Sound Transit’s light rail now runs across Lake Washington, connecting Seattle to the Eastside.
A grand opening ceremony was held on Saturday.
The opening of the Crosslake Connection marks the completion of Sound Transit Two, which was approved by voters in 2008. Seattle is now connected directly to Bellevue and Redmond, on top of recently-added connections to Lynnwood and Federal Way.
“You can take it to the airport, you can take it to Bellevue, you can take it to a Mariners game and everything in between,” said Zack Shoemaker, a transit enthusiast.
The Crosslake Connection is at the center of the network. It is the world’s first railway over a floating bridge.
“The floating bridge twists and moves up and down, so there are multiple motions you have to design for,” said Michael Abrahams, an engineer who worked on the project.
Abrahams flew all the way from New York to see his work in action and was thrilled to see so many people using it on day one.
“What I’m so happy about is that so many people have come today, and they enjoy it and appreciate it,” he said. “That’s such a reward.”
On top of the thousands of riders who attended were a slew of elected officials.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson praised the achievement and stressed that more light rail expansion is necessary.
“Sound transit has achieved an engineering first and realized a dream going back half a century,” she said. “We have proven that yes, we can do big things. And we channel the spirit that we need to meet the challenges ahead of us to deliver the full vision of ST 3 that voters were promised.”
Sound Transit Three, featuring extensions to Everett, Ballard, West Seattle and Tacoma was approved by voters in 2016. The project has faced delays and a $34 billion budget gap.
