March 4, 2020

Light rail station at 130th could be a change order

Image from Sound Transit [enlarge]

The station at Northeast 130th Street would be elevated. A possible design tweak would integrate the station and platform into one piece, making it more stable.

Sound Transit plans to speed up construction of the Northeast 130th Street station that will be part of the $2.9 billion Lynnwood Link Extension project.

The station will actually be an “infill” station that will be built separately from the Lynnwood line, but will eventually become part of the line. It originally was to open in 2031, seven years after the Lynnwood line goes into operation. Speeding up construction could have the station open as early as 2025.

A Sound Transit spokesman said moving up construction would minimize disruptions to an estimated 60,000 daily riders, who would likely have to endure slowdowns as trains operate on a single track through the construction area.

The spokesman said construction on the 130th Street station could start late this year, with drilling for shafts and some guideway construction. It would cost an estimated $174 million, including $30 million to accommodate for the steep slope the elevated station would be built on.

Sound Transit plans to treat the station as a change order to the L200 contract of the Lynnwood Link Extension, which is being built by a joint venture of Stacy and Witbeck, Kiewit and Hoffman Construction for $817 million. That contract includes 4.8 miles of track from Northgate to just south of the King-Snohomish county line, two elevated stations and two 500-stall parking garages.

The spokesman said Lynnwood Link Extension is funded by Sound Transit 2 while the 130th Street station is funded by ST3 and that's why it's a separate project. Advancing construction of the station will add an estimated $7 million to its cost, mostly due to borrowing money earlier.

Advancing construction could also involve a design tweak to integrate the station and platform into one piece, making it more stable. Final designs of the station are expected to be finished in the second quarter of 2021. Planners expect to have a better idea then of when the new station could open.

Lynnwood Link includes two other big contracts: the $778 million L300 contract that includes 3.7 miles of track, two elevated stations and a five-story parking garage with 1,650 parking stalls; and the L800 contract that includes traction electrification, signals and communications along the entire 8.5-mile route.

Skanska Constructors L300 JV is building L300, and Mass Electric is expected to sign the contract for L800 later this year.

Here's the Lynnwood Link design team: HNTB Jacobs, civil design; LTK Engineering Services, systems design; and LMN Architects, station design at Lynnwood Transit Center.