Sound Transit preparing for Lynnwood light rail opening on Aug. 30

Planning for game day, every day. That’s not just the mantra for the Seahawks or Huskies. It’s the focus of Sound Transit as it prepares to open light rail to Lynnwood.

Game day for Sound Transit comes Aug. 30. That’s the day passenger service from Lynnwood begins. It will be game day, every day, after that.  The trains have been simulating daily service for weeks. Maintenance workers have been honing their skills too.

Practice and preparation for the Lynnwood light rail

Sound Transit Deputy CEO Russ Arnold spoke about the soon-to-be open Lynnwood station this week. He told me they’ve moved into scenario testing as the start date nears.

“Every day is the game for us,” Arnold said.  “This is all the practice. So we run a couple different scenarios, you know, in case this happens. So we really know what to do. We can get the service back up and running as normal. So right now we’re just scenario testing to make sure the team that’s up here and going to be driving it every day and maintenancing it every day is ready to go.”

More from Lynnwood: Light rail means big changes for Community Transit

What happens if the trains have a mechanical problem high off the ground through Mountlake Terrace or Shoreline? How will they respond to emergencies?

It’s all being fine tuned as the trains get ready to run for real.

“Getting them used to it, getting them used to the grade changes and up and down and everything else,” Arnold said.  “You can’t pull into this side of that platform.  You got to know where the crossover is. You got to know when to change over and when you’re going to change back and how that all works.”

There are plenty of small details to practice.

“That planning builds up a lot of anticipation, which is good, but for us, we want to make sure we execute every day, every eight minutes so you get where you need to go,” Arnold said.  “That’s when it comes to fruition. For us, how do we execute every single day?”

But there is some personal achievement in this as well. Arnold is the chief service delivery officer, who has been watching this line grow for more than six years of construction.  “When I look at it, I think, oh, man, the ridership I think, is going to be be higher than what we thought,” he said.  “I think people are going to be excited, and I’m excited for it.”

Sound Transit expects between 47,000 and 55,000 riders per day on this route by 2026.

And while this is a great commuter option, the light rail expansion into the suburbs provides a fast and reliable way to get to big time events in Seattle.

“Wait until people realize I’m gonna go down to a Mariners game. I’m gonna go to Seahawks, or a Husky game,” Arnold said.  “When people start to realize that, that’s my concern.  Every day.  How do we make sure that we can can meet what people expect every day?”

Get ready for a more costly commute: SR 520 toll rates have gone up

How we got here and why the project went over budget

Here are a few facts to keep in mind as we get ready for the opening of service.

This project is part of ST-2, which was passed by voters in 2008, not ST-3 which passed in 2016.

It’s about six months behind schedule and about $500 million over-budget. It cost nearly $3 billion to complete.

The budget was blown by the explosion in housing prices and construction costs. Sound Transit under-estimated what it would cost to buy all the homes and property it needed to build the tracks.

Throw in COVID-19 and a concrete strike and you get your delays.

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