Link light rail trains will only be running through the downtown transit tunnel every 32 minutes during a period starting now and lasting an estimated two weeks, Sound Transit announced Thursday evening. Mike Lindblom at the Seattle Times reported that the construction crew working on the Pine Street rebuild damaged the lid over Westlake Station earlier this week, and an investigation found that damage was more extensive than originally thought.
As regular Link riders know, one train every 32 minutes is not nearly enough. Hopefully Sound Transit finds a way to squeeze in some more service. But for now, anyone who can bike instead of taking the train probably should. I guess Bike Month started a few days early this year.
The good news is that biking downtown is actually pretty great these days, depending on where exactly you’re trying to get. So if you have never biked downtown or haven’t biked there in many years, you may be surprised. Bell Street, 2nd Ave, 4th Ave, 7th Ave, 8th Ave, these streets are downright pleasant to bike on, something I could not imagine writing a decade ago. I do it every day taking my kid to preschool, and I love it.
Depending where you live, the most difficult part will likely be getting to downtown, not through it. Below is the downtown excerpt from the 2022 Seattle bike map (the most recent version):
