Everett, Wash. – The first phase of construction on Community Transit’s Swift Green Line is taking place this week as contractors begin work on the Seaway Transit Center across from the main gate to the Boeing Everett plant.
When the transit center opens in mid-to-late 2018, it will serve as a hub for Paine Field-area bus service. The facility will also be the northern terminal for the Swift Green Line when it begins operation in early 2019.
The Swift Green Line will connect the Boeing/Paine Field aerospace manufacturing area in Everett with the Canyon Park technology center in Bothell. With fewer stops and buses every 10 minutes, the Swift Green Line will provide an incentive for workers and shoppers in Bothell, Mill Creek, and south Everett to choose transit instead of driving their cars.
Transit center construction is set to begin this week with the installation of safety fencing around the property, initial ground clearing, and preparation. Excavation on the site will begin in the next 2-3 weeks to build a stormwater retention vault. Contractors will also begin work to widen and add turn lanes on 75th Street SW at the transit center and nearby Snohomish PUD substation.
Interwest Construction of Burlington received the contract to build the transit center.
“After a couple of years of planning for the Swift Green Line, now is when we start to turn dirt on the project,” said Community Transit CEO Emmett Heath. “Fencing will go up, signs will be placed and people will see that the investment in this line has begun.”
The $11 million Seaway Transit Center project is fully funded by a $6.8 million Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Regional Mobility Grant, $2.9 million in federal funding, and $1.7 million in Community Transit funding. This week, Congress is expected to pass a 2017 federal budget that will include funding to complete the remainder of the Swift Green Line project.
When fully operational, the Seaway Transit Center:
To receive updates on the Swift Green Line project via text or email, subscribe at www.communitytransit.org/subscribe.
Community Transit is responsible for providing bus and paratransit service, vanpool, and alternative commute options in Snohomish County. The agency is building a network of Swift bus rapid transit lines with Swift Blue Line along Highway 99 and the Swift Green Line between Canyon Park/Bothell and Boeing/Paine Field coming in 2019.