In 2023, less than two years after the completion and opening of the Northgate Link extension, Sound Transit will inaugurate service to ten new stations serving Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Redmond. The addition of these new stations will be the biggest expansion in the history of the system, dwarfing the number of stations added as part of previous extensions in 2009, 2016, and 2021.
Last month, we took the wraps of a special project documenting these ten new stations from the air. The project, which took months to create, provided a primer on each new station along with eleven galleries of photos. It was so well-received that we decided to do a follow-up this month with two additional galleries of photos depicting construction on two more stations that will open in 2024, the year after East Link comes online, bringing light rail into Downtown Redmond.
The Downtown Redmond extension is actually part of the larger East Link project, but its stations won’t open at the same time that the other East Link stations do because they were funded as part of ST3 in 2016 rather than ST2 in 2008.
Nevertheless, Sound Transit and the City of Redmond had their act together, and cooperated to ensure that design and construction could proceed on the final two stations as soon as funds were available.
That smart thinking allowed the agency to eventually aim for a completion date in 2024 rather than in, say, the 2030s. Redmond’s two easternmost stations will thus be part of the very first wave of ST3 projects to be completed.
Construction on the Downtown Redmond extension is now happening in tandem with construction on the more westerly tracks and stations — it’s just not as far along due to having started later. (The groundbreaking was in 2019.)
So while there aren’t any station platforms to look at yet, we can show you some pretty cool structures rising from the ground here in NPI’s hometown!
When finished, the East Link extension, officially known as Line 2, will consist of twelve stations that are located to the east of the mainline running north/south:
- Judkins Park
- Mercer Island
- South Bellevue
- East Main
- Bellevue Downtown
- Wilburton
- Spring District
- Bel-Red
- Overlake Village
- Redmond Technology
- Southeast Redmond
- Downtown Redmond
To see the photo galleries for the first ten stations, along with bonus photos for the Operations & Maintenance Facility East, follow this link. Do that first before you read on if you haven’t seen those images yet. Then, come back here and resume your tour. If you’ve already seen the photos published in Part I, then it’s our pleasure to be able to say welcome back to the tour!
We’ll pick up where the previous post left off: in Microsoft-Land, the part of Redmond that is home to the main Microsoft campus. The Redmond Technology Station will, until the Downtown Redmond extension opens, be the eastern terminus of Line 2. But already, Sound Transit’s contractors are preparing the right of way for the tracks that will allow trains to go into the heart of Redmond.
After leaving Redmond Technology, trains will travel east alongside State Route 520, passing underneath the interchange with 51st Avenue and over the exit ramp to West Lake Sammamish Parkway. After crossing the Sammamish River, trains will travel next to Marymoor Park until they arrive at their next stop.
Southeast Redmond Station
This surface level station will be located next to the Redmond Inn at the confluence of State Route 520 and Redmond Way in the city’s southeastern sector. It will have a large 1,400 stall parking garage for commuters who live on the Sammamish Plateau and in Redmond’s northern residential neighborhoods.

- View of the Southeast Redmond Station construction site, looking towards the end of the State Route 520, where it becomes Avondale Road (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)

- Overhead view of the under-construction Southeast Redmond Station, which will have a 1,400 stall parking garage for commuters (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)

- Wide angle view of the forthcoming Southeast Redmond Station (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)

- The parking garage at the future Southeast Redmond Station takes shape next to State Route 520 (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)
Click any of the images above to launch the lightbox for a better view
The station is being built across from the complex that presently houses Blazing Bagels’ Intergalactic Headquarters and Newport Custom Shutters.
“The efficient footprint of the station allows for a significant portion of the site to be used for transit-oriented development,” contractor Hewitt says.
“Specifically located between the highway and future transit oriented development, the parking garage acts as a buffer to mitigate traffic noise, become a visual barrier to [State Route] 520, and help achieve a more pleasant pedestrian experience in the neighborhood. The trainway itself passes under the garage. This reduces patron travel distance for those arriving to the station by bus and by car, aiding in making transit a more attractive option for the neighborhood.”
“The station design focuses on providing a comfortable and safe experience for patrons. Pedestrian safety is emphasized by providing an option for grade-separated access from the parking garage to the station platform.”
“Ample weather protection has been provided for patrons waiting for buses and paratransit, and the station is designed to maximize views to the adjacent Marymoor Park for patrons awaiting the arrival of their train.”
Here’s a bonus image:

New housing under construction across from the forthcoming Southeast Redmond Station (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)
Downtown Redmond Station
This station will be the eastern terminus of Line 2 when it opens in 2024. It is an aerial station, suspended above NE 166th between Redmond Town Center and Cleveland Street in Redmond’s commercial core.

- This view of the Downtown Redmond Station shows Redmond Town Center and apartment buildings along Cleveland Street in the background. Cleveland Street is in the foreground and the station girders are in the middle of the image. (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)

- The Downtown Redmond Station is being built in between Redmond Town Center and Cleveland Street in the city’s commercial core (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)

- The Downtown Redmond Station taking shape at the end of October 2021, showing the construction crane located next to NE 166th Avenue (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)

- Construction on the Downtown Redmond Station, as seen from the 164th Avenue end of the site (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)
Click any of the images above to launch the lightbox for a better view
By choosing an aerial alignment for Downtown Redmond, Sound Transit and the City of Redmond ensured that there would be no at-grade crossings near the line’s terminus, which will create a safer experience for everyone.
The trip from downtown Redmond to downtown Bellevue on Link will take just seventeen minutes, very similar to travel time by car, and less than half the time it takes to get between the two downtown on Metro’s RapidRide Line B.
This station will be within walking distance of NPI’s headquarters in downtown Redmond at NE 83rd Street and 164th Avenue, as well as the Leary Way historic district, Redmond Town Center, and the Sammamish River Trail. The Redmond Central Connector trail will be adjacent to the new station, providing direct access to the Sammamish River Trail plus the East Lake Sammamish Trail.
“The Downtown Redmond station entrances, enclosed in glass, act as beacons to the neighborhood welcoming patrons to the station and connecting riders to Bellevue, Seattle, and beyond,” Hewitt says.
“A large plaza has been created at the west station entrance, providing a future gathering space for the city and community. This civic gathering space includes an integrated art program to liven up the plaza.”
“Community charrettes were critical to ensuring that all voices were heard during the early design and planning process,” the firm adds.
“The interaction between all modes of travel was a priority in the discussion between stakeholders, and resulted in a well-orchestrated plan for bus circulation, station access, bicycle and pedestrian circulation.”
Here’s a bonus image:

View to the east of where the initial girders have been erected, showing the rest of the construction site where the future Downtown Redmond Station is being built (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)
And that does it for this addendum to our East Link aerial tour!
Project safety information
All our flights were conducted in accordance with FAA regulations using registered aircraft at times when construction workers were not present.
Sunday, November 21st, 2021
East Link from the air, part two: Get a bird’s eye view of station construction in Redmond
In 2023, less than two years after the completion and opening of the Northgate Link extension, Sound Transit will inaugurate service to ten new stations serving Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Redmond. The addition of these new stations will be the biggest expansion in the history of the system, dwarfing the number of stations added as part of previous extensions in 2009, 2016, and 2021.
Last month, we took the wraps of a special project documenting these ten new stations from the air. The project, which took months to create, provided a primer on each new station along with eleven galleries of photos. It was so well-received that we decided to do a follow-up this month with two additional galleries of photos depicting construction on two more stations that will open in 2024, the year after East Link comes online, bringing light rail into Downtown Redmond.
The Downtown Redmond extension is actually part of the larger East Link project, but its stations won’t open at the same time that the other East Link stations do because they were funded as part of ST3 in 2016 rather than ST2 in 2008.
Nevertheless, Sound Transit and the City of Redmond had their act together, and cooperated to ensure that design and construction could proceed on the final two stations as soon as funds were available.
That smart thinking allowed the agency to eventually aim for a completion date in 2024 rather than in, say, the 2030s. Redmond’s two easternmost stations will thus be part of the very first wave of ST3 projects to be completed.
Construction on the Downtown Redmond extension is now happening in tandem with construction on the more westerly tracks and stations — it’s just not as far along due to having started later. (The groundbreaking was in 2019.)
So while there aren’t any station platforms to look at yet, we can show you some pretty cool structures rising from the ground here in NPI’s hometown!
When finished, the East Link extension, officially known as Line 2, will consist of twelve stations that are located to the east of the mainline running north/south:
To see the photo galleries for the first ten stations, along with bonus photos for the Operations & Maintenance Facility East, follow this link. Do that first before you read on if you haven’t seen those images yet. Then, come back here and resume your tour. If you’ve already seen the photos published in Part I, then it’s our pleasure to be able to say welcome back to the tour!
We’ll pick up where the previous post left off: in Microsoft-Land, the part of Redmond that is home to the main Microsoft campus. The Redmond Technology Station will, until the Downtown Redmond extension opens, be the eastern terminus of Line 2. But already, Sound Transit’s contractors are preparing the right of way for the tracks that will allow trains to go into the heart of Redmond.
After leaving Redmond Technology, trains will travel east alongside State Route 520, passing underneath the interchange with 51st Avenue and over the exit ramp to West Lake Sammamish Parkway. After crossing the Sammamish River, trains will travel next to Marymoor Park until they arrive at their next stop.
Southeast Redmond Station
This surface level station will be located next to the Redmond Inn at the confluence of State Route 520 and Redmond Way in the city’s southeastern sector. It will have a large 1,400 stall parking garage for commuters who live on the Sammamish Plateau and in Redmond’s northern residential neighborhoods.
Click any of the images above to launch the lightbox for a better view
The station is being built across from the complex that presently houses Blazing Bagels’ Intergalactic Headquarters and Newport Custom Shutters.
“The efficient footprint of the station allows for a significant portion of the site to be used for transit-oriented development,” contractor Hewitt says.
“Specifically located between the highway and future transit oriented development, the parking garage acts as a buffer to mitigate traffic noise, become a visual barrier to [State Route] 520, and help achieve a more pleasant pedestrian experience in the neighborhood. The trainway itself passes under the garage. This reduces patron travel distance for those arriving to the station by bus and by car, aiding in making transit a more attractive option for the neighborhood.”
“The station design focuses on providing a comfortable and safe experience for patrons. Pedestrian safety is emphasized by providing an option for grade-separated access from the parking garage to the station platform.”
“Ample weather protection has been provided for patrons waiting for buses and paratransit, and the station is designed to maximize views to the adjacent Marymoor Park for patrons awaiting the arrival of their train.”
Here’s a bonus image:
New housing under construction across from the forthcoming Southeast Redmond Station (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)
Downtown Redmond Station
This station will be the eastern terminus of Line 2 when it opens in 2024. It is an aerial station, suspended above NE 166th between Redmond Town Center and Cleveland Street in Redmond’s commercial core.
Click any of the images above to launch the lightbox for a better view
By choosing an aerial alignment for Downtown Redmond, Sound Transit and the City of Redmond ensured that there would be no at-grade crossings near the line’s terminus, which will create a safer experience for everyone.
The trip from downtown Redmond to downtown Bellevue on Link will take just seventeen minutes, very similar to travel time by car, and less than half the time it takes to get between the two downtown on Metro’s RapidRide Line B.
This station will be within walking distance of NPI’s headquarters in downtown Redmond at NE 83rd Street and 164th Avenue, as well as the Leary Way historic district, Redmond Town Center, and the Sammamish River Trail. The Redmond Central Connector trail will be adjacent to the new station, providing direct access to the Sammamish River Trail plus the East Lake Sammamish Trail.
“The Downtown Redmond station entrances, enclosed in glass, act as beacons to the neighborhood welcoming patrons to the station and connecting riders to Bellevue, Seattle, and beyond,” Hewitt says.
“A large plaza has been created at the west station entrance, providing a future gathering space for the city and community. This civic gathering space includes an integrated art program to liven up the plaza.”
“Community charrettes were critical to ensuring that all voices were heard during the early design and planning process,” the firm adds.
“The interaction between all modes of travel was a priority in the discussion between stakeholders, and resulted in a well-orchestrated plan for bus circulation, station access, bicycle and pedestrian circulation.”
Here’s a bonus image:
View to the east of where the initial girders have been erected, showing the rest of the construction site where the future Downtown Redmond Station is being built (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)
And that does it for this addendum to our East Link aerial tour!
Project safety information
All our flights were conducted in accordance with FAA regulations using registered aircraft at times when construction workers were not present.
# Written by Andrew Villeneuve :: 3:06 PM
Categories: Policy Topics, Public Planning, Series & Special Reports
Tags: East Link From The Air, Transportation
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