advertisement

---

Sound Transit officials recently chose a preferred route to extend light-rail service north of downtown Seattle.

The North Link route will connect downtown Seattle and Northgate, Wash., with stops in First Hill, Capitol Hill and the University District. The route is expected to increase daily ridership of the entire light-rail system to 160,000 passengers. After the board approves the route next month, Sound Transit will begin the project’s engineering phase.

The agency probably will continue to extend its light-rail system — routes currently in service are exceeding ridership projections. Operating between Tacoma Dome Station at Freighthouse Square and Tacoma Dome Station, the 1.6-mile Tacoma Link route recently carried its 500,000th passenger since opening last August. The line carries about 2,320 weekday passengers, already exceeding 2010 projections.