Sound Transit Completes East Link Tunnel In Bellevue

BELLEVUE, WA — Long-term plans to improve mass transit in the region hit another milestone Wednesday, with the announcement that construction on the East Link's Bellevue tunnel structure is now complete.

Following several years of planning, excavation work began on the one-third of a mile tunnel in 2017. According to Sound Transit, contractors with Atkinson Construction were able to finish excavation work a few months early, allowing them to keep the project on schedule despite coronavirus-related delays.

Opening in 2023, the East Link will be a large piece of the light-rail extension, extending service 14 miles from downtown Seattle to downtown Bellevue and the Overlake area of Redmond along 10 stations. By 2024, service will extend another 3.4 miles east to stations in Southeast Redmond and downtown Redmond.

"East Link's opening in 2023 will be preceded in 2021 by Northgate Link and in 2022 by the Tacoma Link Hilltop Extension," said Peter Rogoff, CEO at Sound Transit. "One year later we will extend Link to downtown Redmond, Lynnwood and Federal Way. These historic investments will finally give us the true mass transit network the Puget Sound region has sought for more than a half century."

When service begins, eastbound trains will enter the new tunnel at 112th Avenue Southeast and Main Street and travel under 110th Avenue Northeast before arriving in downtown Bellevue. While primary construction work on the tunnel is complete, crews still need to lay tracks inside the tunnel, connecting the East Main and Bellevue Downtown stations.

Learn more about the East Link Extension on Sound Transit's project page.