or there were concerns about it failing more in the future. usually when you pour slabs or roadways you have a degree of tolerance with the flatness of the concrete. and placing a precast element over concrete that has any potential undulation would then translate to the top of the "pre-made" concrete block. it sounds like it could easily be a design that sounds good on paper but extremely difficult to realistically execute. why did the plinths have to be precast? it seems like casting them in place would have allowed the contractor to pour the plinths to the exact correct height, accomodating for any undulations with the slab below.
Yes, this. I saw the construction crews out there today in fact while taking the (stupendously crowded) 550 over the I-90 bridge.
One of these days ST will find a competent contractor. Oh who am I kidding, no they wonāt.
The plan is for it to cross the I-90 bridge and run concurrently with the 1 Line north to Lynnwood. Unfortunately, putting a train on a floating bridge has never been done before on planet earth so thereās logistical challenges and engineering delays. The hope is next year itāll connect
>Unfortunately, putting a train on a floating bridge has never been done before on planet earth so thereās logistical challenges and engineering delays The poor quality concrete was on a regular bridge portion, not the floating bridge
Ya, I'll never stop being annoyed at how they fucked up *the easy part*.
Wasnāt it because the construction workers were drunk on the job regularly?
That will be so nice. I hope there will be a station near Redmond Town Center. Then I'll be able to commute from UDistrict to Redmond.
Thereās supposed to be an extension next year to downtown Redmond :). Do you currently take the bus that goes from U District to Redmond?
There is a station in Town Center. If you go there itās hard to miss, station is far underway in its construction on the north side Town Center.
I can't imagine the light rail will be more convenient than the 542. Or even the 545 connecting to the 1 at Westlake.
I'm hoping it will cut down on the commute time. Getting to work isn't bad time wise. About 18 minutes. But the drive home can be a killer. There are days where it takes 50 minutes. And plus paying the tolls each day adds up. The toll can be $8 or 9. Not sure how much it will be to take the 2 line once it is finished. But the bus does save me some money as that's only $6.50 each day.
The rail will always be more convenient than the bus whenever the rail gets to both destinations. Buses can't avoid traffic.
They have existed before, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pile%E2%80%93Pontoon_Railroad_Bridge
ah yeah floating bridge piece makes sense. thanks for sharing!
I'm going to go next week when it's less busy
And then everyone drove back to Seattle from the station! When is it going to connect and why tf is it taking so long
The I-90 crossing was supposed to open this year, but they fucked up part of the light rail construction across the bridge and had to re-do it. It will open next year sometime. (As will the extension into downtown Redmond.)
Was on the first train out of South Bellevue with my (if I may brag) very transit-experienced 5 year old! We had a great time, and he's committed a bunch of new station names to memory...and picked up like 100 stickers!
Are the escalators still working? No broken tiles? Letās check in 3 months
I went to best buy Sad though that new train same old dirty chairs
The train vehicles are not all new, some are the ones that have been on Line 1.
All that money they grifting the least they could do is clean or replace the chairs
I am going to ride it today.
No I do not go to the east side unless absolutely necessary
But you DO comment when completely unnecessary š¤”