SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Cross-center platform transfer expected to cause confusion at Pioneer Square light rail stop

Dec 25, 2019, 7:38 AM

Starting January 4, the Sound Transit light rail stop at Pioneer Square will be under construction while crews work on a crucial connection.

Crews will begin building new tracks that connect the International District/Chinatown Station across I-90 to Judkins Park, Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Redmond.

Prepare for a commute change on Sound Transit’s Link Light Rail

Service will be reduced during the 10-week period. Four-car trains will run every 12 minutes. Riders will have to change trains on a new center platform.

Marie Olson, Sound Transit Operations Director, told KIRO Radio’s Tracy Taylor that cross-center platform transfers are pretty typical in other countries. But they expect a bit of confusion until riders adapt.

“So if I’m coming up from the south end and I need to get to Westlake or the University of Washington station, what I’m going to do is board a train in the south” Olson said. “We’re going to come up to Pioneer Square, when you get to Pioneer Square, you’ll have to go across the center platform to get to the other train that will be there waiting for you. That other train will take you to your destination north.”

Subscribe to rider alerts here.

Olson said Sound Transit will have a lot of signs and rider ambassadors to assist during the construction period.

Please follow our Community Guidelines

People stand at the doors of the Maryland State House on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Annapolis, Md. (...

Associated Press

Maryland court rules Democratic-backed redistricting amendment cannot go on November ballot

A Maryland court has ruled against a proposed constitutional amendment that could have paved the way for Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of the 2028 elections. The ruling Wednesday by a judge in the state’s capital city marks another setback in Democrats’ national attempts to counter a Republican redistricting movement pushed by […]

16 minutes ago

A Gideon Bible sits on a table in Phoenix, Sunday Aug. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)Credit...

Associated Press

For over 100 years, travelers have checked into US motel rooms and found the Gideon Bible

SALISBURY, Md. (AP) — “Rocky Raccoon checked into his room, only to find Gideon’s Bible.” Paul McCartney explained those famous lines in the song by The Beatles, saying these Bibles “were in every hotel in America.” He’d never seen something like that in England. For more than a century, countless have found it in the […]

39 minutes ago

FILE - A sign for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is displayed outside their offices in Silve...

Associated Press

FDA approves landmark pancreatic cancer drug that’s shown to improve survival

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a groundbreaking new drug for the most common form of pancreatic cancer, offering U.S. patients a more effective treatment against one of the deadliest types of cancer. FDA officials gave expedited approval to the first-of-a-kind pill, called daraxonrasib, that blocks a mutated protein that […]

49 minutes ago

meta social media addiction...

Associated Press

Meta reaches $17 billion settlement with states in landmark trial over teen social media addiction

Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction

1 hour ago

Delivery vans bearing the logo sit during a protest staged as part of a countrywide National Day of...

Associated Press

Democratic states file new lawsuit seeking to block Trump’s order limiting mail voting in midterms

Democratic-controlled states on Wednesday filed another lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to limit mail voting in this year’s midterm elections. The action, filed by about two dozen states against the U.S. Postal Service, marked a new phase in the high-stakes litigation just two days after the Supreme Court ruled against them in […]

2 hours ago

seattle teachers strike SPS...

MyNorthwest Staff

Seattle teachers to vote Wednesday night on whether to strike, delaying school year

Seattle's teachers could vote to go on strike as soon as Wednesday night when the Seattle Education Association gathers at the Convention Center.

2 hours ago

Cross-center platform transfer expected to cause confusion at Pioneer Square light rail stop