The Link light rail is hands down the best way to travel to the Sea-Tac International Airport ... until you hit the last quarter-mile, which requires a sprint through a cold, blustery, odorous, parking garage. And that journey only begins after you've decided whether to drag your heavy luggage down the long path, or else hazard a wait for a golf cart shuttle that may take forever to come.
Meanwhile, transit use at the airport is dismally low ā only four percent of travelers take the light rail, according to Sea-Tac ā and private vehicle use remains so high that they periodically run out of room at the parking garages, despite having the countryās largest parking structure under a single roof.
So why, after all these years, is the transit experienceās last stretch so unpleasant? And canāt they do anything about it?
Yes, actually, they can. Sea-Tac is planning something big and bold to replace that awful walk.
There have been some minor improvements to the walkway over the years ā a coat of paint here, plexiglass barriers there ā but various structural quirks prevent much more. Because the concrete floors support the structureās weight, you canāt drill into them to install a moving walkway. You canāt elevate a moving walkway because the ceiling is too low. You canāt install heaters because of electrical and emission issues. And you canāt add more walls because of building codes relating to exits and fire suppression.
On top of that, Sea-Tacās transportation contractor canāt hire enough drivers to maintain consistent golf cart rides between the light rail and the terminal. (Theyāre hoping to hire college students to drive the carts this summer.)
So, with the parking garage pretty much unchangeable, what option is left? An entirely new structure.
As part of Sea-Tacās ongoing work with the Sustainable Master Plan, planners envision a whole new building taking the place of the current stop-gap passageway. The proposed new Ground Transportation Center would sit next to the garage, and it would be a clean, safe, comfortable passage between Sound Transit and the terminals.
āThat would mean that you get off light rail and you immediately step inside the airport,ā says Port Commissioner Ryan Calkins, a longtime advocate for more sustainable infrastructure. āIt would be interior, so there would be retail running the length of it, and presumably we could then put in moving walkways.ā
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Donāt get too excited about the plans just yet, though. Itās still just a gleam in the Port of Seattleās eye, and similar improvements have been floated for years with only minor upgrades making it across the finish line. The current proposal consists of a few very preliminary documents and a tantalizing ā but highly speculative ā 3D render.
For now, Calkins says, federal officials are evaluating a draft version of the Sustainable Airport Master Plan, which includes over two dozen other projects. Theyāre hoping for feedback later this year, after which state review can get underway. Like the hike from the station to the terminal, itāll be a long, slow, process ā but hopefully thereāll be something great at the other end.