SEATTLE, WA — The initial segment of Sound Transit’s 2 Line has begun operations, the product of more than a decade of work to improve transit connections between Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Redmond. The Bellevue-Redmond segment of the $3.7 billion project, also known as the East Link Extension, opened with trains that run every 10 minutes at eight stations. The remainder of the 2 Line is expected to open next year.

The completed 14-mile East Link light rail line will connect the populous Eastside communities across Lake Washington from downtown Seattle. HDR performed extensive construction management services for the Bellevue segment of the line and six of the line’s stations, providing the resident engineer and key management staff. The line travels through a dense urban environment, including a half-mile tunnel through downtown Bellevue.

HDR’s construction management team assisted Sound Transit from procurement through completion, including project oversight, constructability reviews, environmental monitoring, scheduling, field inspections, independent cost estimating, and more. HDR was able to tap into specialty expertise locally and nationally to solve complex building electrical, vertical transportation, tunnel ventilation, and more technical challenges along the way.

“We’ve been working toward this moment for eight years, and it’s great to see trains full of passengers making the most of this new mobility option,” said Transit Construction Manager Justin Garrod, who led HDR’s work on the rail line. “I’m proud of the tools and specialized expertise we applied during construction like the use of building information modeling. In collaboration with our contractors and engineer of record, BIM proved to be extremely beneficial and efficient during design clarification and clash detection with different packages. Our team worked hard to build a collaborative spirit that prioritized problem solving and risk management and that helped keep everyone focused on the right things.”

The core project team was co-located with Sound Transit for much of the project, ensuring close communication and quick response. HDR’s global network of professionals provided additional specialized expertise in project controls, geographic information systems, and right of way. Over the course of the project, HDR’s team included more than 100 professionals in 13 states.

“Congratulations to Sound Transit on the opening of this community-changing project,” HDR Transit Director Matt Tucker said. “We’ve been honored to be a part of the effort and look forward to watching as it supports critical connections and opens new opportunities for the Seattle region.”