At-Grade Crossing Plan

The Rainier Valley line has been plagued by pedestrian and car accidents since it opened. The Sound Transit Board asked staff to develop a safety plan not only for Rainier Valley but also for other at-grade Link segments in SODO, on the Eastside (2 Line), and along Sounder (Lakewood). While some improvements have already been made or incorporated into the new 2 Line stations and Graham station plans, staff recently published a plan for further improvements and solicited feedback.

The short-term improvements include:

• LED signs
• Pavement markings
• Alternating (wig wag) train headlights
• Louder train bells
• Automatic pedestrian crossing gates
• Additional no left turn" signs for left-turning drivers

Will that be enough to keep pedestrians safe and drivers off-track and therefore eliminate delays on the 1 Line? For now Sound Transit has lowered the speed through the corridor, but in order to increase the speed, I think more work needs to be done.

Two possibilities are crossing gates for cars, or overpasses/underpasses to eliminate the level crossings. Sound Transit has not considered crossing gates for cars. They did a preliminary study in 2023 on what it would take to elevate, tunnel, or trench the line or to grade separate at least the pedestrian access. The recent Calgary West LRT project incorporated some of these as Reece Martin reported. Relocating the line above- or below-grade is expensive, often requires extra space, and makes it more challenging for riders to access the station. Most require elevators and/or escalators. If those break down, access may be restricted.

Sound Transit has not considered constructing overpasses or underpasses at the major intersections though they did consider pedestrian tunnels. BNSF has built underpasses recently in Yakima. So has Caltrain in the Bay Area, and MTA in New York. As can be seen in the picture above, often shallow pedestrian/bike paths are added at least on one side. Such shallow pedestrian underpass could also be built separately. Either way such pedestrian underpass could also be used to provide access to a ramp up to the station platform and therefore provide safe and ADA compliant pedestrian access without the need for any elevator or escalator.

Recently Brightline used box jacking to build an underpass with little disruption to the roadway above. Box jacking is frequently used in China to build pedestrian access tunnels for subways. However, utility lines along MLK may create challenges and turning gets more complicated. You either have to redirect turning traffic onto other neighborhood roads, add at least right turn lanes, or lower MLK to tunnel level to allow cars to turn into the tunnel as Caltrain considered in Palo Alto.

Anyway, it might be worthwhile for Sound Transit to consider underpasses before reconstructing the line above- or below-grade as construction may be less disruptive.