PROJECT UPDATE: Northgate Link Extension February 2016

Construction crews are getting prepared to receive the first tunnel boring machine near Husky Stadium. This area will be used to pull the TBM cutterhead to the surface.

First tunnel boring machine halfway across University of Washington campus

The tunnel boring machine building the future northbound Northgate Link tunnel is just about to cross beneath E Stevens Way. Tunneling crews are pushing to arrive at the retrieval shaft site near Husky Stadium this spring.

The TBM building the southbound tunnel is making a slower push into the U District Station excavation site. The tunneling team anticipates at least three weeks before the machine hits daylight. The TBM was stopped for temporary repairs on December 28; the TBM was restarted by the contractor on February 11.

Street restoration nearly complete on First Avenue NE near Northgate Transit Center

First Avenue NE is just about back to normal at NE 100th Street. Crews expect to take just a few more weeks to complete road paving as part of the first phase of construction work in the vicinity. The restoration work was needed after crews relocated utility lines out of the way of upcoming guideway construction. The guideway will hold the future north and southbound tracks between Northgate Station and the Maple Leaf Portal near NE 94th Street, where tunnel construction staging continues. Construction of the Northgate Station and guideway will begin later this year.