Next stop Husky Stadium

After years of study, hard work and expense, Sound Transit's light-rail link from downtown has been admitted to the University of Washington campus. This mass-transit matriculation has long been desired, and long been elusive.

University Link will tie together the downtown, Capitol Hill and the University District. The ridership numbers are huge for these three employment, residential and educational centers. The cost for the tunnels that extend the line 3.15 miles northeast is $1.6 billion, which relies on a pending $750 million federal grant. The mood around UW, Sound Transit and King County was almost giddy because the negotiations took at least six years, they were technical, complex and evolving, and they had been stubbornly acrimonious at the beginning.

Early talks focused on putting a light-rail stop roughly where the university eventually built its new law school. From the start, UW fought any Sound Transit presence under, through or around campus that resulted in vibrations and magnetic interference that would compromise scientific research.

The ultimate compromise was a UW station at Husky Stadium, which represents an interim northern terminus until voters approved more dollars. The station works for the campus, UW Medical Center, sports fans and nearby neighbors. In the future, the route would go under campus toward 45th and Brooklyn.

The path is mindful of the work being done in buildings on the surface, and Sound Transit has agreed to state-of-the art construction, maintenance and replacements that respect scientific concerns and sensitivities.

The UW also won on a point for the UW station. This will not be construed as a park-and-ride stop for commuters. Bus and light-rail will match up as a transfer point, but nothing like a Metro Center.

Work on UW station will be ahead of whatever happens to the Highway 520 bridge replacement process, and any 520-related changes to the light-rail work past 60-percent design will be covered by the state.

These are big hurdles and fine points of negotiation for a system that is picking up momentum and hard-fought experience. Someone ought to produce a couple of volumes of lessons learned to shorten the process ahead. New topics for new fights will emerge, but avoid refighting the old ones.