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A light rail guideway can be seen with orange and red paneling underneath by South Bellevue Station.
Media Caption
Looking good at South Bellevue Station!

Fresh pics: a tour of East Link

By Katie Metzger
Publish Date

Almost a year ago exactly, we took Platform readers on a photo field trip along the East Link extension – 14 miles of new light rail with 10 stations connecting Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue and the Bel-Red and Overlake neighborhoods in Redmond.

Since then, we've marked major milestones with the opening of the downtown Bellevue tunnel and the important Connect 2020 project.

When East Link begins operating in 2023, it will change the way people in our region move around, especially as extensions to downtown Redmond, Federal Way and Lynnwood open just one year later. 

Imagine a trip between downtown Bellevue and Westlake Station in downtown Seattle taking 24 minutes, no matter how bad traffic is. Let's follow the East Link alignment and check out the progress! 

If you enjoy these photos, follow us on Instagram and tune in on Fridays for our regular "Field Trip Friday" stories where we visit Sound Transit construction sites around the region. 

For more information about East Link, check out the project web page, sign up for project alerts and join the new East Link Facebook Group for the latest construction news.

And of course, subscribe to The Platform to get the latest news and photos delivered to your inbox!

Leaving Seattle

East Link will connect to the rest of the light rail system at International District/Chinatown Station. From there, passengers will travel first to Judkins Park Station, the only East Link station in Seattle.

A worker in a yellow vest and orange hard hat kneels by new light rail tracks, with the downtown Seattle skyline in the background.
Not a bad view!
A view of Judkins Park Station looking west. Train tracks are visible, as well as glass windows on the station.
Judkins Park Station is located in the center of I-90. Riders can enter from either Rainier Avenue South or 23rd Avenue South.

Crossing the water

From there, passengers will travel over Lake Washington to Mercer Island Station. Fun fact: this is the first time ever that light rail will run across a floating bridge.

Lake Washington can be seen in the background as train tracks are being built on the I-90 floating bridge.
Can't wait to zip by traffic while getting a great view of water and mountains.
Large block letters on the side of a transit center read 'Mercer Island Station.'
In case you couldn't tell, we've now arrived at Mercer Island Station.

Continuing east

From there, we travel to South Bellevue, up to downtown and across I-405. Many of the East Link stations are located in dynamic, growing and mixed-use neighborhoods like Spring District and Overlake Village.

A worker walks along the guideway at South Bellevue Station, with a large parking garage on their left.
The garage at South Bellevue Station has 1,500 parking stalls, but also connections for those traveling by bus, bike or foot.
A view of the downtown Bellevue tunnel entrance from East Main Station.
Checking out the downtown Bellevue tunnel entrance.
Sunlight shines through glass at the platform of Bel-Red/130th Station.
After downtown Bellevue, the route continues to Wilburton Station, Spring District/120th Station and this station: Bel-Red/130th.

Ending in Redmond

The last stops (for now) are Overlake Village Station and Redmond Technology Station.

A new pedestrian bridge can be seen above SR-520 and train tracks connecting to Overlake Village Station.
A new pedestrian bridge connects to Overlake Village Station.
Looking down the stairs at the platform of Redmond Technology Station, with a parking garage on the right.
A beautiful day at Redmond Technology Station, by Microsoft headquarters.

More stories on East Link construction

Hopefully this isn't the first time you've run across our continuing coverage of East Link construction.

Check out our past stories for more action shots and information.

Women power progress on Sound Transit job sites

Fresh pics from East Link: Mercer Island, Redmond and connecting to Seattle

Building bridges to connect light rail to the Eastside

Or you can see all of our East Link stories by clicking on the East Link category listing below (or on the right if you're reading this on your desktop or tablet).

Here's an overview of the whole extension:

Back to The Platform

Categories
Fresh pics
East Link
Bellevue Downtown
System Expansion