Massive weekend light rail closures ahead as crews work to repair sinking tracks

SEATTLE — Construction closures for five light rail stations kick in this weekend, as crews conduct repairs on sinking tracks.

The closures will include the Stadium, International District/Chinatown, Pioneer Square, University Street, and Westlake stations, starting on Saturday Aug. 12 and running through the weekend.

Also, a warning: The closures may be at light rail stations in Seattle, but the Link 1 Line goes past city limits into Tukwila and SeaTac and up into Northgate. With these closures, your straight shot from Tukwila to Northgate will be temporarily impossible.

Those stations will reopen on Monday, but with alternating single-track service across Royal Brougham Way. That will last through Aug. 20.

“The buses are going to be running every 10 minutes,” Sound Transit Spokesperson John Gallagher told KIRO 7. “That’s going to add a lot of time to your trip.”

This work became necessary after Sound Transit discovered that the tracks had sank three inches into wet soil in some spots.

“The ground underneath them is shifting, and they are literally sinking,” Gallagher described.

As for why these repairs need to be done now, Gallagher says that like most big construction projects in our region, crews have to take advantage of summer weather.

“It has to be done during dry, summer weather to get this project done properly,” he noted. “There was always going to be something happening, but this is one of the best weekends to have it happen.”

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