Snarled

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Joe Copeland

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Joe Copeland Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Snarled</h1>
                <h2><p>Traffic was so bad yesterday afternoon that ... a Central Link light-rail train heading into Seattle from Sea-Tac Airport couldn't get through the downtown bus and rail tunnel. At least that's what passengers coming into the city on a Sound Transit train about 4:20 p.m.</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/joe-copeland-crosscut-com/">Joe Copeland</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>Traffic was so bad yesterday afternoon that ... a Central Link light-rail train heading into Seattle from Sea-Tac Airport couldn't get through the downtown bus and rail tunnel. At least that's what passengers coming into the city on a Sound Transit train about 4:20 p.m. were told by an operator, who ordered them off at the Stadium stop near Safeco Field so the train could head back to Sea-Tac.<br><br>So, when the traffic gets bad, transit — the responsible choice to make traffic more manageable — just shuts down and kicks you off?  Sound Transit explains that's not really the case, saying that the problem yesterday wasn't congestion, and the situation wasn't adequately communicated to passengers. Bruce Gray, an ST spokesman, explained that a serious medical emergency on a bus in the tunnel led to a shutdown of northbound tunnel traffic. As a rule, Gray wrote, "Trains should never be turned back because of congestion." So, traffic was awful, but not so awful that our public transit system just gave up. — J.C. <br><br></p>
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Traffic was so bad yesterday afternoon that ... a Central Link light-rail train heading into Seattle from Sea-Tac Airport couldn't get through the downtown bus and rail tunnel. At least that's what passengers coming into the city on a Sound Transit train about 4:20 p.m. were told by an operator, who ordered them off at the Stadium stop near Safeco Field so the train could head back to Sea-Tac.

So, when the traffic gets bad, transit — the responsible choice to make traffic more manageable — just shuts down and kicks you off? Sound Transit explains that's not really the case, saying that the problem yesterday wasn't congestion, and the situation wasn't adequately communicated to passengers. Bruce Gray, an ST spokesman, explained that a serious medical emergency on a bus in the tunnel led to a shutdown of northbound tunnel traffic. As a rule, Gray wrote, "Trains should never be turned back because of congestion." So, traffic was awful, but not so awful that our public transit system just gave up. — J.C.

Joe Copeland

By Joe Copeland

Joe Copeland is the former senior editor&nbsp;for Crosscut, where he has been an editor since 2010. Before that, he was an editorial writer and columnist for the Seattle P-I and editorial page edi

Joe Copeland is the former senior editor&nbsp;for Crosscut, where he has been an editor since 2010. Before that, he was an editorial writer and columnist for the Seattle P-I and editorial page edi