Title: Line 2 (Sound Transit) - Wikipedia
Headings: Line 2 (Sound Transit)
Line 2 (Sound Transit)
Contents
History
Background and early proposals
Planning and ballot measures
Floating bridge engineering and litigation
Route refinement in Bellevue
Construction
Downtown Redmond Extension
Route
Stations
Service plans
References
External links

Content: A work group, known as the Joint Regional Policy Committee, drafted a transit plan in March 1993 that conceived of a 105-mile (169 km) rapid rail system with a line between Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond served by through-trains from Snohomish County. The plan recommended a hybrid rail and bus system, with rail serving as the primary form of high-capacity transit on the Interstate 90 corridor. Later that year, the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, later renamed Sound Transit, was established and began planning a package of transit projects for a public referendum. The committee's plan was downsized to 69 miles (111 km) of light rail, including a line from Seattle to Bellevue and Overlake, and submitted to voters on March 14, 1995. The $6.7 billion transit package was rejected by voters, in part due to an opposition campaign funded by Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman. A smaller, $3.9 billion system was proposed the following year, with a light rail line serving Seattle and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport instead of a system spanning the entire metropolitan area; express buses from Seattle to the Eastside would be funded by the package in place of light rail service. The removal of the Eastside light rail line was opposed by politicians and business groups in the area, with prominent developers funding an opposition campaign. The package was approved by the Puget Sound region's voters on November 5, 1996, earning a majority of votes in Eastside cities. Express buses between Seattle and the Eastside, funded by Sound Transit, began operating in 1999.