Light rail to run extra hour on New Year's Eve

Sound Transit light rail will run an extra hour on New Year's Eve, to help people return home from midnight revelry.

Trains will leave Westlake Station southbound at 12:44 a.m., 12:54 a.m., 1:09 a.m., 1:24 a.m., and 1:39 a.m. They travel 16 miles, through downtown and Rainier Valley to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, in 36 minutes. (Normally, the train line shuts down by 1 a.m.)

The four Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel stops will be open late. However, bus schedules do not change and there will be no tunnel buses after 1 a.m.

The Seattle Center Monorail to Westlake Center, above the transit tunnel, will run until 1 a.m.

Meanwhile, a few Seattle streets will close:

• At Seattle Center, portions of Fifth Avenue North and Broad Streets are shut down from 11:45 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., because of crowds watching fireworks at the Space Needle. About 10,000 people are expected to attend.

• On Capitol Hill, 11th Avenue is closed from East Union Street to East Pike Street from 6 a.m. Wednesday until 10 a.m. on New Year's Day, to make room for the Wildrose Bar's 25th anniversary party and beer garden.