Big News and Smaller News from Sound Transit

It seems like transit has dominated the news cycles recently.  With the metro bus cuts hearings last week and the Sound Transit Bellevue activity this week its been all transit all the time. 

In not so monumental, but still newsworthy, Sound Transit announced in its CEO Report this afternoon that the new light rail station in Tacoma will be called Commerce Street Station.  They also announced that the North entrance for the Sounder Trains is going to reopen with temporary scaffolding  installed to protect riders.  As an infrequent Sounder rider this is welcome news.  I took the train once during the closure and the lineup to get out using just the south exists was massive and time consuming.

Here is more from the afternoon CEO report:

Commerce Street Station

It's official. The name of the new Tacoma Link station is the Commerce Street Station.

The City of Tacoma last year proposed adding a station north of the Convention
Center Station on Commerce Street, just south of South 11th Street. The City of Tacoma built the new station, which is expected to open in August.

The 1.6-mile Tacoma Link line was completed in 2003 and serves the downtown area. The new station will expand access to businesses, increase ridership, and improve mobility in downtown Tacoma.

King Street Station North Entrance to open

Starting Monday, the north entrance to the Sounder King Street Station is scheduled to reopen. At that time, temporary protective scaffolding will be in place to prevent debris from falling from the overhead bridge structure. 
The north entrance, which is off Jackson Street, was temporarily closed about a month ago as a safety precaution after debris from the bridge was found on the passenger platform.

As a long-term solution, the City of Seattle has designed (and we have reviewed and approved) netting for the underside of the bridge.

We appreciate the patience of our Sounder riders. I know the closure has been an inconvenience.