SEATTLE — Commuters will soon be able to ride underground from Downtown Seattle to Northgate traffic-free when three new Link light rail stations open next month.
The 4.3-mile Northgate Link Extension will open on Oct. 2 with new stations in Northgate, the University District and Roosevelt.
The U-District and Roosevelt stations are underground. The Northgate station is elevated and will act as a transit hub with frequent bus connections, a park-and-ride, and a bicycle and pedestrian bridge to North Seattle College.
During peak hours, trains will run every 8 minutes. A trip from Northgate to the Westlake State in downtown Seattle will take 14 minutes.
Other projected travel times are:
- Northgate to University of Washington — 7 minutes
- Northgate to U-District Station — 5 minutes
- U-District to Westlake — 8 minutes
Sound Transit projects that there will be 41,000 to 49,000 daily riders on the Northgate extension by 2022.
Ahead of the opening, Sound Transit has been running empty light rail trains on the extension as part of intensive testing to make sure that stations, trains, tracks and related systems work as expected before passengers get on board.
Tacoma’s Hilltop, the Eastside, Lynnwood, Federal Way and Downtown Redmond that by 2024 will nearly triple the length of the region’s light rail system from 22 to 62 miles.
Light rail extensions are also under construction in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood, Lynnwood, the Eastside, Federal Way and Downtown Redmond.