Has anybody in southwest Maple Leaf noticed unusual truck activity around Northeast 75th Street and Banner Way?
Sound Transit announced earlier this week that work already has begun on the North Link light rail line that will run between the Roosevelt station at Brooklyn Avenue Northeast and Northeast 65th Street, and our own Northgate Transit Center.
This week, it said that truck-mounted rigs are drilling holes along the proposed route to evaluate soil and ground water conditions just east of Interstate 5 around 75th Street and Banner Way, noting that:
During this work you can expect:
- Noise similar to a truck engine running with occasional hammering.
- Restricted parking around the drilling area.
Drilling will continue through spring every couple hundred yards along the light rail route, and it can take two to five days for the work to be completed at each drilling site.
Questions? Contact Wilbert Santos at (206) 370-5516 or northlink@soundtransit.org, and stay up to date on North Link events via the North Link project site.
Where ya been?
http://www.roosiehood.com/2011/02/23/ask-roosiehood-whats-up-with-the-drill-rigs-spotted-in-roosevelt/
Nate – I would love to see it easier for people (like me) to not have to drive to the transit center, but to be able to walk. The current transit center is too far from most housing. The Roosevelt neighborhood worked with Sound Transit to relocate their light rail station from the freeway to the center of their neighborhood. This will result in a more vibrant and walkable neighborhood – and likely higher property values near the light rail station.
On one hand it would be nice to have the light rail be more neighborhood centric, but on the other, it makes sense to tie it into the already heavily used Northgate Transit center and the likely user destination of Northgate Mall.
It is unfortunate that the Northgate Light Rail station will be located next to the freeway instead of in a transit oriented community design that would allow far more community benefit for the multi-billion dollar investment being made.
Here is a photo of our contractor’s truck – just posted yesterday
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soundtransit/5535470860/