Seattle-area and Washington photos

[Plutonic Panda]

Is that BRT line at the end of the soon to be BRT route or are they adding a station to an existing route?

[Bruce]

Is that BRT line at the end of the soon to be BRT route or are they adding a station to an existing route?

Brand new route, the second in a countywide network. It will intersect with the existing Swift Blue Line a few stops down from the airport, and also connect with a few major bus routes (including my own), but no express buses to Seattle because of a quirk in I-5 ramp placement.

[Plutonic Panda]

Is that BRT line at the end of the soon to be BRT route or are they adding a station to an existing route?

Brand new route, the second in a countywide network. It will intersect with the existing Swift Blue Line a few stops down from the airport, and also connect with a few major bus routes (including my own), but no express buses to Seattle because of a quirk in I-5 ramp placement.

It's nice to see them being proactive about transit to the airport. In my hometown(OKC), mass transit is a complete after thought. They canceled the bus they had due to "low demand"  which was likely due to the fact that it was a glorified shuttle running twice a day or so and only certain days out of the week. BRT seems like it should be convenient enough to offer a viable alternative to driving to the airport.

[Bruce]

The BRT was actually planned a little before final approval for the airport project, as it mainly will be used to get workers to the Boeing plant that sits just north. The other terminus is a major suburban tech hub that includes a few Boeing offices, while a major suburb (Mill Creek) sits in between. The airport terminal itself is only about a quarter-mile from the BRT stops, with only two low-speed, low-traffic crosswalks before reaching the main road...all in all, a good compromise. There's also a bus route that will have door-to-door service to the main transit hub in Everett, via a long and winding route.

The next northern light rail expansion in 2036 will include a station near Paine Field, though the exact location will likely be determined in conjunction with future airport terminal expansions. Once that is finished, Paine will be about the same distance from Downtown Seattle as Sea-Tac by rail, at around 40 minutes...and that doesn't include the long walk to the terminal from Sea-Tac Station.

[abefroman329]

That departures board is gorgeous.

It's a digital replica of the classic Solari boards. We need way more of these in non-essential areas of airports, just for their aesthetic quality.

I realize it's impractical and expensive, but we should've kept the classic Solari boards, or started manufacturing more split-flap mechanical boards.

I wonder if there's someone out there saying "we should've kept maintaining departure/arrival information on chalkboards, hand-written by an agent"

[jakeroot]

Totally agree. I'd buy a damn plane ticket just to see that board!

Were you part of a media event?

Great photos as usual. I would love to know if the PSRC is considering a southern relief airport as well (though it helps already that Seatac is south of Seattle, though not by much, especially for Olympia residents).

[Bruce]

Totally agree. I'd buy a damn plane ticket just to see that board!

Were you part of a media event?

Great photos as usual. I would love to know if the PSRC is considering a southern relief airport as well (though it helps already that Seatac is south of Seattle, though not by much, especially for Olympia residents).

I was part of the media event and got credentialed in. For those of us who weren't able to board the plane, we got a printed boarding pass with a standby for a non-existent flight, then went through TSA like the rest. It was a pretty neat way of clinching an airport.

[Bruce]

Tuesday was so nice that I decided to sweat it out in the heat and visit a few skyline vantages.

Ella Bailey Park, Magnolia





Kerry Park







Rizal Bridge





Westlake & Galer



Morning commute on I-5



Columbia Center Observatory



Mount Baker Ridge



And looking across the water at Bellevue and Mercer Island:

[Bruce]

A few shots of the Alaskan Way Viaduct demolition work taken last week at Columbia Street.







And two shots from the SR 520 Floating Bridge a few weeks earlier.

[paulthemapguy]

I kind of feel like mourning the demolition of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, but that desire is overshadowed by my looking forward to how awesome the Seattle skyline is going to look, unobstructed.

[Bruce]

A United Express jet coming to land at Paine Field, with SR 526 and the Boeing flightline (including the first testframe 777X) in the background.

[Bruce]

Panorama from the water taxi taken yesterday:



Full resolution version available here on Wikimedia Commons

[nexus73]

Panorama from the water taxi taken yesterday:



Full resolution version available here on Wikimedia Commons

Wonderful view!  I had a similar one from around Bellevue back in the Eighties.

Rick

[compdude787]

^ Boy, it sure looks different without the viaduct!!

[Bruce]

A few pictures of East Link construction taken last week. I'll have more for the Seattle Transit Blog once I'm finished with Railvolution.

Redmond Technology Station:



Overlake Village Station:



Bel-Red/130th Station:



Spring District/120th Station:



South Bellevue Station:



Mercer Island Station:



I-90 floating bridge:

[Verlanka]

^ Boy, it sure looks different without the viaduct!!

Completely different, that is.

[Bruce]

A few skyline shots from yesterday:

[jakeroot]

I think they need to trim a couple of those trees at Kerry Park.

Great shots! Seattle sure is thickening up. We need a before/after shot from Kerry Park.

[nexus73]

What is the middle section of the I-90 floating bridge for?  Reversible lanes?  Light rail?

Rick

[Rothman]

What's a donut hole for?

[Bruce]

What is the middle section of the I-90 floating bridge for?  Reversible lanes?  Light rail?

Rick

Light rail. The Link Blue Line will be the first railway in the world to cross a floating bridge (using some new solutions) and should open in 2023 (if not earlier).

[nexus73]

What is the middle section of the I-90 floating bridge for?  Reversible lanes?  Light rail?

Rick

Light rail. The Link Blue Line will be the first railway in the world to cross a floating bridge (using some new solutions) and should open in 2023 (if not earlier).

Thank you for letting me know Bruce.

Rick

[stevashe]

What is the middle section of the I-90 floating bridge for?  Reversible lanes?  Light rail?

Rick

Light rail. The Link Blue Line will be the first railway in the world to cross a floating bridge (using some new solutions) and should open in 2023 (if not earlier).

Thank you for letting me know Bruce.

Rick

It was reversible lanes before the light rail construction started, however.

[Bruce]

From earlier today: some traffic congestion on I-5 at NE 145th Street. You can see a strip of land on the right shoulder being prepared for light rail construction.

[Bruce]

Down under I-90: