"Whenever I take the light rail, north or south, the fact that I'll be able to just walk quickly to the station, or take a 77 bus for a couple minutes, to get on the train, is a huge plus for me." Daigoro Toyama, president of the Pinehurst Community Council, said that to the Seattle Times the morning Pinehurst Station opened.
Toyama lives on the walking side of that sentence. Lake City is on the Route 77 side. The new station sits at NE 130th Street and 5th Avenue NE, west of Lake City Way. To reach it, you take a bus along a NE 125th and 130th corridor that SDOT still lists as an active work zone. This October, both are true in Lake City at once. Light rail is closer than it has ever been, and the street that leads to it is still torn up.
Lake City's connection to the train is a bus route
Pinehurst opened Wednesday, September 30, after a ribbon cutting the day before. It is Sound Transit's first infill station, meaning a stop added to a line already in service. It opened five years ahead of its original 2031 target, with 1 and 2 Line trains arriving every 4 to 5 minutes. According to the Seattle Times, the $240 million station is the system's 39th stop and its last new one until at least 2031.
King County Metro set up Lake City's connection a month before the trains. The August 29 service change created Route 77, which links Lake City Way to the station. Its stops are directly across from the station on NE 130th Street and 5th Avenue NE. Yingying Huang Fernandes, a lead service planner at Metro, told the Seattle Times that a trip from Aurora Avenue to Lake City Way now takes about 17 minutes on the 77. The old trip took more than 45 minutes, because riders had to go to Northgate and transfer back northeast.
The same service change rebuilt the two routes Lake City already used. Funding from the 2020 Seattle Transit Measure puts the 72 on a 10-minute schedule and the 75 and 77 on 15-minute schedules, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Evening service on the 77 runs less often than that. Each route works differently for Lake City:
- Route 77 is the direct connection, running from Lake City Way to the stops facing the station.
- Route 72 runs between Shoreline South/148th, Lake City and the University District. Its Lake City stop is at Lake City Way NE and NE 130th Street.
- Route 75 connects Northgate, Lake City, Sand Point and the University District. Its closest Pinehurst stop is at 5th Avenue NE and NE 123rd Street, about three blocks south of the station.
Once you're on the platform, published ride times look like this:
| From Pinehurst Station to | Published ride time | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Northgate | About 2.5 minutes | USA Today, Oct. 1, 2026 |
| University District | About 9 minutes | Seattle Times, Sept. 30, 2026 |
| Lynnwood | 12 to 13 minutes | USA Today, Oct. 1, 2026 |
| Westlake / downtown | 15 to 19 minutes | Sound Transit; Seattle Times |
The downtown number isn't settled. Sound Transit's project page says 15 minutes to Westlake, while the Seattle Times and USA Today both put it near 19. Until you've timed it yourself, plan around the longer figure.
There's no garage, so getting there means walking, biking or a ride
Pinehurst has no parking lot or garage. It has 28 bike rack spaces, 20 on-demand BikeLink lockers and a loop for passenger pickup and drop-off. The Seattle Times counted 30 lockers. SDOT's published figure is 20.
The station's first rider shows why that matters. Anne Kang walked to Pinehurst before the first southbound train left at 5:12 a.m. She told the Seattle Times she can now stop driving to Northgate Station, where she has found the garage 80% full by 6:30 a.m. Supporters quoted in the same article hope people who reach Pinehurst without a car will free up space at the crowded Shoreline South/148th garage.
From Lake City, the planned bike route is a 12-foot shared-use path on NE 130th from 1st to 5th Avenue NE, with protected bike lanes continuing east toward NE 125th and Lake City Way. SDOT still listed that eastern section as under construction in its October 2 update. Treat it as a route in progress rather than a finished one.
The street to the station is still under construction
The NE 130th St & NE 125th St Mobility and Safety Project runs in nine work zones from 1st Avenue NE to 32nd Avenue NE. Work Zone 8 covers NE 125th from 28th to 31st Avenue NE, right where the corridor reaches Lake City. One finished piece is already open. The roundabout at Roosevelt Way NE now takes vehicles from every direction.
Here is the rest of October as SDOT's October 2 update lays it out. Every date is marked "subject to change":
- Through October 7: The north side of 30th Avenue NE and NE 125th Street is closed around the clock. Drivers heading east on NE 125th can't turn left onto Lake City Way. The eastbound detour uses 35th Avenue NE and the westbound detour uses 28th Avenue NE.
- From as soon as October 7: The closure moves to the south side of the intersection. To reach businesses on 30th Avenue NE south of the intersection, drivers detour via Lake City Way. Drivers going north on Lake City Way to reach I-5 detour to NE 145th Street.
- From as soon as October 12: The southbound I-5 on-ramp at NE 130th Street closes 24/7 for about 14 days. The detour runs to the on-ramps at NE Northgate Way and Corliss Avenue N, using either Aurora Avenue N or 15th Avenue NE/Pinehurst Way NE.
Bus stops along the corridor are also shifting. The eastbound stop at NE 125th and Lake City Way, #9670, is closed until further notice. The westbound stop at NE 125th and 30th Avenue NE, #35230, has moved until further notice. The westbound stop at NE 125th and 15th Avenue NE, #35270, closes October 5 through November 2. Crews generally work weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Saturday market sits at the edge of Work Zone 8
The Lake City Farmers Market switched seasons at the same time the station opened. Its summer run was Thursdays from 3 to 7 p.m., June 4 through September 24. The fall and holiday season runs Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., October 3 through December 19, at NE 125th Street and 28th Avenue NE. That corner, next to Lake City Library, is the western edge of the stretch where SDOT is pouring concrete and installing protected bike lanes this month. The Lake City Community Council held a ribbon cutting for the new season at the library on October 3. Weekday crew hours mean Saturday shoppers shouldn't run into active work, but the detours and closed stops listed above still apply on market days.
Reuse Commons Lake City is another stop added to the neighborhood this year. It opened July 14 in the former Aurora Rents building, a long-vacant 7,000-square-foot space. It's a one-year pilot supported by Seattle Public Utilities, the Office of Economic Development's Seattle Restored program and the Lake City Business Alliance. Inside are Salvation Art Collective, Redyoos and Furniture Repair Bank, offering used tools, bikes and household goods, repairs for clothing and appliances, tool lending, and workshops on home maintenance, sewing and gardening. If you have a broken lamp, it can come along on a Saturday market trip.
Two October dates where neighbors can weigh in on the streets
Most of what's changing on NE 125th was designed before the station opened. Seattle is now asking about the next round. SDOT's Lake City Low Pollution Neighborhood open house runs Tuesday, October 13, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Elliott Bay Brewing. It's collecting input on street greening, crossings and walking and biking connections. This is still planning, and no construction is attached to it yet.
Elliott Bay Brewing is also the starting point for "Best Day Ever in Lake City" on October 24, a free day of neighborhood activities and local food from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Space is limited and registration is required, per the Seattle Chamber of Connection.
Lake City's own neighborhood projects are on a later timeline
The station arrived five years early. Two projects inside Lake City are still a construction season or two away. The Thornton Creek/Lake City Floodplain Park at 2318 NE 125th Street is in design and permitting, and Seattle Parks' June 2026 update targets construction for 2027 to 2028. Lake City Community Center has been closed since a fire in early 2023, with recreation moved to Virgil Flaim Park, Lake City Mini Park and Albert Davis Park. Its replacement is planned as a street-level center with affordable housing above, and construction is expected to begin in 2027.
For the rest of this year, Lake City has a train nine minutes from the University District, a 77 bus every 15 minutes during the day to reach it, and a farmers market on Saturdays through December 19 at the corner where the construction starts.
If new transit and a changing street grid have you thinking about how your Lake City home fits into your plans, The Christophilis Team knows these North Seattle blocks well, detours included. Schedule a free consultation to talk through your neighborhood goals.
