Sound Transit shows off nearly complete Roosevelt light-rail station — and its heavy-duty escalators

Sound Transit’s Roosevelt Station is taking shape as the agency prepares for light-rail trains to pass through the new underground stop starting in September 2021.

Sound Transit offered a media tour of the station Tuesday, showing off escalators they say are heavier duty than those in existing stations as well as stairs that take riders all the way to the platform to catch their train.

Sound Transit’s light-rail stations have been plagued with escalator breakdowns, including at the University of Washington Station, where escalator failures last year led to riders waiting 45 minutes to use elevators.

Traffic Lab is a Seattle Times project that digs into the region’s transportation issues to explore the policies and politics that determine how we get around and how billions of dollars in public money are spent.

The Roosevelt Station is about 70 feet deep at one end and 90 feet deep at the other. Affordable housing and a public plaza are planned for the ground level. One entrance to the station includes the original sign from the Standard Radio building, which previously occupied the site.

The station is part of the northward expansion of the current light-rail line and will link up with a station in Northgate and a second University District station.

The tour came as Sound Transit faces funding uncertainty for future projects in light of the passage of Initiative 976. The initiative would eliminate or lower car-tab taxes the agency uses to fund light-rail construction, but is currently on hold amid a legal fight.

Sound Transit, which is not part of the current lawsuit, says it will continue collecting those taxes because it has already issued bonds to be paid back with that money.

This article has been updated to correct the year of an escalator failure at the University of Washington Station.