Bellevue's light rail is rolling. Will a Seattle connection arrive in time for the World Cup?

As Bellevue celebrates its first light rail line this weekend, regional leaders are celebrating, too, but perhaps for different reasons. Sure, opening up new transportation options on the Eastside is a big deal, but also, the new light rail line comes along ahead of a major deadline for the Seattle area — the World Cup in 2026.

“We have got to be ready for 2026," King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci told KUOW's Kim Malcom while standing in the newly opened South Bellevue station.

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"Our goal is to open this entire line in 2025. But at the latest, we have to be ready for 2026. There are so many hotels in east King County that will be full of people coming from all over the world to see the World Cup. We need them to be able to use this amazing, fast, reliable transportation to get there and back. It'll just make that experience so much better."

Light rail opening in Bellevue is a milestone for the region. It's the first time this form of transportation has opened outside of the Seattle line that has been running for years. It will provide a major east-west connection between the region's most populous areas — communities that currently send considerable numbers of car commuters across two Lake Washington bridges. It also marks the first in a handful of new connections for the light rail system in a relatively short period of time.

There is a range of new light rail access coming online in the next couple of years. Trains will start running up to Lynnwood in August 2024, extending rail beyond Seattle's Northgate station. Light rail down to Federal Way is expected in 2026.

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"After this opening, the next one will be to Lynwood, and then to Federal Way," Balducci said. "And I would be excited if I were them because it will be here before you know it."

The extension to Federal Way will add 7.8 miles of rail south of Seattle, and will also activate stations in Kent and Des Moines. The three new stations will have parking to accommodate 3,200 vehicles.

Bellevue's light rail line was originally intended to connect to Seattle, across the floating I-90 bridge. That would connect Bellevue to Mercer Island, and Judkins Park in Seattle. But that portion of the line has been plagued by construction mishaps and delays. Balducci, who sits on the Sound Transit Board's expansion committee, said that they have decided to stay with the current construction contractor to get the job done sooner than later. After that, "we are going to have to work through who's responsible for the workmanship problems, and who pays for which aspects. That will all have to be worked out in a negotiation or ultimately in court."

According to Sound Transit, light rail across Lake Washington is tentatively slated to open in 2025, before the World Cup comes to town.

For now, Bellevue commuters can enjoy light rail from the south end of the city to Redmond's technology neighborhood. Balducci noted that there was a decision made to open this stretch now, and not wait until the full line across the floating bridge to Seattle was complete. This light rail is working, so why wait? Balducci said this move was one of the most popular things she has proposed her entire time in office.

"People love the idea, they are ready to ride," she said. "They've been waiting a long time, and it's very exciting for folks to come and ride it. I see smiles on other people's faces, and they haven't even gotten on board yet."

“I've had a chance to ride it and the thing you notice when you get on this particular (light rail stretch), which goes from South Bellevue to the Microsoft part of Redmond, it goes very smoothly, and very quickly, through a relatively congested part of the region. There's no way you could get from here to there as quickly by any other means, not by car, not on the freeway. This is the fastest way to get from these points to each other.”

KUOW's Dyer Oxley contributed to this article.