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Sound Transit soon will begin tunnel-boring work on the $1.9 billion University Link light-rail project.

Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff joined Sound Transit officials in dedicating the first of three machines that will dig tunnels from the University of Washington (UW) to downtown Seattle, Sound Transit officials said in a prepared statement.

The first machine soon will begin digging underground from UW to Capitol Hill, and the second will dig from Capitol Hill to downtown Seattle.

The University Link project — funded in part by an $813 million federal grant — will extend the region’s first modern light-rail system by three miles and serve an additional 70,000 riders daily, Sound Transit officials said.

“Projects like this one are essential to rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and keeping us moving into the 22nd Century,” Rogoff said.