Crowds thronged Downtown Redmond and Marymoor Village Stations on Saturday for the opening celebration for the light rail extension into the core of the Eastside’s third largest city. Sound Transit dignitaries made their speeches at the ribbon-cutting ceremony and then riders got a chance to try the two new stations and the festivities planned around them.
While the Downtown Redmond Link Extension only encompasses 3.4 miles, it’s part of a much larger buildout. In his ribbon-cutting speech, Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine — who recently left his long-held position as King County Executive and Sound Transit Board leader to take the job — highlighted the period of robust growth that the agency is in, while also poking a little fun at the long speechmaking each opening is paired with. In a five-year period culminating in 2026, the agency will have nearly tripled its light rail mileage.
“When trains start running today — assuming the program ever ends — it will mark the fourth opening in 20 months,” Constantine said. “It will mark 20 new stations in those 20 months in Pierce and King, and Snohomish counties. Just four years ago, Sound Transit operated 22 miles of light rail. After we cut the ribbon today, we will operate more than 46 miles, and I am here to tell you that next year, we will operate more than 62 miles, with 51 stations throughout the region, from Lynnwood to Federal Way to Redmond.”
After the 2 Line to Seattle extension and Federal Way Link extension of the 1 Line, Sound Transit will have a bit of a gap until its next light rail opening. In the agency’s best case scenario, West Seattle Link is presently slated to open in 2032, Tacoma Dome Link for 2035, Everett Link for 2037, Ballard Link for 2039, and Issaquah Link for circa 2041. However, schedule adjustments may be ahead as Sound Transit accounts for straining budgets, planning delays, and federal headwinds.
Along with Downtown Redmond where the ribbon was cut, the newly opened Marymoor Village station abuts Marymoor Park, the 640-acre “crown jewel” of the King County Parks system with an outdoor concert series drawing attendees from across the region. Redmond has also designated the surrounding neighborhood as a growth center and permitted 12-story towers in some sections of it. A 1,400 stall parking garage directly at the station is intended to entice riders from points further east, like Sammamish, Carnation, and Duvall.
King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci, who chairs the Sound Transit Systems Expansion Committee and whose District 6 includes Redmond, stressed the value of a rapid transit connection to Marymoor.
“This train is going to take people to the crown jewel of the King County park system, and that’s Marymoor Park, where you can experience nature through the bike trails and the bird loop. You can play or watch an incredible variety of sports, soccer, baseball, rugby, bike racing, and someday soon, cricket, yes. You’ll be able to experience concerts and community events, and of course, you can bring your furry friends to the most amazing 40-acre dog park you’re ever going to see.”
Constantine announced that the agency would be extending 2 Line hours of operation on nights when concerts are being held at Marymoor Park. In its starter line form, the 2 Line’s span of service typically winds down just before 10pm.
“Due to some recent teamwork with Executive Braddock and the King County Parks Department, I am pleased to let you know that music fans will be able to rely on light rail not just to get you to the show, but also we’re going to be ready late trains to make sure you can get home from the show without sitting in traffic,” Constantine said.
Redmond Mayor Angela Birney touted the fact that the opening punctuated Redmond’s transition from a suburb to a city. Redmond has ambitiously upzoned its downtown, Marymoor Village, and Overlake Village for growth, recently adding more highrise potential. Even before the recent rezone took effect, Redmond had added more than 4,000 new homes in Overlake, around 1,400 new homes near Marymoor Village, and more than 5,000 homes downtown over the last two decades, as the city’s population has burgeoned past 80,000. Thousands more homes are in the development pipeline.
It's time to celebrate the launch of Downtown Redmond Link. The station area is packed with people ready to ride the train. Redmond Mayor Angela Birney is kicking things off right now.
— Ryan Packer (@typewriteralley.bsky.social) May 10, 2025 at 10:41 AM
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Sound Transit Chair and Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers used the occasion to draw a parallel to the agency’s decision (at his behest) to break from the straightest and most efficient course to put a future light rail stop on the edge of Boeing’s sprawling manufacturing plant and the Paine Field airport, which is aspiring to be the region’s secondary airport.
“The smart policy choice of connecting our network to Redmond resonates with me and the people of Snohomish County, just as tying Redmond’s tech hub to the rest of Puget Sound will help build economic strength and resilience across our three-county region, so will tying Everett’s vital aerospace industry to the rest of the region,” Somers said.
The parallel isn’t as strong as Somers insinuated. Boeing’s Everett plant does employ about 30,000 workers, barring additional layoffs down the road. But unlike Microsoft’s corporate campus, the share of Boeing workers who commute by transit is abysmally small. Microsoft employs 53,000 employees on the Eastside and transit use is much stronger, even before light rail arrived and buses had to do more of the heavy lifting.
Plus, while Boeing’s position — especially in Western Washington where it has long been shrinking jobs in favor of less unionized states — appears tenuous, Microsoft has ambitious growth plans centered on expanding its Redmond campus. The Redmond Microsoft headquarters also has the virtue of being relatively on the way between the downtowns of Bellevue and Redmond. Meanwhile, Boeing and Paine Field are a significant detour that will add more than a billion dollars to Everett Link’s cost over the more direct alternative while costing riders headed to other destinations (the vast majority of riders, given projections) about seven minutes each way in added trip time for the rest of time.
Regardless, Somers is all in on the Paine Field alignment. Bringing up the alignment choice is his speech Friday could have perhaps been a warning shot that the Paine Field alignment is a non-negotiable in the likely realignment of expansion schedules and budgets ahead. Sound Transit is grappling with ballooning project costs, shrinking federal support under Trump, and riders clamoring for projects to be delivered as soon as possible, rather than continually delayed due to federal snags and budget issues.
When that financial reckoning comes, redesigning projects to be more economical could be one of the tools the agency reaches for. However, so far board members have mostly stressed the importance of staying the course and delivering to voters what has been promised.
Redmond Mayor Birney reminded everyone that light rail remains highly popular across most of the region — even as some lines hit operations snafus or planning snags.
“I want to thank the voters in 2016 made this extension possible; 70% of the voters in Redmond approved this. Seventy percent,” Birney said. “I don’t know how often that happens on any kind of ballot measure.”
Opening day festivities included street fairs at both Downtown Redmond and Marymoor Village, with multimodal advocacy organizations from the Eastside and around the region well-represented. The Urbanist was on hand to chat with railfans and newbies alike, quizzing attendees on transit and housing-related trivia.
While everyone across the region is eager for the 2 Line to finally cross the lake, Saturday’s grand opening afforded an opportunity for Redmond to take center stage, and for transit advocates to celebrate the arrival of rail in one of the Eastside’s fastest-growing downtowns. Any chance to celebrate progress in building out Puget Sound’s high-capacity transit network is worth savoring.
Doug Trumm is publisher of The Urbanist. An Urbanist writer since 2015, he dreams of pedestrian streets, bus lanes, and a mass-timber building spree to end our housing crisis. He graduated from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington in 2019. He lives in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood and loves to explore the city by foot and by bike.
Ryan Packer has been writing for The Urbanist since 2015, and currently reports full-time as Contributing Editor. Their beats are transportation, land use, public space, traffic safety, and obscure community meetings. Packer has also reported for other regional outlets including Capitol Hill Seattle, BikePortland, Seattle Met, and PubliCola. They live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
