East Link Lake Crossing Update

Work continues on East Link. Photo by Martin Pagel, May 11.

On May 9, Sound Transit's System Expansion Committee received a progress update (pdf) on the yet-to-be-opened portion of East Link, currently operating as the abbreviated 2 Line between South Bellevue and Redmond Technology Station. Although the opening of the connection between South Bellevue and Seattle is currently scheduled for late November 2025, Ryan Packer at The Urbanist quotes Ron Lewis, Sound Transit's Executive Director of Design, Engineering and Construction Management, as saying We don't have a day to waste, and this summer is critical."

East Link Integrated Schedule - Critical Path" as presented to the System Expansion Committee

As the schedule notes, Systems Integration Testing could start sooner in the year if the systems installation contractor is able to complete their work ahead of schedule. With Lynnwood Link's systems integration testing finishing this month (pdf), and systems integration testing underway early for the Downtown Redmond Link Extension, any early starts for these critical steps would be extremely welcome.

Re-work Remaining

First revealed in 2022 (pdf), East Link's connection across Lake Washington has been delayed by the need to replace much of the trackwork installed between South Bellevue Station and the CID. Namely, poor workmanship on the construction of cast-in-place concrete plinths (which support the rails above the original I-90 roadway), sporadic failure of pre-cast lightweight Dual Blocks" (a form of railroad ties which support and connect the rails on the floating bridge), and the discovery of stripped rail fastener bolt inserts (meant to shield the concrete bridge from stray current from the railway).

The contractor has completed replacement of the 19,500 nylon rail fastener bolt inserts, demolished 95% of the 5,707 plinths needing replacement, and finished rebuilding 80% of the plinths as of May 6. Replacement of the Dual Blocks is ongoing, with a total of 85 blocks being identified for replacement due to spalling and cracks identified during inspection. Over 8,800 Dual Blocks were manufactured for East Link via a custom mass production process, with approximately 7,500 reportedly installed on the floating bridge.

Reconstruction progress summary as presented to the System Expansion Committee

Although overhead and other systems could be completed before the plinth and dual block replacements are done, any delays to trackwork will cascade down the schedule.

To keep the project moving, the Sound Transit Board is expected to release $41M of the $134.9M remaining in the construction budget for East Link. In 2015, East Link was baselined with an estimated total cost of $3,677.2M.

An open question is whether Sound Transit (and by extension, its taxpayers) can expect to be reimbursed for the cost of rework that's delayed East Link from its original opening in 2023, but it is clear that the focus is on getting the line open in its entirety as soon as practicable. Mediation talks for determining responsibility for the costs of rework are reportedly scheduled for Fall of this year.