Construction now underway on all parking and station structures for Lynnwood Link extension

185th station construction. Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Civil construction is now underway on all of the parking and station structures on the Lynnwood Link extension, as the project continues to progress steadily toward a 2024 opening. Overall, civil construction on the extension is now about one-third complete.

"The start of work on the stations and garages for the Lynnwood Link extension underscores how rapidly the project is moving along," said Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff. 

"With each passing day, the extension comes closer to reality, thanks to the dedication of the construction teams. This milestone is particularly remarkable given the extraordinary efforts those teams continually make to maintain a safe work environment during a pandemic."

185th station construction. Photo by Steven H. Robinson

The Lynnwood Link extension will include four elevated stations and three new parking structures that will add about 1,500 additional parking spaces.

185th station construction. Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Located just northeast of I-5 at the NE 145th Street exit, the Shoreline South/148th Station will connect to new Sound Transit SR 522/NE 145th Bus Rapid Transit service. A parking garage with approximately 500 new spaces is part of the project.

Located on the east side of I-5, the Shoreline North/185th Station will serve Shoreline Stadium, the Shoreline Center and the surrounding neighborhoods. Improved pedestrian pathways will connect the station to the west side of I-5. A parking garage with approximately 500 new spaces is part of the project.

Mountlake Terrace station. Photo by Sound Transit

Located east of Interstate-5 at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center, the Mountlake Terrace Station straddles 236th Street Southwest, and is a short walk from the Mountlake Terrace Library, new city hall and future Gateway transit oriented development neighborhood. There will be no change to the number of parking spaces at the transit center.

Lynnwood City Center station. Photo by Sound Transit

The station at the Lynnwood Transit Center will serve one of the busiest transit centers in the region. A new garage will contain approximately 1,665 parking stalls in a five-story structure. Along with adjacent surface lots containing 226 stalls, the Lynnwood City Center Station will have nearly 1,900 parking stalls, approximately 500 more stalls than are on the current transit center site.

Construction of the parking garage at the Lynnwood Transit Center began last October. The parking garage is scheduled to open to the public in the spring of 2023, before light rail service to the Lynnwood City Center Station begins in 2024, in order to allow for the site work around the station to be completed, including the surface parking lots, landscaping, and other site amenities.

Stacy and Witbeck/Kiewit/Hoffman JV and Skanska Constructors L300 JV are executing the civil construction on the extension. 

Hoffman Construction is building the stations at Shoreline South/148th St and Shoreline North/185th St., while the garages at those locations are being built by Lydig Construction. 

Skanska JV is building the station at Mountlake Terrace and the station and garage at Lynnwood Transit Center.

185th Station construction. Photo by Steven H. Robinson

By 2024 Lynnwood Link and other extensions currently under construction will more than double the length of the region’s light rail system. After Lynnwood opens in 2024, passengers from the Lynnwood Transit Center will enjoy 20-minute rides to the University of Washington, 27-minute rides to downtown Seattle and 60-minute rides to Sea-Tac Airport. Trains from Lynnwood will also serve the Eastside and reach downtown Bellevue in 51 minutes.

The $2.9 billion project budget includes up to $1.17 billion from a Full Funding Grant Agreement executed by the FTA. In addition, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau executed a $658million low-interest loan supporting the project. That loan was one of four loans captured in a Master Credit Agreement reached between Sound Transit and the USDOT at the end of 2016. The one-of-its-kind agreement should save regional taxpayers between $200 million and $300 million through lower interest costs.