A Subway to the U-District

The Feds just approved $88 million for the “U-Link” section of Sound Transit light rail, which will connect downtown with the U-district, via one station on Capitol Hill at Broadway and John. Word: It will be a three-minute subway ride from Capitol Hill to the U-district. More details over at Seattle Transit Blog here and here.

As shown above, the Broadway station is going to obliterate large swaths of buildings. But the station will be almost entirely underground, which means we can expect a big pile of new buildings aboveground on these sites. The character of the new buildings will define the character of the heart of Capitol Hill for decades to come. Station plans were shown (2.5 mb pdf) at a public meeting last September, but nothing yet on the buildings.