Sat, 17:50: Today was the day! Light Rail “Crosslake Connection,” two new stations FINALLY connecting Seattle across Lake Washington to the 10 “East Link” stations that have been in operation since 2024. But, even though Laney and I explore all the new stations every time there is an extension, we waited on East Link until we could actually get there *from* Seattle.
This is a particularly special one: it’s the first Light Rail track in the world to cross a floating bridge—a huge engineering feat, and the reason the full connection was delayed 2 years, because of all the design and engineering challenges.
We weren’t the only transit nerds on the train today. Among others, we met an adorable young gay couple visiting from Portland where they are MAX Light Rail operators. They came specifically to experience the unprecedented Light Rail over a floating bridge themselves.
(I didn’t get their picture, I probably should have! But it was *super* crowded on almost all the trains today and that made it hard to take pictures, especially of someone right next to me. But they were real, I promise!)
Oh. Also, we brought drinks! Okay Laney just brought water. She doesn’t drink alcohol anymore, so my drink had extra rum in it since now I’m drinking for two!
https://t.co/TclBc964uv