Boring complete on Sound Transit second tunnel
Written by jrood
The second tunnel boring machine mining new light-rail tunnels in the Seattle, Wash.-area, between Capitol Hill and the University of Washington finished its underground journey Monday afternoon.
Sound Transit tunneling contractors Traylor Frontier-Kemper will now focus on building 15 cross passages between the two tunnels. A different contractor, JayDee Collucio Michaels joint venture, is scheduled to complete tunneling between Capitol Hill and downtown Seattle in June.
When complete, the University Link project will connect the UW and Capitol Hill to downtown Seattle with 3.1 miles of new underground light-rail service.
The overall $1.9 billion project is about halfway complete and scheduled to open in 2016. The expansion with stations in the heart of Capitol Hill and the University of Washington will provide unparalleled speed and reliability through Seattle’s most dense neighborhoods. A trip from Husky Stadium to Westlake will take six minutes and is expected to add 70,000 riders to the system by 2030.
