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Sound Transit to place passengers on honor system; April 19, 1999
When commuter trains start running between Tacoma and Seattle later this year, the system will rely on passengers' honesty to pay their fares -- up to a point.

Rail maintenance yard site debated; April 14, 1999
The Port of Seattle will wait before issuing a formal statement against Sound Transit's proposal to build a maintenance base facility on a 25-acre site in the Duwamish industrial area. But commissioners issued a curt reminder to Sound Transit that preserving the city's industrial area is a top priority.

Transit agency prefers deep light-rail tunnels, despite security concerns; April 12, 1999
Despite security concerns, tunnels to carry light-rail trains under Portage Bay and the University of Washington should be dug deeper rather than shallower, transit engineers say.

Geotech work to start on rail route segment; April 8, 1999
The Sound Transit Board recently approved a contract with Shannon & Wilson for geotechnical engineering services for one of the five segments of the light rail route.

Teams forming for light rail tunnel design/build work; April 7, 1999
Sound Transit will issue a request for qualifications this week for a design/build contract for tunneling work on the north corridor of the 24-mile central light rail route.

Mud presents problem for light-rail tunnel plan; April 6, 1999
Plans to run light-rail tunnels under Portage Bay -- the body of water that separates the University of Washington from the central part of the city -- are bogging down in a deep layer of mud.

Sound Transit gets in the middle of hot debate on PLAs; March 31, 1999
Sound Transit Board members won't formally address the issue until summer, but a sea of information and rhetoric both promoting and disparaging union-only labor agreements has already flooded their desks.

Around the Northwest; March 30, 1999
Economic Development Council; Puget Sound Blood Center; Sound Transit Citizen Oversight Panel; Ferring Nelson; Lee Hecht Harrison; Cost-U-Less.

City starts planning for development near rail stations; March 24, 1999
Preliminary concepts for station area plans should be done this summer. By the end of 1999, the plans will be finalized and presented to the community.

Capitol Hill wants to lid reservoir; March 17, 1999
Faced with the potential of adding 2,000 households by 2014, planners are voicing their hopes for a neighborhood that will one day have plenty of parking, substantially more open space and a rejuvenated retail strip. First on their list is "lidding" Lincoln Reservoir, a project that would involve building a park on a concrete lid over the 99-year-old reservoir.

UW labs may get shaken by rail; March 15, 1999
Sound Transit has another ultra-sensitive interest group stirring controversy and extra work for the agency -- the University of Washington's Physics Department.

Contractors face another tough year finding labor; March 10, 1999
The construction labor market in the Central Puget Sound region will continue to tighten this year but conditions should ease up heading into next year, according to labor and construction industry experts.

Seattle tunnel builders face sand, gravel and `bull's liver'; March 10, 1999
Joe Gildner has a boring job. So why does he consider it a challenge? Because he's the project engineer for a pair of tunnels Sound Transit will bore beneath Beacon Hill and Portage Bay as part of its light-rail system.

Industrial area businesses say rail could derail them; March 10, 1999
Business owners in the Southend industrial district say the negative impacts of Sound Transit's preferred light rail route could force them to leave the area.

Wrap session; March 10, 1999
No, it's not the artist Christo's latest work. It's Union Station, wrapped in plastic as part of its $20.7 million transformation into Sound Transit's new headquarters.