This Wednesday, September 30th, North Seattle communities will celebrate as Pinehurst Station opens to riders. The station, located between Northgate Station and Shoreline South/148th Station at NE 130th Street, and 5th Avenue NE is the first Sound Transit infill station (a new station on an existing line) to open. It is also a game changer in terms of light rail access for the Bitter Lake, Haller Lake, Pinehurst, Olympic Hills, Lake City and Cedar Park communities.
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The festivities for the station are especially meaningful given that the station wasn’t supposed to happen. And, if it did happen, it wasn’t supposed to open for many more years.
2013 Sound Transit Lynnwood Link Extension
Sound Transit studied including the Pinehurst Station (previously called NE 130th Street Station) as part of the Northgate to Lynnwood Link Extension, and the idea was strongly supported by Seattle City Council and transit advocates. NE 130th Street/NE 125th Street arterial provides an opportunity for an easy and fast bus connection between the station and the dense and affordable communities of Lake City and Bitter Lake. The arterial also offers a less congested and much safer, more complete pedestrian experience than other east-west arterials such as NE 145th Street or Northgate Way.
In the 2013 politics of selecting stations for the initial Northgate to Lynnwood extension, NE 130th did not make the final cut. Beyond the Lynnwood terminus station, the agency selected stations at NE 145th (now 148th) and NE 185th in Shoreline and at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center. However, Seattle leaders saw the value of a NE 130th Street station and wanted to keep the possibility alive. Then Seattle City Council President and Sound Transit Board Member, Richard Conlin, sponsored City of Seattle Resolution 31486 specifically asking Sound Transit to do a full environmental impact study of 130th Street Station to keep momentum and options for the station in the future:
WHEREAS, the City encourages Sound Transit to continue to work collaboratively with the City and King County Metro to develop a more refined bus feeder system for the possible 130th St. Station in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS); understanding that this station would provide good transit access to denser neighborhoods to the east and west of I-5; and
WHEREAS, Sound Transit consultants have estimated a substantial cost differential between concurrent and deferred construction of a potential 130th Street station and
WHEREAS, the 130th Street Station would provide Sound Transit and King County Metro a high quality, efficient bus to rail and rail to bus connection with less traffic congestion than adjacent stations as well as good bike and pedestrian access;
2015 North Seattle Community Organizing
Recognizing the potential for a station at NE 130th Street and holding a bit of optimism and tenacity, North Seattle community members organized to ask Sound Transit to reconsider including NE 130th Street Station in the Lynnwood Link extension.
They launched a campaign that quickly drew significant and broad support from the transit community, environmental groups, and elected officials including Seattle City Councilmember Mike O’Brien and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. While Sound Transit did not add NE 130th to the Lynnwood Link extension, on April 23, 2015 the board approved making the Lynnwood Link “ready” for NE 130th Street Station. This meant that as the Lynnwood Link was planned and constructed, it would be done in a way that a station could still be added at NE 130th in the future.
I was the lead organizer in this effort and am still incredibly proud of what we accomplished as a community. We showed each other that through working together we can make a meaningful impact. In the process we also built stronger relationships between neighborhoods and new leaders emerged who have since led other North Seattle efforts.
2016 - 2023 D5 Councilmember Juarez Leads the Charge
As a District 5 Seattle City Council candidate in 2015, Debora Juarez saw the strong case for a NE 130th Street station and adopted the vision of completing the station as one of her three key campaign goals. Once in office, she immediately went to work.
In early 2016, Sound Transit released the proposed Sound Transit 3 (“ST3”) ballot package listing NE 130th Street Station as a “provisional” station, to be built if funding allows. This was a disappointment for Councilmember Juarez and she launched her own successful 130th effort that included an epic number of letters from the D5 community to the Sound Transit Board.
Ultimately, the Sound Transit Board included NE 130th Street Station in the ST3 ballot package without the “provisional” tag and with a target of the station opening by 2031. ST3 was passed by voters in November 2016 including broad support in North Seattle and District 5.
While excited to know the station would be built, Juarez was not satisfied that it would open years after the rest of the Lynnwood Link. In early 2020, Juarez and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, who were both Sound Transit Board members at the time, convinced the full Sound Transit Board to give the green light to working on a final design for NE 130th Street Station, allocating $20 million for that work. The North Seattle community again contributed with a massive email campaign in support. With that decision, on the eve of the pandemic, the station opening timeline accelerated toward Wednesday’s opening, only two years later than the rest of Lynnwood Link.
Next Up: Station Area Rezone for Transit-Oriented Development
It’s clear that rezoning for transit-oriented development will increase ridership; and, the Sound Transit Board has repeatedly noted that it expects more housing at the station given the massive investment being made.
Following the April 2015 Sound Transit Board vote, North Seattle community leaders held a well-attended meeting to launch a discussion of a rezone centered on the future station. Subsequently, the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan update released in 2016 included a “Potential Village” surrounding NE 130th Street station in Growth Strategy Figure 4 in the 2016 adopted plan. And, in 2019, under Mayor Jenny Durkan, the Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) led a station area planning process for the areas surrounding the station.
Ultimately, Seattle leaders opted to attach the zoning changes to the next Comprehensive Plan update, which was technically due by the end of 2024, but delayed first by the Harrell Administration and later by legal appeals from opponents. The One Seattle Draft Plan released in 2024 proposed significant rezoning at the station, but appeals need to be resolved before the city council can adopt the plan.
I live in a single-family home in the Pinehurst Station walk zone, in an area proposed to be rezoned to LR3, and have been fully supportive of a rezone since we started the station discussion. When Cathy Moore was Councilmember for District 5, I organized a walking tour of the proposed rezone area with neighbors.
There is substantial community support for a rezone and unlike other communities in Seattle, there is no formal opposition effort to rezoning. In fact, many residents are frustrated with how long the station area planning process is taking, considering it started in 2015. Memories of the 2012 Roosevelt Station area rezone definitely give pause to Seattle political leaders looking at subsequent zoning changes.
Now that Pinehurst Station is opening and once challenges to the One Seattle Plan are resolved, I hope that we can move forward on the rezone and engage both market-rate and affordable housing providers to make room for more neighbors.
Diego Batres
Doug Trumm
