FOLLOWUP: Terminal 5 railroad ‘quiet zone’ construction finally about to start, SDOT says

More than a year and a half after Terminal 5 started accepting cargo shipments at its first modernized berth, a long-delayed related project is finally starting construction. SDOT sent a notice today announcing that work is expected to start next week for the railroad “Quiet Zone” that once was intended to be in place before the berth opened. (This new announcement is four months after SDOT had last said construction was imminent.) Here’s SDOT’s summary of the “Quiet Zone”:

The project, located along W Marginal Way SW from Chelan Ave SW to SW Dakota St, aims to reduce train horn usage in this area by building a new traffic signal; closing some railroad crossings; and upgrading safety equipment at other railroad crossings. The project will also provide safe and accessible ways for people biking/walking to access destinations near Terminal 5 and will include building a bike/pedestrian mixed use trail along West Marginal Way SW where there is currently no sidewalk.

According to the notice, most work will be done on weekdays, and there will be some “temporary lane closures” on West Marginal, as well as some temporary parking restrictions. SDOT told us back in March that construction would last about a year, and the contractor is Merlino Construction.

5 Replies to "FOLLOWUP: Terminal 5 railroad 'quiet zone' construction finally about to start, SDOT says"

  • WestSeattleBadTakes July 26, 2023 (8:01 pm)

    Wonderful news!

  • Jay July 26, 2023 (9:24 pm)

    Really looking forward to this.

  • Jessica July 27, 2023 (7:53 am)

    It would be nice to have a safer bike route off the island. Maybe to Costco? The current state of things is crazy confusing and hazardous. I wouldn’t bring my kid.

  • tim July 27, 2023 (10:17 am)

    my kids are gonna miss the train horns.  They always signal to the locomotive when driving by.

    • WSB July 27, 2023 (11:10 am)

      This won’t eliminate all train horns – just the ones related to Terminal 5. The traffic for other facilities further south along the Duwamish-paralleling tracks, for example, is not included.

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