For More Information: Dwight Pelz  (206) 296-1005

The Metropolitan King County Council today approved an agreement between King County, Sound Transit and the city of Seattle allowing both light rail and buses to use the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel.

“There has been passionate debate about this proposal, and that debate played a vital role in the final agreement,” said Councilmember Dwight Pelz, Chair of the Council’s Transportation Committee. “This plan acknowledges the importance of the tunnel as part of the overall regional transit plan, while ensuring that until Sound Transit is prepared to construct the line to Northgate, the tunnel will continue to be available for use by buses.”

Under the agreement, Sound Transit will be responsible for the cost of retrofitting the transit tunnel for joint bus-rail use. Sound Transit would operate up to twenty trains and twenty express buses per hour in the tunnel with a provision to increase that total as Sound Transit looks to expand its line from downtown Seattle to Northgate.

In May of 2000, the Council agreed to transfer ownership of the 1.3-mile transit tunnel to Sound Transit for use by light rail as part of the light rail line from Sea-Tac Airport to Northgate. Last November, the Sound Transit Board approved a revised segment running from just north of Sea-Tac to the Westlake Tunnel station. Since exclusive light rail use of the tunnel was no longer needed for the initial segment, part of the revision included an agreement to look at the potential of joint bus-rail use of the transit tunnel.

The measure approved by the council sets the guidelines on how the tunnel will operate. It requires the County and Sound Transit to negotiate additional agreements regarding the design of the tunnel; maintenance of the tunnel during construction; and Metro Transit operation of the Central Link light rail system. If Sound Transit and the County cannot reach an overall agreement, they have the option on negotiating Sound Transit’s purchase of the tunnel.

“This agreement provides protection for the County in case Sound Transit is unable to extend the line,” said Pelz. “It also guarantees that Metro will maintain control of the tunnel and the vehicles that will use the facility. This is an important step in creating the regional light rail system the residents of King County continue to support.”

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