NE 130th Infill Station

The NE 130th St Infill Station will be under construction through 2026, while the Lynnwood Link Extension began service from Northgate to Lynnwood City Center on Aug. 30, 2024.

The station design reflects the unique identity of this neighborhood as an urban oasis, the community’s desire for a modern design, and pride in the nearby natural resource of Thornton Creek. The design incorporates bright color and art, seating areas, native landscaping, and natural elements such as stormwater retention features and boulders. Renderings of the final station design are included at the top of this section.

The Sound Transit design team incorporated the feedback we received in fall 2020 to the final station design. Community members were asked to share their preferences for color, seating, and bollards. The blue color preferred by the community was used extensively throughout the station finishes, associated specifically with points of vertical circulation (stairs, elevators, and escalators). The seating elements include both weathered boulders that reflect the station design’s recognition of nearby Thornton Creek and shaped concrete benches located throughout the plaza areas. The bollards are made of stainless steel with sloped tops.

130th St Infill Station overview

A new elevated station runs along the west side of 5th Ave NE at NE 130th St and connects riders to bus stops, drop-off areas, and pedestrian and bicycle improvements. A station plaza at the street level welcomes riders with art, landscaping, stairways, and ADA access leading to the train platform.

May 24, 2023

Station design elements

The station design reflects the unique identity of this neighborhood as an urban oasis, the community’s desire for a modern design, and pride in nearby natural resources of Thornton Creek. The design incorporates color and art, seating areas, native landscaping, and natural elements such as boulders.

May 24, 2023

North plaza

The north plaza will feature many pedestrian amenities, access to the north lobby, prominent artwork, and a creative stormwater bioretention feature. *Artwork displayed to show art locations; not final artwork by Romson Bustillo

May 24, 2023

North station lobby and central plaza

The north lobby opens to the central plaza, which provides both passage to the platform level and a public gathering space.

May 24, 2023

South plaza

At the south plaza, visitors enter the station through an open plaza portal to the station lobby. *Artwork displayed to show art locations; not final artwork by Romson Bustillo

May 24, 2023

South station lobby

The south station lobby includes wayfinding and ticketing elements, as well as access to the platform level.

May 24, 2023

Station platform

The station platform provides covered walkways with LED lighting, information kiosks, and a tactile wayfinding path leading to the lobby and plaza levels.

May 24, 2023

North loop drop-off area

Passenger drop-off at the north end of the station provides access for passengers as well as a landscaped bioretention pond for green stormwater management.

May 24, 2023

5th Ave NE drop-off area

A dedicated drop-off for paratransit vehicles provides accessibility to the central plaza, near the elevators and escalators without riders having to cross the street.

May 24, 2023

Public art development

Artwork will span the length of the station, from paint on the guideway column at the south entrance to porcelain enamel panels in and around the stair enclosures both at the north and south ends of the station to porcelain tile applied to the east-facing side of the ancillary wall.

May 24, 2023

Public art development

Selected artist Romson Bustillo participates in a community workshop organized in collaboration with Coyote North and Refugee Artisan Initiative (RAI), one of several community touchpoints used to inform the final elements of his design.

May 24, 2023

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Seattle-based artist Romson Bustillo is developing designs for the station artwork. Bustillo was born on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. His layered works and immersive collaborations go back to his Philippine lineage, his South Seattle/Pacific Northwest upbringing, and numerous research travels. An artist selection panel made up of members from the community and of art/design professionals were drawn to the intricate detail in his prints and his inter-disciplinary studio work and chose Bustillo to create artwork for the NE 130th Station based on his previous work and his vision for the site.

The elevated station made Bustillo think of dwellings on stilts from his birth country, and this reference is one of many in his iconography of patterns that incorporate symbolic elements from his culture, the cultural context of the station and neighborhood, and the people who inhabit it, past and present. Bustillo’s intention is to create an inviting work that conveys an optimistic future, supports storytelling, encourages discovery, and contributes to wayfinding.

At the south entrance, where the majority of passengers will enter the station, painted artwork will turn the guideway column into a landmark that welcomes passengers as they approach the station. Bustillo’s artwork will guide passengers as they enter and exit the station and make their way to the ticket vending machines and the train platforms. His designs will be translated into richly colored porcelain-enamel panels that wrap around the entrances at both the north and south lobbies. The service building, in the center of the station, will also be covered on its east-facing side with a 100-foot-long mural of porcelain tiles, featuring another variation of patterns and colors.

Romson Bustillo will be presenting to the City of Seattle’s Public Art Advisory Committee on Oct. 24 to walk through some updated renderings of the artwork that will be installed over the station finishes at both the north and south entrances as well as the central plaza artwork. Additional updates on public art at the station will be shared this fall.

My approach is informed by research, the location of the station, its immediate environment and fauna, commuters, and community workshops held. I’ve considered how the monumental scale of this project allows for both intimate and communal visual experiences.

I’m working on creating a bank of “glyphs” and patterns that will allow commuters and neighbors to play with creating and finding narratives within the artwork. Visual cues will support wayfinding and draw pedestrians to the station entrances.