Community Post

New Details on Rainier Ave Light Rail Station

I’ve been a little jealous of our neighbors that live on the hill since learning that someday they’ll have light rail service that arrives every 3.5 minutes in the heart of their hood. 

But the good news is that now we’ve got some rapid transit to look forward to around here too. The new East Link project was approved by voters in November, and it will include a stop on Rainier before it heads across I-90 to Mercer Island and the remote hinterlands beyond (known to brave exurban explorers as The East Side).

Since it has been called the Rainier Station, I was a bit nervous that the only access to the station would be from Rainier.  But on Friday Sound Transit released the draft environmental impact statement, which makes it clear that the station will lie between Rainier & 23rd, with access to the station from both streets.

That will put the station within walking distance of folks in the southern end of the neighborhood, and the rest of us will be able to make a fairly easy connection to it from the #48 bus.  Light rail trains will run every 7-10 minutes during peak hours, and would get you to the International District station in downtown Seattle in just a few minutes, or over to Bellevue in 12 to 15 minutes.

Here’s a very preliminary drawing of how the station will fit in:

And here’s my own attempt at a map that shows how a station would be approached from either end:


View Larger Map

 

We’re trying to find out when other information and public meetings about this will be available from Sound Transit. We’ll let you know as we find out more.

 

 

0 thoughts on “New Details on Rainier Ave Light Rail Station

  1. We should have a conversation about planning the area around this new station. How much up-zoning needs to occur within the 5 block radius “pedestrian-shed” around the station? The area is currently a mix of single family, low-rise and neighborhood commercial along Rainier. Another way to put the questions is: what will the light rail station overlay district look like?

    I’ll start by saying the near-by blocks of Rainier should get new height limits, like 85-125 feet.

  2. Here’s the public meeting scheduled for the neighborhood. Link below to ST site with additional info about submitting comments.
    David
    NE Beacon Hill

    Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009
    Open House 4-7 p.m.
    Public Hearing starts at 5 p.m.
    Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
    2401 S Irving St, Seattle, WA

    http://www.soundtransit.org/x3245.xml

  3. Yay for Judkins area property values! Plus, this is super convenient. If only we didn’t have to wait a decade for construction to finish.