SEATTLE — Amtrak and BNSF Railway are asking the city of Seattle to close a section of a street near the Seattle Mariners’ ballpark in the city’s Sodo neighborhood to expand the passenger carrier’s maintenance facility and eliminate a busy grade crossing.
The Seattle Times reports the proposal would close South Holgate Street, which splits its current maintenance yard, between Occidental Avenue and Third Avenue. This would allow construction of a 900-foot-long maintenance shed and extension of six tracks, connecting the north and south halves of the yard. The facility would then be fenced off. Amtrak would contribute money and engineering for a foot and bike bridge across the yard.
Erin Goodman, executive director of the Sodo Business Improvement Area, told the Times the facility is the only yard in the country bisected by a busy street. Holgate is ranked as the state’s most dangerous grade crossing, according to a 2022 state report; the Times says half of the freight traffic in Washington state passes through the grade crossing.
But a shutdown could have a major impact on traffic, particularly before and after games at the Mariners’ ballpark and the adjacent facility shared by the Seattle Seahawks and Sounders. The Seattle Department of Transporatation recently received a $2 million federal grant, to go with $500,000 in city funds, to study the feasibility of the closure.
The best solution is the most expensive. They should build a bridge over the tracks so the trains would not have a grade crossing. Closing the street will encounter objections from all the cars and people that use that street now.
Seattle city planners should have thought of this before they allowed the Mariners and Seahawks new stadiums to be built. Since they neglected to require an overpass at the time, now they have to foot part of the bill, instead of the sports teams. [I am disregarding the subsidies and welfare professional sports teams get by not paying for the facilities they use, and am assuming the Seattle teams do not own theirs.] The rail yard was here first. Amtrak is being more than reasonable in offer to pay for a pedestrian and bike bridge.
This should encourage more fans to take Amtrak to the games. However, Amtrak the Sounder (correct name?) have to responsibility to step up and reliably operate trains and schedule them to sync with the teams schedules.
I would close it between 4th Ave S and Occidental Street.
In the pre-freeway days Holgate was used as a feeder from Beacon Hill.
Now with Lander and the West Seattle Freeway (as well as Edgar Martinez) above the tracks there are other ways……
The biggest complaint will come from sports fans coming and going from the sports stadiums just north. Many of those lots south of the stadiums and along Holgate are used for game day parking. Perhaps replace Holgate with a pedestrian bridge.
While I sympathize with BNSF, they should go after the City of Seattle for the sad condition of the Magnolia Bridge over the tracks up in Interbay. That thing looks like it has polio with braces, double bracing, tons of temporary seismic beams. It looks like it will fall any day now.
I agree Kent, they built a bridge over South Lander Street just to the south of South Holgate Street, why not South Holgate which is about a mile north of South Lander Street.
The physical circumstances are much different at Holgate. The BNSF mainline is much closer to 4th Ave at Holgate. I doubt there’s enough room to ramp down to the intersection.
Why not build a bridge over it instead of closing Holgate streey
Sanford FL is not in the same county as Seattle WA.
For which we are truly grateful.
“Erin Goodman . . . told the Times the facility is the only yard in the county bisected by a busy street.”
Persimmon Street in Sanford Florida cuts through Amtrak’s Auto Train yard.
The only time Persimmon is “busy” when the Auto-Train is loading/unloading.