Westlake station (Sound Transit)
Link light rail station | ||||||||||||||||||
General information | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Pine Street & 4th Avenue Seattle, Washington United States | |||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 47°36′41″N 122°20′14″W / 47.61139°N 122.33722°W | |||||||||||||||||
Owned by | Sound Transit | |||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 2 side platforms | |||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
Connections | ||||||||||||||||||
Construction | ||||||||||||||||||
Structure type | Underground | |||||||||||||||||
Parking | Paid parking nearby | |||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||
Opened | September 15, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 2005–2007 | |||||||||||||||||
Passengers | ||||||||||||||||||
9,354 daily weekday boardings (2023)[1] 3,320,940 total boardings (2023)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||||
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Westlake station is a light rail station that is part of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel in Seattle, Washington, United States. The station is located under Pine Street between 3rd and 6th avenues in Downtown Seattle, near Westlake Center and Westlake Park. It is served by the 1 Line, part of Sound Transit's Link light rail system, and also connected above ground by buses at several stops, the South Lake Union Streetcar, and the Seattle Center Monorail.
Westlake station consists of two underground side platforms, connected to the surface by entrances and a mezzanine level served by nearby department stores. It is situated between University Street station to the south, and the former Convention Place station to the north; Convention Place was only served by buses, however, and Capitol Hill station is the next northbound light rail station. The transit tunnel was built in the 1980s by King County Metro and opened for bus-only service on September 15, 1990. The tunnel was closed from 2005 to 2007 for a major renovation to prepare for light rail service, which began on July 18, 2009.
Link light rail trains terminated at Westlake until the opening of the
Location
Westlake station is located on Pine Street between 3rd and 6th avenues in Downtown Seattle's retail and office district.[2] The station is at the north end of Downtown Seattle, near the Denny Triangle area, and is within walking distance of the Pike Place Market Historic District. According to the Puget Sound Regional Council, the area within 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) of the station has an estimated population of 15,171 people (in 12,995 total housing units, mostly in multifamily buildings) and approximately 91,055 jobs.[3]
The station and its entrances are adjacent to the
History
Background and earlier proposals
The Pine Street area of Downtown Seattle was regraded for development from 1903 to 1906, as part of the
The regraded area was developed into the city's retailing neighborhood in the 1920s, with the construction of large
Bus tunnel
Metro Transit began planning a bus-based transit system through downtown Seattle in the 1970s, including a transit mall, tunnel, or bus terminal in the Westlake area.[19][20] Metro approved construction of a downtown bus tunnel in 1983,[21] selecting Pine Street and 4th Avenue as the site of one of the stations.[22] The station would be integrated with a planned shopping mall on Pine Street, with underground walkways connecting to nearby department stores.[23][24]
The Pine Street segment of the tunnel would be dug
Westlake station, along with
The Westlake station mezzanine was opened on August 11, 1989, as part of a public preview of the tunnel. The station's design was praised by local politicians and visitors, with Seattle City Councilman
Light rail
In the early 1990s, a regional
The downtown transit tunnel was closed on September 23, 2005, for an $82.7 million renovation to accommodate light rail vehicles. The two-year renovation included the installation of new rails, a lowered roadbed at stations for level boarding, new signalling systems and emergency ventilation.
Link light rail service began on July 18, 2009, running from Westlake station to Tukwila International Boulevard station.[60][61] A tunneled extension of the light rail system, from Westlake to stations at Capitol Hill and University of Washington, was excavated from 2011 to 2012.[62] The northern extension opened on March 19, 2016, moving the line's northern terminus to University of Washington station.[63]
Bus service within the downtown transit tunnel ceased on March 23, 2019, due to the expansion of the
On April 27, 2023, the station ceiling was punctured by a construction crew working on the relocation of a historic street clock on Pine Street and forced the northbound platform to close. Contractors working on an existing clock foundation drilled 48 inches (120 cm) through the station roof and broke part of a structural girder over the northbound tracks.[69] Sound Transit announced that an investigation into the damage would take two weeks and cause major disruptions to 1 Line service. The section between Capitol Hill and Stadium stations was initially reduced to a single shuttle train that will run every 32 minutes while the rest of the line runs every 15 minutes.[70][71] Sound Transit later adjusted the temporary schedule to use alternating trains every 15 to 20 minutes that required a single transfer at Pioneer Square station due to a lack of shuttle buses.[69][72] Regular service resumed on May 7 with the reopened northbound platform while repairs were conducted.[73]
Future
As part of the Sound Transit 3 program, approved by voters in 2016, Westlake station is planned to become a transfer station for a new light rail line serving South Lake Union, Lower Queen Anne, and Ballard, to open in 2036.[74][75] The new line would continue south through a new downtown light rail tunnel to International District/Chinatown station, merging with the current line.[76][77]
Station layout
Level 3 | Seattle Center Monorail | |
Street level | Entrances/Exits South Lake Union Streetcar | |
Mezzanine level | Ticket vending machines, Department stores, to Entrances/Exits | |
Platform level |
Side platform, doors will open on the right | |
Northbound | ← 1 Line toward Northgate (Capitol Hill) | |
Southbound | 1 Line toward Angle Lake (University Street) → | |
Side platform, doors will open on the right |
Westlake station is situated below Pine Street between 4th and 6th avenues in Downtown Seattle. The station consists of two
Art and architecture
Westlake station was designed by Brent Carlson of TRA Architects to "give the impression" of a retail center's liveliness, and features heavy use of granite materials and Art Deco design elements.[43][79] The station is also adorned with public artwork as part of the tunnel's $1.5 million art program, under the direction of lead artist Jack Mackie and program director Vicki Scuri.[85]
The south station wall has a collection of 1,264 handmade terra cotta tiles carved in the shapes of leaves, vines, and flowers; the tiles, designed by Mackie, are arranged from the mezzanine level downwards, as if forming the roots of Westlake Park above.[86] Between the mezzanine and platform, Scuri's 40 ceramic tiles feature geometric patterns found in clothing and other garments.[85][86] The station's stairways and surface entrances are inscribed with quotes from University of Washington professor Caroline Ober, artist Mark Tobey, and retailer Silas Munro.[2] On the corner of Pine Street and 5th Avenue was a 17-foot-high (5.2 m) granite street clock shaped like a question mark, designed by artist Bill Whipple;[86] it is planned to be relocated in 2023 to Pike Street and 4th Avenue as part of a swap with a historic Ben Bridge Jeweler clock.[70]
The platform level houses three 35-foot-long (11 m), 10-foot-tall (3 m)
The station's pictogram, a tiara, represents the neighborhood's playful nature. It was created in 2009 by Christian French as part of the Stellar Connections series and its points represent nearby destinations, including Pike Place Market, Victor Steinbrueck Park, the Paramount Theatre, and the Washington State Convention Center.[90]
Services
Westlake is one of five stations in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, which is served by the 1 Line. Light rail trains run from
In addition to light rail, Westlake station is in close proximity to several other regional and local transit services. The Seattle Center Monorail, serving the
From 2009 to 2019, several bus routes also ran in the tunnel alongside Link light rail. The final set of bus routes in the tunnel were divided into three bays by their outbound direction: Bay A was served by three routes (routes 41, 74, and 255) heading north toward Northgate and the University District and east towards Kirkland; Bay C was served by three routes (routes 101, 102, and 150) heading south through the SODO Busway toward Kent and Renton; and Bay D was served by one route (Sound Transit Express route 550) heading east via Interstate 90 to Bellevue. Bay A was located on the northbound platform, while Bays C and D shared the southbound platform.[2][98] The bus routes were relocated in March 2019 to new stops around the Westlake station area on various streets.[66][99]
King County Metro runs a
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