Results tagged “lightrail”

"Looking down the light rail tunnel" by Wendi Dunlap, from our Flickr pool

The folks at Sound Transit must be in good spirits this week--the lowest construction bid for the University Link tunnel was $20 million lower than Sound Transit's original estimate.

There's a feature in the Seattle Times today about the #7 bus that seems to be celebrating it as a "colorful" part of Seattle history, but also makes the claim that "most" and "many" #7 riders prefer it to the light rail. Try as we might, we can't find any numbers in the story to back up that assertion. We emailed reporter Phillip Lucas, but it bounced back undeliverable, user unknown. We've also called Metro's community relations line three times this morning, but no one's picking up. We'll update if it's the rapture and no one else is at work this morning. UPDATE: It's not the rapture. But here's Publicola's ECB, an actual #7 rider, going off on exactly how colorful the route is.

There is good eating to be found near the station, even if you have to dodge a few cars to find it. Thai Recipe is located in the same strip mall as Domino’s on McClellan, and it is the only Thai restaurant we know of that even borders on North Beacon Hill. The very friendly staff serves good, reliable, and tasty Thai food, available for take out or to eat in the small dining room.

• Enjoy the end of the work week by tasting wines from 12 different wineries tonight, at South Lake Union Block Party's Discover Wine with proceeds going to help-out Seattle's Junior League. Where else can you drink AND help the community at the same time?
• A Bothell home was raided today and animal control officers removed six matted dogs who had been severely neglected by a woman who is suspected of hoarding animals.
• Excited as they are about a fighter jet-inspired Light Rail station on Capitol Hill, CHS blog looks at the more worrisome logistics that aren't nearly as cool. Like the 24 hours a day of construction noise.

This morning shortly after 2 a.m. two men from the "Drama Boyz" motorcycle club were involved in a fatal motorcycle crash after they hit something and lost control of their bikes at 9000 Block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. The crash left one man dead at the scene, while the other victim was taken to Harborview with critical injuries. The impact of the crash sent one of the motorcycles onto the Light Rail tracks, suspending service at the Othello Station in Rainier Valley for several hours. Police say the investigation is ongoing, and it will be some time before they know what happened.

Damon Agnos at the Weekly reports on the the coalition suing to prevent I-90 light rail from happening, a weird last-ditch attempt to keep Seattle from driving its train deep into the Eastside, again and oh god again, via tunnel. The suit--claiming light rail can't use I-90 because that would besmirch its use by upstanding automobile drivers--is ridiculous, as are most of Kemper Freeman's suits. Personally, we can't wait to pull on our flip-flops and stained wife-beater, hit the light rail, and terrorize the hell out of Bell Square while drinking our Volvic out of a brown paper bag.

Sound Transit says weekday ridership is at estimated at 12,000 per day--with 15,000-17,000 on the weekend, so suck it, Seattle Times. ST is aiming for 21,000 riders per day by the end of this year, with another 5,000 daily stragglers due to board after the final leg to SeaTac opens end of December. Events like last weekend's Sounders FC and Seattle Mariners games, and the Seattle Seafair Torchlight Parade have boosted ridership--coming up, ST will be running free shuttles from the Othello light rail station to Seafair's hydroplanes and air show on Lake Washington on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The ORCA card is, of course, the new, handy way to pay fares for many kinds of transit including the new Link light rail. Like all good Seattle things (e.g., a trendy restaurant, your friend's house, or the Fremont Troll), the youth ORCA card is not that easy to find unless you know where to go already.

Link Light Rail hasn't been open a full two weeks, and sadly we're already passing along news of the first light rail fatality--though it may have been a suicide. The accident took place late last night in the SoDo area, as the rail car was heading southbound, past South Holgate Street and 5th Avenue South. The SPD Blotter reports a man jumped over a barricade and into the path of the train, where he was struck and killed. With no crosswalks in the vicinity, police are still investigating the accident and what the man was doing in a non-pedestrian area. No light rail passengers were witness to the accident, and they were later bused away.

Link light rail is again visiting the Westlake station in the bus tunnel. Sound Transit got the "signal system" problem under control at about 11 p.m. last night. For riders complaining about the lack of information, set yourself up with a subscription to ST alerts. And then be nice and tell everyone else without a smart phone what's going on.

Says Sound Transit: "Central Link light rail service has been temporarily suspended in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel due to a loss of power at one of the stations and associated impacts to systems for controlling tunnel equipment. Crews are working to address the issue and expect to restore service soon. Bus service in the tunnel is continuing at this time. Northbound light rail trains are stopping and turning south at Stadium Station. Bus service northward into downtown Seattle is available just to the west of Stadium Station at the intersection of the Busway and Royal Brougham Way. Light rail service between Stadium Station and Tukwila International Boulevard Station remains in operation." [UPDATE: As of a 10:57 a.m. email, they're rolling in the tunnel once more! WHOOPS! As of an 11:25 a.m. email, they're not rolling. Buses are still rolling in the tunnel, but light rail is not. Crews working feverishly, etc.]

    

We departed Seattlest world headquarters at 12th and John Street at 11:49 and landed at SeaTac at 12:45. Our trip included a ride on the #10 bus to Westlake, a light rail ride from Westlake Center to Tukwila, and a shuttle bus from the Tukwila station to the airport. For speedphiles, the actual train trip ride from Westlake to Tukwila was 34 minutes. It was also 34 minutes last Friday. It will probably be 34 minutes next week.

Earlier today, we were smiling over the Seattle Times trying to use the first day of light rail ridership as a benchmark. "What was the Times headline on February 4, 1965?" we asked, thinking of the opening of I-5. Then we really wanted to know, so we looked it up.

From the Times: "On the first day of regular light-rail service, ridership on Sound Transit's new Link train system is rather light. Midway through the morning commute, trains were arriving at Tukwila from downtown Seattle with fewer than 10 passengers aboard." And: "Normal use is projected at 26,600 per weekday next year—far more than today's trend." One morning is a trend? This makes us curious. What was the Times headline on February 4, 1965? "I-5 Looks Awfully Open"? Times commenters are through waiting for ridership to increase--they sound about ready to rush out and pull up the tracks.

Over the weekend and again this morning, a bug has been affecting Link light rail's ticketing system, telling aggrieved would-be riders no soup for you "transaction canceled." Bummer.

• The biggest story in town this weekend? Light rail, hands down, and we have plenty on it. Then again, we're just a drop in the bucket of 92,000.
• Well-known and well-respected Seattle sound engineer Tom Pfaeffle got shot by a nut-job. Comforting. At least it was all the way out in Twisp.

    

None of Seattle's typical "too cool for school" stand-offishness. Tens of thousands of cheerful riders, oohing and cooing, tweeting and twittering along SoundTransit's light rail line. Dozens of staffers in dayglo green shirts directed (human) traffic, and the trains (speedy, quiet) ran every ten minutes or so, tunneling under Beacon Hill and emerging high above MLK in Mt. Baker. (Big crowds expected at the Stadium station, where the MLS Sounders played Chelsea.)

Starting today, the Sound Transit Link Light Rail line from Westlake to Tukwila is officially open. This weekend, everyone rides for free. (As of noon, that's been about 13,000 people.) Paid service starts on Monday. Transit officials said yesterday that the system is ready to go. Fourteen two-car trains are operating all weekend. On Monday, 14 trains will be operating during peak hours and 12 trains at all other times.

KOMO reports this week on the heart-wrenching tale of Nick and Marilyn Papini, long time Beacon Hill residents who are suffering the "big scar" of Sound Transit's new power lines now crossing their view of downtown Seattle. "My heart sank when I saw this," said Marilyn Papini. "It's like a big scar." For more than 50 years, the couple has enjoyed a picturesque view from their home. In one afternoon it was taken away.

• Jon Talton on his Sound Economy blog has a nice overview of the state of the economy nearly two years into our current economic nightmare. Read it; it's not pretty and things aren't getting better any time soon.
• Erica C. Barnett at Publicola has liveblogged the the County Executive debate from Bellevue, featuring some choice right-wing nuggets from is-she-or-isn't-she-Republican Susan Hutchinson.
• Speaking of Hutchinson, Seattle Transit Blog has some info on her thoughts on transportation issues. Also not pretty.

• With the Chase Family 4th fireworks bonanza now over, event organizers are back to scrambling, as one-time sponsor JPMorgan Chase--who inherited the WaMu fireworks contract--has announced they will no longer sponsor the large fireworks show.
• We have eight days, EIGHT DAYS (!) till the light rail opens. For residents who live in or south of Rainer Valley, guest columnist Martin Duke of Seattle Transit Blog offers a quick guide to navigating your way to the stations.

             

The trains will open with service from Westlake to Tukwila on July 18. It will be free to ride on the 18th and 19th with paid service starting on Monday, July 20. The base ticket price will be $1.75 with a .05-cent increase with every mile. When the Tukwila to SeaTac section opens in December, it will cost $2.25 from Westlake to the airport. Trains come about every 7.5 minutes during peak times, and every 15 minutes otherwise.

"Queers Against Gentrification," spotted by the lovely and talented Katelyn Hackett on Capitol Hill "right across from the light rail construction site, John and...10th, I guess." ACT UP! indeed.

• The light rail isn't even officially opened, and it's already getting grief (and being hit by cars too) from Tukwila residents, who are complaining about loud (88 decibels worth) of high-pitched squeaking from the recent light rail test runs.
• Yesterday, the Seattle Courant (which dubbed itself "Seattle's first online daily newspaper") kicked the bucket. Although the editor still believes "real journalism will survive the transition from analog to digital," he warns us all "it's just going to be scary for a bit."
• The P-I's Seattle 911 blog didn't get a warm welcome from the classy broads infamous Rick's dancers (awaiting the big bosses' legal outcome) who flat-out told the guy, "Newspaper reporters aren't good for us."

You know, when the PT Cruiser first came out we were excited to see this brawny, modern hot rod that looked back to the great Plymouth roadsters like...uh...well, looked back period. But then we saw one up close and realized it was a station wagon for bonehead baby boomers. Yech two times. That's why we smiled when we heard one got creamed yesterday by a light rail train on MLK Way.

                  

Employees of Sound Transit were understandably filled with a certain pride yesterday morning as they showed off the new light rail operations and maintenance center for the collected media.

• First we thought it was just Capitol Hill's little old men that were accident-prone. Now we hear about another elderly 81-year-old man who is suffering life-threatening injuries after being hit by a delivery truck this morning in the International District.
• Yesterday, U.S. Soccer announced Seattle's Qwest Field and Husky Stadium as the venues under consideration as part of their bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

Last night we dropped in at the Seattle Transit Blog meet-up, and ran into Sound Transiteers Andrew and Rebecca, who were filling us in on their crowd control preparations for the July 18 opening of the Westlake-Tukwila light rail line.

Yesterday Sound Transit invited "news media" to take a preview of the 14-mile light rail trip to Tukwila and back--the last segment to the airport won't open until next January. We weren't invited, so we're poaching the Seattle Times video of the big moment.