Balducci looks ahead to opening as light rail testing begins on I-90 floating bridge 

May 21, 2024

Sound Transit Board member and King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci on Wednesday released the following statement after Sound Transit took its first steps in testing tracks across Lake Washington that will soon connect light rail between East King County and Seattle:

“This is a truly historic moment. This is a project many of us have fought for and dreamed of for decades. Today's testing shows just how close we are to a dramatic expansion of our public transit system and it represents a significant engineering achievement, too. I’m so proud to see many years of effort becoming a tangible outcome that will positively impact the lives of thousands of King County residents and visitors.

“When we first learned of issues that would delay this cross-lake connection – which is now likely to open in early 2026 – I knew we had to keep up our momentum, so I pushed for opening the nearly complete sections of Eastside-only light rail on its own, which we completed last spring. And then just 11 days ago, we celebrated the opening of the extension to downtown Redmond. With that portion of light rail already in operation, the opening of the cross-lake connection will turn two separate lines into a far more complete system, while dramatically improving train frequencies from Chinatown-International District to Lynnwood.

“Of course, we have much more work to do before we can open the I-90 Bridge connection, and even then, we have a lot more system to build out as we push toward a truly world-class mass transit system for our region. But today I’m celebrating this milestone and giving thanks to all the people who have worked on this project and to everyone across the region who has supported that work for so long. And I can’t wait to ride that first train across the lake!”