SEATTLE — Sound Transit’s light rail No. 1 Line will see significant service disruptions through a seven-station stretch between downtown and the SoDo area this week as workers a section of sinking track related to soil conditions.
Work began over the weekend, with rail service halted Saturday and Sunday and replaced by shuttle buses between the Capitol Hill and SoDo stations. Beginning today (Aug. 14), trains will operate on one track of the normally double-track route, with passengers required to change trains at the Pioneer Square station midway through the work area. A wait of 11-12 minutes is likely for the connection. That will continue through Wednesday, Aug. 16.
From Thursday, Aug. 17 to Sunday, Aug. 20, the operating and closed sides of the route will switch, with passengers continuing to make transfers at Pioneer Square.
In a passenger notification, Sound Transit said the sinking track is subject to flooding and has led to a 5-mph slow order, which the repairs will remedy.
An additional single-track project is slated for the 1 Line involving the Othello and Rainer Beach stations near SeaTac Airport beginning Aug. 21.
Also the section from the Rainier Beach area to SEA-TAC airport is one of the newer sections. Wonder if ground sank, but I do not know.
Interesting, this segment primarily is in the downtown transit tunnel, except for the area in SODO which is by the two stadiums. Wonder how water gets in the transit tunnel, the original section completed?
Most of old Seattle is built on fill. If you’re ever in Seattle I highly recommend the Underground Tour, which shows the previous street-level elevation and how they raised the grade 8 or 9 feet to its current level. It’s not surprising to me there’s been some subsidence.
From what I saw in other articles, there isn’t an issue in the tunnel itself. I suspect the single-tracking and cross-platform plan is set by crossover placement. There’s one south of Stadium, and another between Westlake and Capitol Hill, but none between.
Foresight is better than hindsight.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün