Excited crowds gathered under warm, mostly cloudy skies in Redmond to celebrate the opening of Sound Transit’s two newest light rail stations. The 3.4-mile extension pushes deeper into this Eastside city, once a rural area on the northern tip of Lake Sammamish. Following a celebratory ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $1.2 billion expansion, attendees heard from various representatives, including Redmond’s poet laureate, Ching-In Chen. The first train departed from Downtown Redmond Station just after noon, beginning service that will connect Redmond commuters to Microsoft’s campus, downtown Bellevue, and eventually Seattle this winter.
The two-station addition enhances access to Redmond’s trails, shopping centers, local restaurants, and Marymoor Park, the busiest park in King County. Marymoor Village Station, the other station opened on Saturday, provides convenient access to outdoor concerts at Marymoor Park.
Before the official event, the street below the downtown station was blocked by portable steel barriers and police, lined with chairs for VIPs. Pamphlets, promotional items, and food trucks were available along Redmond’s central walk-bike trail beneath the station. A brass band played as people started arriving around 9:30 a.m., lining up at the ORCA booth to get fare cards.
Lizzie Stewart, who came from Kirkland with her family, said the Eastside’s 2 Line will be useful for trips to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and date nights in Seattle once the Interstate 90 connection opens. Steve Kinney, a retiree from Bellevue, expressed interest in selling his car due to the convenience of the upcoming Seattle connection.
The new stations are the first to be built with funds from a $54 billion light rail expansion measure approved by voters in 2016. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell noted during her remarks that federal infrastructure bills and loans have brought $10 billion to Washington state since 2015, with about $1.2 billion allocated for transit.
Redmond has seen a housing boom with 5,000 new apartment units built within a half-mile of the downtown station in recent years, and 4,000 more are planned. Trains arrive every 10 minutes between 5:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m., traveling at speeds up to 55 mph.
— new from The Seattle Times
