The long awaited Crosslake Connection across Lake Washington is set to quietly transform how visitors experience Seattle and its Eastside neighbors, turning a once traffic choked crossing into one of the easiest ways to reach many of the region’s must see sights.

When the new light rail segment opens for passenger service on March 28, riders will, for the first time, be able to glide by train across the Interstate 90 floating bridge between downtown Seattle, Mercer Island and Bellevue, with fast onward links to neighborhoods stretching from Federal Way to Lynnwood and Redmond.

More News

A Floating Bridge Becomes a Visitor Gateway

The Crosslake Connection is the final piece of Sound Transit’s East Link project and the key that unlocks true regional rail connectivity around central Puget Sound. Running over the I 90 floating bridge, it links the 2 Line to the existing 1 Line at International District/Chinatown Station on the south edge of downtown Seattle. With that junction in place, travelers can move between Seattle’s city center, the Eastside tech hubs, and residential suburbs without ever stepping into a car.

The new segment adds roughly seven miles of track across Lake Washington and introduces two new stations, at Mercer Island and Judkins Park. It also marks a world first in passenger rail engineering: light rail operating on a floating bridge. For visitors, the novelty matters less than the experience. Trains will cross the lake with sweeping views of water, mountains and skyline, turning what used to be a stressed, stop and go highway drive into a seamless, scenic approach to the city.

By completing the voter approved Sound Transit 2 program that dates back to 2008, the Crosslake Connection brings the regional light rail system to more than 63 miles. It effectively stitches together the spine running from Federal Way through SeaTac Airport and downtown Seattle up to Lynnwood with the newer Eastside 2 Line between Bellevue and Redmond, creating a single network that works as much for tourists as it does for commuters.

Faster, More Predictable Trips Between Seattle and the Eastside

From an everyday traveler’s standpoint, the biggest change is time. Once service begins on March 28, trains on the new Crosslake segment are expected to cover the distance between South Bellevue Station and Seattle’s International District/Chinatown Station in about 13 minutes. Even in ideal traffic conditions that trip by car can take considerably longer, and on busy weekends or game days the highway crossing is infamous for bottlenecks.

Service levels have been designed to feel “walk up” for most of the day. On the new stations at Mercer Island and Judkins Park, trains are planned to arrive about every eight minutes during peak periods and every 10 to 15 minutes at other times. Because the 1 Line and 2 Line will share track in the core of the system between Lynnwood and the International District/Chinatown hub, combined service there is expected roughly every four minutes during the busiest parts of the day, dramatically increasing capacity through downtown Seattle.

Operating hours are tailored to both workers and visitors. Sound Transit plans to run trains on the 1 and 2 Lines from around 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and from about 6 a.m. to midnight on Sundays. For early morning flights from Seattle Tacoma International Airport, late night concerts in SoDo, or dinner in Bellevue followed by a show in downtown Seattle, the rail schedule is intended to cover nearly every itinerary without requiring a car or rideshare.

New Stations Open Doors to Must See Neighborhoods

The Crosslake Connection debuts two new stations that, while designed with local commuters in mind, also serve as convenient jumping off points for visitors. Mercer Island Station sits in the median of I 90 just south of the island’s main business district and steps from a busy park and ride. For travelers, it becomes a low stress base for exploring the region, with quick rail access to Seattle and Bellevue and easy walking access to waterfront parks, casual dining and small town style streets.

Judkins Park Station, on the Seattle side of the bridge, drops riders into a historically diverse neighborhood framed by parks, playfields and views toward downtown and the Olympic Mountains. From here, it is a short bike ride or connecting bus trip into the Central District or Capitol Hill, or a brisk walk to the multi use trails that parallel I 90 across the lake. Visitors who want to stretch their legs after a flight can hop off the train, step straight into a green space, and still be minutes from hotels and attractions by rail.

These new stops add to an Eastside 2 Line corridor that already reaches South Bellevue, downtown Bellevue, the Spring District, Overlake, the Microsoft campus, Marymoor Park and downtown Redmond, with additional stations that came online in 2024 and 2025. For sightseers, that means park to park connections from Seattle’s waterfront and stadiums all the way to Redmond’s lakefront and recreation areas, often with less travel time than it previously took simply to cross the bridge by car.

Linking Landmarks: How Tourists Can Use the New Line

The resulting network reshapes the visitor map for greater Seattle. A traveler landing at Seattle Tacoma International Airport can now board the 1 Line at the airport station and ride directly north through SoDo and downtown. At International District/Chinatown Station, they can transfer without leaving the platform to the 2 Line and continue east over Lake Washington, emerging in Bellevue for upscale shopping, dining and art exhibits, or riding farther to Redmond for brewery visits and access to regional trails.

For those focusing on Seattle itself, the Crosslake Connection still matters. Higher train frequencies in the shared core between Lynnwood and the International District/Chinatown area will make it easier to bounce between downtown, Pioneer Square, the stadium district and neighborhoods to the north. With trains arriving about every four minutes at peak times on this stretch, missing one train is less of a setback, which is especially helpful on sold out game days or festival weekends when crowds surge.

Visitors staying on the Eastside gain similar flexibility. A hotel stay in downtown Bellevue or near the Spring District, where new development has clustered around the 2 Line, no longer means committing to highway congestion to see Pike Place Market, the waterfront, or the Seattle Center. Instead, guests can plan a day of sightseeing in Seattle, return to Bellevue for dinner, then head back into the city in the evening for a show, all on a single rail line that crosses the lake with minimal delay.

Accessibility, Affordability and a Smoother Visitor Experience

Sound Transit has emphasized that the Crosslake Connection and associated 2 Line service are designed to be not only frequent but also broadly accessible. All Link light rail stations feature level boarding, elevators or ramps, and tactile guidance where required, making the system usable for travelers with luggage, families with strollers and riders with mobility devices. For out of town guests, that means less wrestling with suitcases on steep bus steps and more straightforward navigation from airport to hotel or neighborhood attractions.

Fares on Link light rail remain flat regardless of distance. Adult riders using standard payment options are charged a single amount per trip, with transfers available between trains and many buses. Income qualified riders using the ORCA LIFT program pay a reduced fare, seniors and riders with disabilities are eligible for discounted rates, and youth 18 and under ride free. While regular visitors may not access all of these programs, groups traveling with teenagers or extended families can take advantage of the cost savings compared with individual taxi or rideshare trips across the lake.

The agency has also kept ticketing options flexible. Casual riders can use ticket vending machines at every station or tap an ORCA card, the region’s reloadable smart fare card used on multiple transit systems. This simplifies moves such as pairing a short light rail journey with a bus ride to a trailhead, museum or ferry terminal without needing separate tickets for each leg of the trip.

Relief for Roads and a Different Way to See the City

For years, the Interstate 90 bridge has been a barometer of regional traffic stress. Congestion often hits in both directions as commuters, freight and visitors crowd the lanes between Seattle and the Eastside. Moving significant numbers of those trips to rail, particularly during peak hours and on weekends with major events, is expected to ease pressure on the bridge and surrounding interchanges, which in turn can improve travel times for those who still need to drive.

For visitors, however, the more immediate impact will be qualitative. The Crosslake Connection offers a perspective on Seattle that is hard to get from a car. Trains crossing the lake travel alongside bike and pedestrian paths on the I 90 span, with broad vistas of Mount Rainier on clear days, the downtown skyline rising to the west and the wooded hills of the Eastside to the east. For many first time visitors, the train ride itself becomes a memorable part of the trip rather than a dead zone between destinations.

The shift from highway driving to rail also encourages a different rhythm of exploration. Travelers can hop off at Judkins Park to spend time in a neighborhood park, then reboard for Chinatown International District’s restaurants and shops, and end the day with a short ride across the lake for an Eastside sunset. Without the need to repark a car at each stop, itineraries can be more spontaneous and less dictated by where garages and surface lots happen to be located.

Local Communities Prepare for a New Flow of Visitors

Communities on both sides of the lake have been preparing for the change in how people will arrive. In Bellevue, the early opening of part of the 2 Line between South Bellevue and Redmond in 2024 already sparked adjustments in bus routes, pedestrian connections and wayfinding. The completion of the Crosslake Connection is expected to increase foot traffic near downtown stations and in the Spring District, where new hotels, apartments and offices cluster close to platforms.

On Mercer Island, where concerns about traffic spillover from the highway have been a point of local debate for years, the station’s park and ride and pedestrian connections are expected to channel more arrivals on foot or by bus and bike rather than in single occupant vehicles. For regional visitors, that translates into easier day trips to island parks, beaches and community events without worrying about limited parking on busy summer days.

Seattle neighborhoods around Judkins Park have similarly been watching the project’s progress. While light rail has long served downtown and the University District, the addition of a station in this part of the city brings rail within walking or biking distance of residents and visitors headed to smaller galleries, neighborhood eateries and community spaces that previously required a transfer by bus or car. Local businesses are already considering how to attract new riders stepping off the train at a stop that, until now, did not exist on the tourist map.

A New Backbone for Future Exploration

The opening of the Crosslake Connection on March 28 is one milestone in a broader series of expansions that will continue through this decade, including future lines toward West Seattle, Ballard, Tacoma and Everett. For the traveling public, however, this particular link across Lake Washington may be the one that most tangibly changes how the region feels and functions as a destination.

By tying together the airport, downtown Seattle, the stadiums, cultural districts, residential neighborhoods and the Eastside’s business and leisure hubs, the 1 and 2 Lines now offer a backbone on which almost any itinerary can be built. Whether a visitor is coming to watch a match, tour a corporate campus, hike in nearby parks or simply sample coffee and seafood along the waterfront, the new cross lake connection turns what used to be a logistical puzzle into an integrated rail journey that invites exploration at every stop.