There was a full house at tonight’s North Link light rail open house at Olympic View Elementary School, 504 N.E. 95th St., but little in the way of new information about the Northgate Station. (Read our earlier post for details.)
With 15 percent of the station design completed, Sound Transit remains on time and on schedule, with plans to present a clearer picture when the design completion is at 30 percent in the fall, at which time they’ll also delve deeper into the issue of public art at the transit center.
Officials were a little vague about how Maple Leaf buses will be affected when the station opens in 2020, only saying that the 41 express from the current Northgate Transit Center to downtown Seattle would go away, but that the 41 service linking Northgate to Lake City and other northerly stops likely would actually increase.
Parking is another sticky subject. Yes, the current plan does call for replacing the parking lot with residential/retail space between Thornton Place and the Northgate Station, which will be located just east of First Avenue Northeast, with its north entrance in the Northgate Mall parking lot, and its south entrance at the transit center.
But the plan also calls for increased access for pedestrians and bicyclists, and for a growth in bus service to accommodate the predicted 15,000 daily boarding at the Northgate Station.
There also was plenty of concern about property values from residents who live near the proposed light rail line, which rises above ground at Northeast 85th Street and eventually continues to rise to a level of 45 feet above the street when it reaches the Northgate Station. However, Sound Transit says it doesn’t have any information as to how property values so far have been affected by areas with light rail, except to say that it’s led to an increase in development in the Rainier Valley.
Have more questions you’d like addressed? There are two more North Link open houses coming up:
- May 26, 6-8:30 p.m., about the Roosevelt Station at Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center Gymnasium, 6535 Ravenna Ave. N.E.
- June 9, 6-8:30 p.m., about the Brooklyn Station at the Hotel Deca Grand Ballroom, 4507 Brooklyn Ave. N.E.
