LYNNWOOD — Sound Transit’s decadeslong moonshot to connect the Puget Sound region by light rail took another huge step Friday, as commuter service opened in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Shoreline.
The Lynnwood Link Extension provides Snohomish County with its first connection to the system. Four stations were added as part of the 8.5-mile, $3.1 billion project that voters approved during the 2008 economic downturn via Sound Transit 2.
Friday was a party for public officials and transportation enthusiasts. Hundreds of people attended an 11 a.m. event Friday, which included a ribbon-cutting with speeches from local, tribal, state and federal officials.
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A brief timeline of the Lynnwood light rail extensionAug 30, 2024
“I got to be honest, today feels like Christmas, Thanksgiving and Pride all in one day,” said state Sen. Marko Liias, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee. “Can you feel it? And if we’re honest with ourselves, Lynnwood Link opening is the biggest thing that’s happened in Snohomish County since that first 747 rolled off the line in 1968.”
The first train filled with paying passengers departed Lynnwood at 12:37 p.m.
People walk through the Lynnwood City Center station to board the train during the Lynnwood 1 Line extension opening celebrations on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
And just like that, Snohomish County was forever transformed, with Lynnwood instantly becoming the northern terminus of the growing Link light rail system.
“As I think about the future, I have to say, don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?” U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said in remarks Friday morning.
Murray, along with Sen. Maria Cantwell and U.S. Rep Rick Larsen all gave speeches, speaking at length of the push it took to get light rail to Snohomish County, along with the other projects outlined in Sound Transit 2.
King County Executive Dow Constantine and Senator Maria Cantwell walk through the Lynnwood Center Station to board the 12:30 pm train during the Lynnwood 1 Line extension opening celebrations on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Some 16 years after that 2008 vote, officials project over 50,000 people per day will pass through the new Lynnwood Link Extension.
“In 2008, voters affirmed what so many of us knew — that investing in public transit and light rail was an investment in a better connected Puget Sound and stronger economy,” Murray said in an emailed comment to The Daily Herald. “I have been through countless budget fights and voters here understood something I have tried to explain to my colleagues time and again: when it comes to public infrastructure we can all use, it’s not just about the upfront cost — it’s also about the return on investment. A robust regional infrastructure that includes light rail, bus rapid transit, and more is absolutely worth the investment.”
Cantwell called Murray the “Godmother” of Sound Transit. She spoke about attempts by former President Donald Trump’s administration to defund the federal grant program that helped fund the Lynnwood Link Extension.
“I made it clear to (former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao) she wasn’t going to get confirmed as the transportation secretary unless they supported this grant program and unless they supported this project here in Snohomish County,” Cantwell said.
At each of the four rail stations, locals celebrated, with one of the largest events coming in Lynnwood. Over 200 organizations and groups had signed up for tables at the event in Lynnwood alone.
People cheer as ribbon is cut and confetti flys during the Lynnwood 1 Line extension opening celebrations on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Events were expected to continue into the night.
People lined the new stations and the first southbound train from Lynnwood picked up passengers at the three new stations. One of those passengers was Bethany Hystaae, 37.
She was headed to Victoria, Canada, via the Clipper from Seattle. She moved to Shoreline about five years ago. At the time, a real estate agent excitedly told her light rail would be coming nearby.
Now it’s here and she’s excited.
“The dream of having a more walkable city with more walkable public transit, it’s becoming more of a reality,” Hystaae said.
Another passenger, Sylvia Gervasutti, got on at the Tukwila stop Friday morning. Originally from New York, she’s a traveling nurse who came to the Seattle area in 2020 for what she thought would be six months. She’s been here ever since. Gervasutti said she needed to get to Marysville and an Uber would have been over $100.
She still planned to grab an Uber from Lynnwood to Marysville, but the $3 trip on the Link saved her hassle and money. She hopes people see the benefits of light rail.
“When I came they had just started building this,” Gervasutti said. “It went by pretty fast.”
Still, officials continue looking to the future. Several shared a similar refrain Friday: “North to Everett.”
This is not the first time commuter rail has ventured into Snohomish County. The Interurban railway ran from Everett to Seattle from 1910 to 1939. The Interurban also had stops near the sites of the two new Shoreline stations — NE 185th Street and NE 148th Street. It also stopped at Lake Ballinger and Esperance, somewhat close to where the Mountlake Terrace light rail station is now.
Sound transit employee Alex Ko hands out maps during the Lynnwood 1 Line extension opening celebrations on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood, too, has past history with the Interurban — there was a stop in Alderwood Manor. A nod to that history lives on in public art outside Lynnwood City Center Station.
“I’m extremely proud of my team,” Sound Transit interim CEO Goran Sparrman said. “Sound Transit took on this huge job of trying to deliver this vision. This product is, of course, a keystone product, but I’m very proud of how they’ve been able to see this through.”
The light rail line brings other, massive changes, too. Community Transit has spent much of the past few years building plans around the introduction of light rail into its territory. It meant sacrificing its Seattle-bound routes, though some will stay on temporarily until the north-south 1 and east-west 2 lines connect.
Community Transit has instead redeployed its resources elsewhere. Agency staff often highlight their bus rapid transit systems — Green, Blue and Orange lines — as some of their biggest successes. The newest, Orange, is a faster way to get between Edmonds and Lynnwood and is designed to be a pickup point for riders to get to light rail.
The Blue Line is adding a stop at Shoreline’s NE 185th Street station, too. Other bus routes will connect the ferry system to light rail. In all, about half of Community Transit’s routes will touch the Lynnwood Transit Center when expansive service changes go into effect Sept. 14.
Community Transit has also invested in other projects, like the Zip Alderwood program, to provide other ways for people to get to light rail. The agency’s DART paratransit services will also stop at the light rail stations. The Ride Store, where riders can buy ORCA cards and get information about transit service, is also now open at the Lynnwood City Center Station.
Sound Transit will rely on Community Transit for other services too, including bus bridges. Essentially, if service stops on a section along the rail line, buses will provide service to wherever light rail picks back up again.
It’s all been a huge undertaking, said Martin Munguia, a spokesperson for Community Transit who has been with the agency for two decades.
“It just sort of seemed so far away,” Munguia said, as he stood atop the Mountlake Terrace station on Wednesday.
He added: “It just suddenly is here.”
Jordan Hansen: 425-339-3046; jordan.hansen@heraldnet.com; X: @jordyhansen.
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