U-District light rail plan moving ahead

While Seattle traffic routinely ranks among the worst in the nation, Seattle Sound Transit is working toward a solution.

A link light rail line is being built from downtown to the Sea-Tac Airport to provide a high capacity transit system for the Seattle area. The Sound Transit Board will finalize plans for a downtown-to-North Seattle line at its meeting today.

The projected route for North Seattle makes stops at Capitol Hill, Husky Stadium, Roosevelt and Northgate, said Sound Transit representative Geoff Patrick.

The light rail's University Link is expected to cost about $700 million and begin construction in 2008.

Many options for the location of the University District station were proposed, but Husky Stadium was chosen over a station located at Brooklyn Avenue and Northeast 45th Street, Patrick said.

"It was the one that had the greatest support in the local community," he said. "The station will provide excellent access to all."

But some members of the U-District business community are disappointed that the Brooklyn stop was not chosen, said Teresa Lord Hugel, executive director of the Greater University Chamber of Commerce.

A Husky Stadium stop is a long walk away from the heart of the U-District, Hugel said.

"A station at Husky stadium won't do anything for people who work here," she said.

There are also concerns that putting a light rail through the UW campus could pose some logistical problems, UW President Mark Emmert said.

"When it's all completed, it would be a wonderful aspect for students and the University community, but getting that done is very difficult," Emmert said.

Near Husky Stadium and the UW Medical Center, foot and auto traffic may be impeded indefinitely while the station is being built, he added.

"It will have that corner of the campus be a construction zone for many years," Emmert said. "We want it to get it done in a timely and efficient manner, and we also want it to cause minimum disruption for the University's students, faculty and staff."

Sound Transit is still negotiating with the UW about the final route through campus, Patrick said. The two entities hope to work together to make the construction as unobtrusive as possible, he said.

Patrick said he believes the light rail will be tremendously beneficial to the University while causing minimal disruption.

Reach Daily reporter Jen Ludington at [url='mailto:jenludington@thedaily.washington.edu']jenludington@thedaily.washington.edu[/url].