Seattle’s 130th Light Rail Station Could Open Six Years Early
Splash Image Photo Credit: Oran Viriyincy / Flickr / Creative Commons
Last Thursday, Sound Transit’s governing board approved a plan that would inject $29 million for final engineering of the 130th Seattle light rail station. The stop was slated to be opened in 2031, a significant delay considering the Lynnwood Link extension is supposed to open by 2024. The new plan would open the 130th station by 2025, shaving six years off production and saving $30 million dollars. An analysis by Sound Transit showed that putting this station off until later would be costly and disruptive, due to infill work and rider transfers that would likely have to happen.
Image: City of Seattle
The 130th street station would serve the neighborhoods of Pinehurst, Olympic Hills, and Haller Lake. The possibility of having cross-town bus service from Broadview, Bitter Lake and Lake City is also promising for residents of those areas. Service to downtown would be 15 minutes.
Image Credit: Sound Transit
A rezone of the land within a half mile of the station could also infuse the neighborhoods with denser, more affordable housing and neighborhood amenities. Currently the neighborhood is heavily forested and lined with single-family homes. Residents have been open to the plan, and have pushed for it to open even sooner, in 2024. Community feedback showed strong interest in upzoning parts of the Pinehurst and Roosevelt neighborhood hubs to add multi-family and retail opportunities. They also hope to see a pedestrian/bike overpass, safer sidewalks and bike access to the station, and more community centric use of Jackson Park Golf Course.
Rezones have already happened around the Shoreline 145th ad 185th light rail stations, slated to open in 2024. Around those areas, largely single-family corridors are being slowly transformed into more denser housing – townhouses, rowhouses, apartment buildings, offices and retail. When the open, they will be a game-changer for those neighborhoods, allowing people to live more affordably but also get to downtown Seattle in 20 minutes or less.
For more information about the 130th Station and other North Seattle expansions, visit Sound Transit.
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