Monorail renovation to ease crowd flow for potential NBA return, major Seattle events

Last edited Tue Nov 26, 2024, 04:47 PM - Edit history (1)

A First Look at Seattle Center Monorail Station’s Planned Access Upgrades

Long-awaited upgrades to the Seattle Monorail‘s outdated Seattle Center Station are moving forward, spurred by a $15 million federal grant for accessibility improvements approved in 2022. The station’s overhaul is a critical step in bringing the station up to basic accessibility standards, but also for accommodating significant crowds of passengers before and after events.

Traffic at the station is expected to grow following a revamp of Memorial Stadium, building on the momentum of an overhauled Climate Pledge Arena and the myriad other event venues at Seattle Center that add significant demand on the 0.9-mile monorail.

The update is badly needed. Seattle Center Station remains much as it did in 1962, with only small tweaks for the modern era. The only Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant way for wheelchair users to access the station is by entering the Seattle Center Armory and using the pedestrian bridge to get to the monorail, and the station platform itself doesn’t have level boarding onto the trains.

In contrast, the Seattle Monorail’s southern terminus in downtown was completely rebuilt with the construction of Westlake Mall in the mid-1980s, and received another revamp in 2020 to better accommodate increased passenger flow, just in time for the line’s 60th anniversary.

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https://www.theurbanist.org/2024/11/25/seattle-center-monorail-station-upgrade/