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 memorandum of agreement signed by the Washington State Highway Commission, Metro Transit, and local governments in late 1976 designated the center two lanes of the eight-lane bridge for use by transit and Mercer Island residents, with possible conversion to a fixed-guideway system in the future. The Puget Sound Council of Governments (PSCOG), a regional planning organization, determined in a 1981 study that light rail would be a feasible way to relieve traffic on the Interstate 90 corridor and recommended that Metro include it in their long-term plan. A joint study by Metro and the PSCOG in 1986 explored several alternative routes for an Eastside light rail system, recommending a route across the Interstate 90 bridge and branching from Downtown Bellevue to Kirkland and Bothell, via the Eastside railway, and Downtown Redmond, via State Route 520. While the light rail plan was left unfunded, provisions were made to accommodate a future Eastside light rail connection in the Downtown Seattle bus tunnel that opened in 1990. In 1990, the state legislature called for the creation of a regional transit authority to fund the construction of a light rail system serving the Seattle metropolitan area. 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.