Downtown Redmond Link Opening May 10

A test train pulls away from Downtown Redmond Station. Photo courtesy of Claudia Balducci via Bluesky.

At the future Marymoor Village Station this morning, Sound Transit announced the Downtown Redmond Link Extension will open on May 10, 2025. The opening will extend the 2 Line by 3.4 miles from its current terminus at the Redmond Technology Station to Downtown Redmond, with a stop near Marymoor Park south of the intersection of State Route 520 and Redmond Way.

The extension is mostly at-grade along State Route 520, climbing to an aerial alignment terminating in Downtown Redmond. The Marymoor Village Station is at-grade and includes a 1,400-stall parking garage, which the light rail actually passes underneath as it turns west toward Downtown Redmond.

The Downtown Redmond Link Extension will be the first ST3-funded light rail project to open, followed by the Federal Way Link Extension next year. Both extensions had their routes planned under ST2, and before the pandemic and a 6-month concrete truck drivers strike, were expected to open in 2024.

The portions of the East Link Extension Project have been fraught with construction issues, rework, and delays resulting some parts of the extension being ready for service ahead of others. The 2 Line has been operating between South Bellevue Station and Redmond Technology Station since last April. Ridership on the starter line" has generally met Sound Transit's prediction of about 6,000 daily boardings.

Meanwhile, construction is still ongoing between the International District/Chinatown Station and South Bellevue Station. This section of track is still expected to open later this year, which will allow the 2 Line to run its full length from Downtown Redmond to Lynnwood via Downtown Bellevue and Downtown Seattle. When the 2 Line begins operating through Seattle, it will double service between Lynnwood and Seattle and alleviate crowding conditions being experienced on northern sections of the 1 Line today.