2 Line Shuttle Buses: No Trains Across Lake Washington

If you are riding Link between Seattle and the Eastside this weekend, plan on a bus for part of the trip. Sound Transit has replaced 2 Line trains with shuttle buses between International District/Chinatown and South Bellevue for scheduled maintenance. The shuttles started Saturday, Nov. 14, and run until the end of service Sunday, Nov. 15.

What is running this weekend

2 Line trains run only on the Eastside, between Downtown Redmond and South Bellevue, every 10 minutes.
Shuttle buses run between South Bellevue and International District/Chinatown about every 10 to 15 minutes, stopping at Mercer Island and Judkins Park along the way.
The 2 Line does not run in Seattle between International District/Chinatown and Lynnwood City Center. Take the 1 Line instead.
1 Line trains run every 8 minutes between Lynnwood City Center and Federal Way Downtown, including the stops through downtown, Capitol Hill, the University District and Northgate.

Where to catch the shuttle

The buses do not stop inside the stations. Sound Transit lists these stops:

Station	Shuttle stop
International District/Chinatown	5th Ave S and S Weller St, for buses toward Bellevue and Redmond
Judkins Park	Rainier Ave S under the I-90 bridge: northbound side toward Seattle, southbound side toward Bellevue and Redmond
Mercer Island	Bay 1 toward Seattle, Bay 2 toward Bellevue and Redmond
South Bellevue	Bay 1 toward Seattle; trains continue east from here

How to plan your trip

From downtown Seattle to Bellevue or Redmond: ride the 1 Line to International District/Chinatown, walk to the shuttle stop at 5th Avenue South and South Weller Street, and take the bus to South Bellevue. There you switch back to a 2 Line train for downtown Bellevue and stations on to Redmond. With two transfers and a bus that runs every 10 to 15 minutes, give yourself extra time, especially if you have a game, a show or a flight to catch.

From the Eastside to Seattle: take the 2 Line to South Bellevue, board the shuttle at Bay 1, and get off at International District/Chinatown. From there the 1 Line takes you north through downtown or south toward the airport.

From the Eastside to the airport: the same route works. Take the shuttle to International District/Chinatown, then a southbound 1 Line train to SeaTac/Airport Station.

Riding only in Seattle, north of downtown? Your trip should feel almost normal. The 1 Line covers every station between Lynnwood and downtown, and it runs every 8 minutes this weekend.

Sunday's forecast from the National Weather Service calls for rain, a high near 55 and south winds gusting as high as 23 mph, so expect to wait for the shuttle in wet weather and dress for it.

Also on the bridge: work to protect fish

The 2 Line's Crosslake Connection runs on the I-90 floating bridge, and Sound Transit posted an update this week on a separate project underneath it. Underwater wires called anode strings hang from the bridge's pontoons and give off a low current to keep them from corroding. In August, the Washington State Department of Transportation alerted Sound Transit to an unusual number of dead fish on the lakebed near some of them, and testing found that strings resting on the lakebed were stunning fish. Crews lifted those strings by Aug. 23.

Now divers are fitting slim mesh cages, each about a foot across, around 13 of the bridge's 136 anode strings. If those 13 work as hoped, Sound Transit says every string will get one. Sound Transit, the state, the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are watching the results with underwater cameras and dive checks. Sound Transit does not tie this weekend's shuttle service to that work; it lists the closure as scheduled maintenance.