The Capitol Hill station is an underground facility that includes three station entrances at street level:

• North entrance on the east side of Broadway at the corner of East John Street
• West entrance on the west side of Broadway just south of East Denny Way 
• South entrance at the corner of East Denny Way and Nagle Place

Click here for the site plan.  Click here for the mezzanine plan.

Design drawings:

• North entrance exterior
• North entrance interior
• South entrance
• West entrance
• Cross section
• Cut-away
• Platform level

Mode: Link

Service begins: Expected 2016

Rider projection: By 2030, 14,000 riders will board daily at Capitol Hill Station

Phase: Construction

Fact: During demolition 2,890 tons of bricks, wood, metal and other building materials were recycled instead of going into a landfill

Sound Transit is in the process building the University Link light rail extension, including Capitol Hill Station. Work has included: excavating the site for the underground light rail station and digging the tunnels between Capitol Hill and Pine Street with tunnel boring machines. A few major tasks are highlighted below:

Phase I: Demolition and environmental remediation

Completed in summer 2009

Construction started on Capitol Hill in February 2009 with the demolition and environmental clean-up of the site. This part of the project included: removing hazardous materials from buildings, clearing trees, demolishing and removing existing buildings.

Salvage and recycling have been a very important part of Sound Transit's work at the Capitol Hill Station site. During demolition the contractor recycled 2,890 tons of bricks, wood, metal and other building materials from Capitol Hill that would otherwise have gone to the landfill. To learn more about the salvage efforts at Capitol Hill, view our fact sheet.

Phase II: Excavation and tunneling

January 2010 – Early 2013

A portion of Denny Way between Broadway and 10th Avenue is currently closed to traffic while the station is being constructed. The street will re-open around 2015 when construction is complete. 

The construction site is surrounded by wooden walls that ranged from 8 feet high facing Broadway and up to 24 feet high facing 10th Ave. Sound Transit has worked with the community to install temporary public art on the walls.

The first step was to excavate a very large pit that was used to launch the tunnel boring machines, and will eventually hold the underground station. The pit for the Capitol Hill Station is over 400 feet long, 80 feet wide and close to 70 feet deep. At the bottom of the pit is a 10 foot thick concrete slab that serves as the bottom level of the station. 

The same contractor who excavated the station also dug the two tunnels between Capitol Hill and the existing Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. 

Phase II: Station construction

In 2012, construction crews began building the internal structure of the station – floors, stairs, mezzanines, elevators, etc. – and the three above-ground entrances to the station.

An underground pedestrian tunnel will provide direct access from the west entrance (next to Seattle Central Community College) to the mezzanine level of the station. While this tunnel is under construction, a portion of Broadway will be reduced to one lane in either direction, with no on-street parking. Pedestrian tunnel construction will last approximately a year and a half.

The permanent station art will also be installed during this phase of the construction.

Want more detailed tunnel construction info? Check out our tunneling page.

Business mitigation

Sound Transit has worked closely with the Capitol Hill Chamber and business community to develop a specific business mitigation plan and strategy that meet the unique characteristics of the community. The two important elements of the plan are:

• Promoting Capitol Hill as a great place to live, work, dine, shop and visit
• Providing local businesses near or adjacent to the construction site with technical training to assist them in maintaining their customer base during construction

Visit a new community website that is part of this effort: yourcapitolhill.com

For more information please contact: Rossana Garner at 206-689-3373 or via email. 

Temporary art
In order to keep the neighborhood vibrant, active and safe during construction, STart has managed temporary installations during the different phases of the project.

During the property acquisition, vacated Broadway storefronts were kept active through a series of window installations known as STart on Broadway.

In 2009, STart hosted an installation by Dan Corson in the empty lot left by demolition of the buildings. Corson’s “Oscillating Field” was recognized by the Americans for the Arts Public Art Network as one of the best artworks in the nation in 2009.

A series of installations and murals will be placed on the plywood wall surrounding the construction site. The Capitol Hill Wall Project is curated by lead artist DK Pan, who is hosting a blog with all the latest news.

Permanent installations
Mike Ross, Jet Kiss
Ross’ work will be installed on the station platform – a long narrow space with cathedral-like ceilings, and large support beams running the length. Art that can be experienced in parts without full visibility of the whole is required. Ross takes advantage of these challenges by using the space as a canvas on which to paint graceful, uplifting curves. He will take two decommissioned jets, deconstruct them and transform them into birds taking flight. Inspired by the mirrored-quality of the platform, he proposed to mirror the birds, almost meeting at the center in to a kiss.

The sculpture explores the tension created by forces that both pull together and push apart, the juxtaposition of nature and powerful technology, as well as adding a counterpoint of color and curvature in a formal and geometric setting.

Ellen Forney
Graphic artist Ellen Forney has proposed two murals of intertwined hands for the north and west entrances of the station. Her designs, particularly the one for the north entrance, mirror some of the same themes of Ross' sculpture: playfulness, ambiguity and a juxtaposition of forces pushing together and pulling apart. The clean graphic quality of Forney's work, in addition to the bold red color she has chosen, allows the mural to become beacons for the entrances to the underground station.

Forney plans to create the murals on site – preserving the artist's hand in the final work.