Seattle's bleak downtown light-rail stations have nowhere to go but up

[brooklynite]

Mass Transit

Mar. 19—Thousands of passengers who enter the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel learned a while ago to sidestep broken escalators marked by yellow barricades, avoid the fentanyl smokers huddled outside certain entrances and take shallow breaths inside fetid elevators.

They've endured service shutdowns, like the electrical flaw in the emergency ventilation fans Feb. 14 that closed all four downtown stations all day.

On rare occasions, transit users have suffered assaults, the worst a year ago when a random attacker threw a nurse down a staircase at the International District/Chinatown Station. Passengers encounter people in mental health crises, unsure whether to get help or steer clear.

Westlake Station, a central hub where 13,000 riders a day boarded Sound Transit light rail before COVID-19, has lost one-third of its customers. Office vacancies and work-from-home are the main reasons, but officials admit more people would ride if downtown stations were pleasant.

The homelessness/crime issue in downtown Seattle is real, not some fantasy story cooked up by businesses looking to close downtown stores.

[LisaM]

1. The stations are horrible.

Last edited Mon Mar 20, 2023, 01:50 PM - Edit history (2)

They took away my very pleasant commuter bus when they opened our stop.

On a recent trip to the airport, when I was taking my suitcase up the elevator I noticed a puddle of vomit outside. When I got in the elevator, I saw why. A huge pile of fresh human excrement. I nearly vomited myself.

It's very rare to take a trip and not deal with a broken escalator, if not more.

And just last Thursday, I had to stand to the side of a pile of pee in an elevator. I am dealing with sore knees at the moment and I need the elevators and escalators to work.

On top of it all, I saw a sign at the Northgate Station the other day that they were closing the bathrooms for FOUR MONTHS.

And these are just the sanitation issues. The personal safety issues are real, too.

Edited to add that I had an appointment that day the downtown stations closed, and ran late for everything all day because I had to walk (run) from blocks away.