Sound Transit sticks with South Lake Union light rail plan over Amazon's concerns

Sound Transit's board on Thursday rejected alternatives to a planned South Lake Union light rail station, rebuffing an alternative proposal from Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), Vulcan Real Estate and other businesses to avoid traffic congestion.

The agency stuck with the plan for a station at Seventh Avenue North and Harrison Street, on the east side of Aurora Avenue North. Amazon and Vulcan both endorsed shifting the station west to Fifth Avenue North and Harrison Street, next to the Seattle Center, an idea introduced in December.

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Amazon and the surrounding businesses are mostly concerned about snarling traffic for the projected eight years of construction.

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Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has also expressed his support of the Fifth Avenue station plan but conceded Thursday that he didn't think there was any way to escape "the cost of delay," and therefore wouldn't try to keep the plan alive.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2024/05/24/sound-transit-slu-light-rail-amazon-vulcan.html