Malfunction closes downtown transit tunnel

The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel closed during the height of rush hour Thursday, forcing thousands of people to change their commutes.

No announcement had been made as of 10 p.m. about whether service will resume Friday morning.

Riders adapted calmly, either by catching buses on Third Avenue, taking a special shuttle bus to the Stadium light-rail station or hailing a cab.

The tunnel was closed because a computer malfunction disrupted the electronic systems that control ventilation, fire alarms and signals for buses and trains, which share the tunnel.

The malfunction was reported at 5:21 p.m., said Bruce Gray, a spokesman for Sound Transit who added that an earlier rider alert incorrectly stated that the entire Link rail line was shut down.

Sound Transit's light-rail trains continue to operate from Stadium Station to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

A special Number 97 bus and other street-level buses are taking people through downtown.

Some riders, such as Luanne Coachman, took a trolley bus to meet the train at Mount Baker Station, on her way to the Tukwila International Boulevard park-and-ride.

She expected the tunnel shutdown to add up to an hour to her commute.

Compounding the frustration, an inbound train unloaded about 35 passengers at Mount Baker Station because that train was going back to the maintenance base for the night, its everyday routine.

"Of all the nights for me to try the light rail!" bemoaned Susan Shisler, heading in from the airport after picking up her 14-year-old daughter.

She had left work downtown at 4:30 p.m., then was caught in a 15-minute delay under Beacon Hill.

Returning to Seattle, they were forced off the train at Mount Baker, where, Shisler said, she would have to find a bus at Stadium Station, then finally catch a ferry.

Confused riders at the Mount Baker platform found out about the tunnel closure from a train operator via intercom.

Doug Vann, a regular rider, said the transit agencies should provide better direct communication, and more often. Sound Transit and King County Metro created a new job position last week to work on that issue.

At the International District/Chinatown Station, security guards herded bus passengers out of the tunnel through stairs and elevators, around 6 p.m.

As the evening went on, transit police and private security guards greeted riders and helped point them in the right directions at Stadium Station.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com