Tag / travel

by Adron

Here’s the straight‐up status on Sound Transit’s Link expansion into Redmond

Published April 26, 2025 • by Adron Hall

You’d think after eight years of planning and broken promises we’d be cruising into downtown Redmond and gliding across I-90 into Seattle by now. Instead, we’re stuck in a never-ending limbo of concrete re-works, ribbon-cuttings, and “coming soon” bulletins. Here’s the unvarnished status on both fronts.

1. Rolling Into Redmond: Sort-of — But Not Yet Downtown

The first phase of East Link finally blasted into Redmond Technology Station on April 27, 2024, hauling in a whopping 35,000 riders on day one. That stretch—running between South Bellevue and the Overlake Transit Center site—proved we can build tracks and run trains when we really want to.

But if you live, work, or play in downtown Redmond, you’re still stranded on the bus. The Downtown Redmond Link Extension adds two stations—Marymoor Village (just south of Marymoor Park) and Downtown Redmond (in the retail/core area)—but they won’t swing open until Saturday, May 10, 2025. Expect a 10:30 a.m. ribbon cutting at the new Downtown Redmond Station, with “regular” service kicking in around noon.

Construction kicked off back in October 2019. Crews hustled through track work, systems-integration testing (including late-night “live-wire” trials last fall), and the usual quota of quality-control headaches. Despite Covid slow-downs and a concrete-truck strike pushing timelines, finishing this last half-mile of track is finally in sight—just in time for summer traffic to remind us why we needed rail in the first place.

2. Crossing the Lake: East Link Over I-90 — Still Tethered to Shore

Meanwhile, on the western end of East Link, the segment that actually gets you from Seattle to Bellevue (via Judkins Park and Mercer Island) has been inching along even slower. The bones of the project—10 miles of track, floating-bridge foundations, and two new stations—were supposed to open in 2023. Instead:

  • Live-Wire Testing: Crews energized the overhead wires on the I-90 floating bridge in October 2024, complete with test trains rumbling across the lake under cover of night.
  • Defective Plinths: Remember the concrete “plinths” that cracked under the rails? Fixing those ate up most of 2024. Contractors hit 80% completion on the rebuild back in the summer, but slip-ups and re-inspections kept pushing milestones into late-year.
  • “Late 2025” Launch Window: Officially, Sound Transit has been coy—“expected to open in 2025,” they say. Insider whispers (and Reddit threads) peg it toward the tail end of 2025, but no firm month is on the books yet.

In short, don’t pencil in a commute over I-90 on Link for your Q1 2026 budget forecast. Keep riding the 550 for now and plan on that being the option.

3. Why It Matters—and Why Many Are Still Mad

  • Traffic Toll: Every day we delay rail, thousands of cars clog Bellevue Way, SR 520, and 148th Ave NE. That’s wasted fuel, time, and sanity.
  • Economic Impact: Microsoft, Nintendo, Costco Corporate—many are planting roots on the Eastside. Reliable, frequent rail isn’t a luxury; it’s mandatory infrastructure.
  • Credibility Gap: Voter-approved in 2008, with dozens of delays since, Sound Transit is inching toward a 116-mile system by 2041…if we believe the current schedule.

4. The Bottom Line

Redmond Technology Station: Open since April 27, 2024.

  • Downtown Redmond & Marymoor Village: Opening May 10, 2025 (10:30 a.m. ribbon-cut, noon service).
  • I-90 Floating Bridge to Mercer Island & Seattle: “Late 2025”—no firm date.

Ask yourself: when “late 2025” rolls around, will we finally get the seamless, cross-lake Link service we’ve been promised for the better part of two decades? Or will there be another concrete glitch, another supply chain setback, another “new” delay? Stay tuned—just don’t hold your breath.

by Adron

Beginning The Pittsburgh Adventure!

Back in April I took a trip to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is easily one of the best trips I’ve taken in a few years! Far too many years! Obviously I had to write up the adventure and that dear readers is what you have here, the log of my entire trip to Pittsburgh. I hope you enjoy following along with the adventure!

Along with the trip, which I’ll write details about here on this post and subsequent posts here on Transit Sleuth, another branch of posts will be on Vicious Shred concerning the record shops (Attic Records, etc) and music related peculiarities. So if you’re into the metal, and other varietals of music I partake upon, navigate over to Vicious Shred for a whole host of posts about that.

Day 1 – Departing Seattle via the Empire Builder

Day 1 involved departing Seattle. What did that involve? Well let me tell you!

The very first event involved me biking down from home to downtown Redmond. There I caught the Sound Transit 545 out of Redmond heading to downtown Seattle & King Street Station. The bus arrived timely, I got the bike mounted up and off I went.

Shocker of shocker, as we got into the city there was a back up on 520 coming onto I-5, which is part of traveling on I-5. It’s always been backed up here and likely will always be. If someone is stupid enough to think they’ll resolve this poorly designed mess they don’t understand how cars work – and in that sense I am seriously looking forward to the day I can just on the tram (light rail) Link into the city!

Once I arrived downtown, I didn’t even attempt to ride the 545 all the way across the downtown core. There are two reasons I did got off the bus to travel this last few miles:

  1. The main reason is I like to, as I’ve made it a tradition, to always stop at Monorail Coffee and get a cap before departure. For many – if not most – destinations in the United States it is likely the last time I’ll get a decent cap until returning. The espresso standards in the USA have improved to a degree so it isn’t as frequent I go without as it used to be, but I still don’t trust most cities.
  2. The other reason is I actually like to ride through the city – I love cities, love em’! Some folks don’t get that from me but I see so much more than the mere concrete and fumbling crushed souls of the city and more the wealth generating heartbeat of America that US cities actually are. Albeit they’re severely damaged and have a severe quality of life issue compared to European cities. Largely evident in the vast warped subsidized American socialism experiment gone awry called “the suburbs”. But hey, they’re holding together the country in spite of all that!

Anarchist Jurisdiction

As the “Dear Leader” designated our poor fair destroyed obliterated city of Seattle, it is indeed destroyed y’all! Nobody come to Seattle, look at all that smoke and fire and burning, nobody is left! It’s all zombies and those lost in the riots. /s

Comedy aside, the ride through Seattle was rather pleasant. The roll – emphasis on roll because it takes almost no energy to pedal downhill from Monorail Coffee down to the train station – to King Street Station was smooth and effortless.

King Street Station

I arrived, got my bike tagged for the trip and headed off to the baggage car to hand off my bike. The only two things I brought with me was my Mission Workshop ARKIV Backpack and the bike (bounce back to this post for details on why she’s named “PDX Orange”).

Tragedy Struck!

Chubby DOWN!!! You’ll have to watch the video for that bit of tragedy (time point @ the tragedy), it was already too much to write about the remnants of the destroyed city of Seattle! So with that bit of narration lagniappe, enjoy the video.

My Pittsburgh Adventure day 1 departing Seattle via King Street Station on the Empire Builder!

Day 2 – Eating on the Empire Builder

Day 2 can be summarized as eating day. There isn’t a lot to see or do on day 2, so it’s 3 meals and complete uninterrupted relaxation. In all seriousness it is one of my favorite days of the trip – even with the somewhat boring scenery – because I just do nothing. Maybe read, but mostly just thinking and introspecting against a repeating scenery. With that, I detail some of day 2 via VLOG for you dear reader!

Train Life, Day 2 on the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago, en route to Pittsburgh.

Day 3 – Empire Builder Transfer to Capitol Limited in Chicago

When I got into day 3, Chicago was the central action of the day. I needed to arrive on time or close to on time in order to make my connection to the Capitol Limited. The Capitol Limited route runs from Chicago to Washington DC. It makes a bunch of stops but my stop would be around 5:23am in the morning in Pittsburgh. If I had my preference, I’d have take another train that would have had me arriving in Pittsburgh at a more reasonable hour, but this being America we have a severe lack of transportation options between major cities!

The great thing about – in my humble opinion – coming into Chicago is getting into the urban fabric and watching the urban core and its skyscrapers start to rise out of nothing. If you’re privy, you get to see a lot of history as you roll into the city too. If you find that kind of thing fascinating Chicago is a city worth looking into.

In this episode I wrap up things by showing the path and process – for my brave fellow cyclists out there – of getting your bike stowed in Union Station. If you’re in the sleeper or 1st class like I was, you get to hang out in the awesome lounge at Chicago but you need to stow your bike in the meantime.

Pittsburgh Adventure Day 3 – Part 1 – Arrival in Chicago & wondering around Union Station.

In the 2nd part of day 3, transferring in Chicago I provide a tour of the 1st Class Lounge and then wander aimlessly around Chicago for a short while. Then I show boarding, which is a bit of an adventure in fumbling since I have a bike. Even though this is actually an easy process, you need to stay on top of things in order to make sure the bike does end up where you end up. Follow along in the VLOG to see more of the chaotic fun as I wrap up the Chicago transfer to the Capitol Limited!

Pittsburgh Adventure Day 3 – Part 2 – Transferring in Chicago & wondering outside Union Station.

That’s it for the Empire Builder part of the trip, in my next post I’ll delve into arrival day in Pittsburgh and the ongoing adventures!

by Adron

Traveling Trackball, AKA “GSD Better!”

Recently I purchased a trackball and a hardshell case for that trackball, which I then wrote a review of over yonder “A Review of the MX Ergo Advanced Wireless“. The hardshell case primarily because I displace a lot during the course of the day. Whether traveling far away from home or just within the city in which I live (i.e. Seattle these days, but in the past Portland, Memphis, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Krakow, etc) it’s been very important to have computer gear that holds up well to these movements during the day. Here is a video that details the trackball, hardshell case, and some of the different places I’ve used it since purchase. Below the video I elaborate on two of the scenarios I use these devices.

Trackball Travels

Coffee Shop Cycling Displacements

Often during the day, at least a non-pandemic day, I work coffee shop to coffee shop. Meeting other coders, working alone, or having meetings in person in coffee shops. As I move from coffee shop to coffee shop, sometimes I use transit (bus/train/tram/streetcar/etc) but more often I bike from shop to shop. During these displacements computer gear can get banged up heavily. That’s where the hardshell case for the trackball is hugely important!

Here are some detailed “product” shots from Amazon/co2CREA, and the link itself to the product if you want to pick it up.

The Hardshell Case from co2CREA

While cycling all sorts of things can happen. I could biff it (i.e. *wreck*) on my pack (i.e. messenger bag, or backpack) and things are safe from direct impact in there, but can still be squished. I could toss my bag down or set it somewhere and it gets kicked, hit, or falls. The number of impact scenarios are numerous. But it doesn’t stop there while out cycling, since most of my packs are waterproof it’s nice to have individual elements packed in water resistant packages for when I pull them out of their pack. You get the idea, there’s a lot of potential oops scenarios, and for maximum gear lifespan it’s best to keep them safe.

Railroading Baggage Pannier Packing Style

Alright, using panniers for bike and train combo trips is another one of my specialties. I take a lot of train trips. Sometimes I ride coach, sometimes I get a roomette or bedroom, and on some trains I may end up standing. Whatever the case, traveling means luggage of some sort and luggage gets banged around. Again I’ve got my packs, but also in this scenario I routinely use my panniers. The combination is great as the survivability of devices – Apple Laptop + hardshell case for pointing device plus tough packs with panniers holding the remainder of things means surviving insane things like train wrecks (i.e. my experience of the train wreck of 501), or just regular travel trips like my trips to San Francisco for QCon, or my trip to Olympia, Washington to speak at a users’ group.

In summary, if you want to enjoy the bikey life combo powered with the rail life and keep your gear intact, it’s a good idea to pick up a hardshell case.

by Adron

Back to the Cascades

Today I jumped aboard King County Metro Bus #26 headed south bound through downtown Seattle to King Street Station.  At this time of the morning, 6:19am, the streets are tranquil and oddly lit with the night lights.  As the bus pulls up at 6:29am, 7 minutes late with 6 passengers on board, I swipe my ORCA card to pay the fare and take a seat toward the back.

The bus rolls through the wet from rain streets.  The street and building lights glaring like golden decorations all along.  Barely a soul moves, except for the rare early riser and oddball bum or transient.  A person walking down one street howls some nonsense, as his sanity cracks.  The sky is overcast gray, one can tell even with darkness still caressing the early morning.

I get off the bus in the old town Pioneer Square are one block north of King Street Station.  I’m now running pretty late compared to my intended arrival time.  I’m glad I decided to get the bus just before the one that would theoretically get me to the station on time.  So now instead of early I’m just barely on time.  I make no dally and attain my tickets from the ticket clerk and stand in the line to get a seat assignment.

After standing in the line of the century old process of seat assignments, I text my lady after realizing I failed to provide a wake up call.  She’s forgiving thankfully and wishes me a good trip.  I bid a good day to her.

With a steady walk I roll the dice to get a good cappuccino and croissant from Zeitgeist 2 blocks from the station.  I arrive, as always when they’ve just opened there are only a few people inside and nobody is in line.  I walk right up and order.  A few minutes later the candid young lady working provides me a cap and ham and cheese croissant.  I’m set, and back to the station I go.

As I walk into the station I literally beeline straight through and onto the train.  Again, dice rolled and perfection in timing.  I’ve made the train with a decent bit of quality food and drink for the trip.  I sit down in car 8, seat 15, and sip on my cap and nibble a bit on the croissant.  The coffee is delicious, an absolutely spectacular brew.  The croissant has an elegant, light suppleness to it.  With an almost sweet aftertaste, a perfect complement to the cappuccino.

We depart perfectly on time at 7:30am.  The flanged wheel is again moving me in luxury to my destination.  The plush leather chair, not even business class but mere simple peasant class, comforts me as the breaking night gives way to the sun that can’t be seen.  The train is a perfect temperature today, people being quite at this time of the morning.  I lean back knowing that the last decade of my life, ridding myself of automobile, putting myself into walkable communities, and throwing the suburban nonsense into the trash has been the right decision.  This ease, simple and elegant, down to earth and real, sustainable in so many ways, tasteful and subtle just brings a smile as we roll smoothly on through southern Seattle.

Every few minutes though, when leaving Tacoma and Olympia we go through the desolate and lifeless suburbia where mediocrity screams out as the leading mindset.  Not a soul risen or working toward a goal.  Providing souls for urban jobs and imitation of the rural life.  However leaching off the wealth of the urban life and mocking the rural life, it holds no place anymore with the death knell of the cold war.  It just drags upon American society with vast auto dependency and no real war survival need.  Having bred cursed mentalities of land entitlement and assumed rights to jobs – suburbia is an odd and crass place.  But I digress, the beauty of the rural land surpasses the suburban ideas that frustrate me at the moment.

About 30 minutes out of Tacoma we roll through the beautiful nature, disturbing barely a soul as we traverse the country side.  The trees along both sides of the tracks break the frequent farms and fields.  Green is intense with a speckle of orange and yellow leaves among the trees.  The rural residences of the red counties caressing the land to feed the blue counties full or urban people.  The parallels of America that make this country; urban and rural landscapes.

With these thoughts of the beauty of rail travel, I bid this entry fini.