Lynnwood Infill Stations: Pinehurst and potentially 220th St SW

The exciting launch of the Lynnwood Link Extension added four new stations connecting Northgate up to Lynnwood City Center. The future Pinehurst (previously NE 130th St) infill station is under construction and expected to open mid-2026. This article will discuss the station itself, bus stops, the new bus Route 77, bike lanes to the station, and finally the station area. Additionally, plans exist for a provisional (unfunded) 220th St SW infill station.

Future Pinehurst (NE 130th) StationSouth Station Plaza where visitors enter the station through an open plaza portal to the station lobby

The Pinehurst infill station is currently under construction and slated to open in 2026. The station is located in between the existing Northgate and Shoreline South station.

Some previous relevant articles are:

• Station design:
  • Sound Transit shares latest NE 130th St Station designs (2020 STB)
  • Sound Transit Launches 130th Street Light Rail Station Open House (2020 Urbanist)
• Street and bus improvements:
  • Better Bus Service to Pinehurst Station (2025 STB)
  • Seattle presents potential improvements around light rail stations at 130th and 145th (2020 STB)

From Pinehurst station to Westlake the route will take around 16 minutes. From the station to Lynnwood City Center the route will take 13 minutes.

Pinehurst Station AreaNE 130th Station map

The infill station will connect to east-west travel along NE 130th Street.

Elevated StationPinehurst station platformsRendering of the station viewed from NE 130th Street over I-5

Sound Transit will build Pinehurst as an elevated station with side platforms to the left and right of the existing rail tracks.

North and South PlazaPinehurst Station diagram map

The north plaza contains the drop off area and has one elevator and a pair of stairs. The south side also has an elevator, a pair of stairs, and also a pair of escalators. 80% of people are expected to use the south entrance.

Pinehurst Station Street Diagram

The south station exit connects to the bus stops on NE 130th Street for the future bus route to be discussed later. The westbound bus stop is at the northeast corner while the eastbound bus stop is at the southwest corner.

Station AreaPinehurst Station Area google maps

Currently the Pinehurst Station area is mostly surrounded by single family homes and the Northacres Park to the southwest and Jackson Park golf course to the northeast.

Pinehurst Station Area zoning update

Seattle is planning some limited upzoning around the station area. Hopefully some apartments and retail can be built around the station.

New Route 77

The new King County Metro Route 77 will run on N 130th Street and connect Bitter Lake and Lake City neighborhoods with 15 minute bus frequency to the future Pinehurst Station. The route will then head south to Roosevelt and U District Station.

NE 130th St & NE 125th St Mobility and Safety ProjectNE 130th St from 3rd Ave NE to 5th Ave NE

The NE 130th St & NE 125th St Mobility and Safety Project will add eastbound curbside transit lane as well as a shared-use path on the north side.

Route 77 alignment at NE 125th St & Lake City Way NE

At the intersection of NE 125th St and Lake City Way NE there were a couple different ways for the bus to travel. The final chosen approach (Option 2) was to use 30th Ave NE to avoid the bus having to turn sharply at Lake City Way NE.

30th Ave NE map30th Ave NE map

The 30th Ave NE Paving & Bus Improvements project will add a new southbound and northbound bus stops on 30th Ave NE for the Route 77 bus.

Bike ImprovementsPinehurst Station Access and Safety Improvements map

Besides the previously mentioned bus improvement projects, SDOT is also implementing a protected bike lane project across N 130th St and NE 125th St. Collectively SDOT has grouped the 7 projects to improve bus, biking, and walking access to and from the station as the Pinehurst Station Access and Safety Improvements. Below is brief consolidated description of the various protected bike lane projects.

Pinehurst and East of I-5 Bike Improvements

	From 3rd Ave NE (one block west of I-5) to Pinehurst station, SDOT will add a shared-use path on the north side of NE 130th St.
	The shared-use path will continue from the Pinehurst Station until 8th Ave NE then transition to a protected bike lanes on both sides of the street.
	At Roosevelt Way NE & NE 125th St, a roundabout will be installed with dutch-style bike lane crossings.
	The concrete curb protected bike lanes will continue east. At NE 125th St & 15th Ave NE intersection, the bus stop pair will include a raised bike lane crossing.
	Similarly on NE 125th & Lake City Way NE, the bus stop pair will also include raised bike lane crossings. Also a westbound curbside bus lane will be added for those 2 short blocks (~500 feet)

West of I-5 Bike Improvements

	Last year (2025), SDOT recently finished the N 130TH St Vision Zero Safety Corridor project adding protected bike lanes with flex posts.
	The bike lanes start from 1st Ave NE (Northacres Park) and end at Stone Ave N, one block short of Aurora Ave N.
	This year, SDOT is currently studying the Bitter Lake to Haller Lake Mobility Improvements to extend the bike lanes and also upgrade them to concrete curb protected bike lanes.
	From 1st Ave NE past Aurora Ave N and continuing to Linden Ave N, SDOT will 3 car configuration with a center turn lane. From Linden Ave N to Greenwood Ave N, SDOT will remove the center turn lane for a parking lane.

Extras: CrossoversNE 130th Station train roll plot map

Crossovers will be built just south of the NE 130th street station for added flexibility during maintenance or outages. Hopefully this allows single-tracking to maintain better headways.

(Provisional) 220th St SW stationhttps://www.soundtransit.org/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/projects/north_hct/lynnwoodeis/ch1_ch2.pdf#page=31

As part of Lynnwood Link Extension, the Alternative B chosen allowed for a future elevated 220th St SW station west of I-5 freeway. The station was not funded as part of ST2 or ST3, however infrastructure was added to ensure an infill station could be easily added in the future.

For that reason, we negotiated a compromise, which drops the bridge rebuilds, modifies the alignment so that it a 220th Street Station would be possible, and builds out the infrastructure so that the two stations can be added at a later date - just barely staying within the budget at $1.321 billion. It's a good compromise. - (Former) Seattle Councilmember Conlin

In 2013 the two stations were debated (STB) NE 130th St and 220th St SW Station Likely in Lynnwood Link FEIS about whether to include in Lynnwood Link extension.

https://www.soundtransit.org/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/projects/north_hct/lynnwoodeis/appgc.pdf#page=32

Above is a visualization of the 220th Street SW station facing east. As described in the 2015 Record of Decision, the potential future elevated station near 220th Street SW would include a 200- space surface parking lot to the west of it.

Station Area 220th Street station site from google maps

No further property acquisitions will be necessary to build the station. The former church on the lot was already demoed and used as a staging site during construction of the elevated section over 220th Street SW.

Surrounding the station are mostly single family homes to the south and some light commercial stores along 220th Street. There are some townhomes and garden apartments to the north. Across I-5 to the east are again mostly single family homes, a small collection of townhomes and garden apartments, and some schools.

Mountlake Terrace city truncated zoning mapMountlake Terrace city zoning map key

The Mountlake Terrace zoning Map shows a small commercial district, some medium density apartments allowed to the north, and a small cluster of medium apartments across I-5 to the east. Unfortunately, there is also I-5 freeway itself blocking construction near the station and finally the remaining area is all zoned as single family housing.

Sound Transit also analyzed the area in the 220th Street SW station TOD potential section and mostly found moderate TOD potential in the future. There is the Western Washington Premera Blue Cross campus 0.5 miles to the west and a cluster of hospitals on SR 99 which would provide some job access. This unfortunately isn't enough and the location would definitely need to be upzoned to allow for more townhouses and apartments.

Edmonds Transithttps://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_16494932/File/Government/Departments/Public%20Works%20and%20Utilities/Transportation%20System/Getting%20Around%20Edmonds/Transportation%20Planning/Edmonds_Transportation_Plan_Final_080315_wGraphics.pdf#page=100

The Edmonds Transportation plan suggested running a east-west bus route from Downtown Edmonds to the new 220th Street station via Main Street and 220th St Sw.

Support and Opposition

From what could be gathered from scouring online: The station back then was desired by Edmonds and Mountlake City mayors, while opposed by the Lynnwood City Council for the additional travel time added. From Mountlake Terrace letter supporting the station:

As you consider the scope of the ST3 projects, we [Mountlake Terrace City Council] recommend that you proceed with the following projects.

First: N-05 Infill Light Rail Station: 220th Street .... The 220th Street Infill site is located near an existing commercial, residential and light industrial area and the City of Mountlake Terrace's largest employer, Premera, located on 220th Street SW, west of the station.

RidershipFrom Page 160 of Lynnwood Link FEIS transportation technical report.
Fourth column from the Left With 130th St & 220th St stations most relevant"

The above shows the (kinda overly) optimistic daily ridership estimates for the Lynnwood Link extension. The NE 130th St station was estimated to garner double the ridership of the Shoreline South station. However, the 220th St SW station even in the optimistic ridership estimates was only estimated to have 1,100 daily ridership.

	Actual/Adjusted Ridership	(Optimistic) Ridership
Lynnwood	3,400~3,700	17,200
220th St	*300~*500	1,100
Mountlake Terrace	1,100~1,200	4,300
Shoreline North	900~1,000	6,400
Shoreline South	1,000~1,100	2,600
Pinehurst	*1,000~*2000	5,100

The above table adjusts the infill station estimates similar to the actually observed daily ridership from the Sound Transit performance tracker. For Pinehurst station if the ridership is similar to Shoreline North (both originally estimated at 5 to 6 thousand) then it'd only have around 1,000 daily riders. However, it was estimated to have more riders than Shoreline South so maybe it might have 2,000 daily riders. For comparison, most of the Rainier Valley stations of Beacon Hill, Mount Baker, etc... have around 2,000 daily riders post covid.

For 220th Street SW station the estimates are much more sobering. Even in the optimistic estimates the ridership was already paltry at 1,100 daily riders. Adjusting it more realistically craters the estimate down to 300 or 500 daily riders, which is not enough to justify building a light rail station. As previously mentioned, the zoning around the station is too restrictive and would need to be upzoned to generate more transit ridership demand.

Conclusion

The infill station at NE 130th Street will add easy transit access for the Seattle neighborhoods of Bitter Lake, Pinehurst and Lake City. The provisional 220th St SW station is buildable but needs much more upzoning and density to make it worthwhile.

References

• Pinehurst Station (Sound Transit)
• NE 130th Street Infill Station Station Finishes Package 90% Design Review
• One Seattle Plan (zoning maps)
• Growing a Neighborhood Around 130th Street Station (2021 Urbanist)
• Pinehurst Station Access and Safety Improvements
  • NE 130th St & NE 125th St Mobility and Safety Project (Seattle.gov)