SEATTLE — Amtrak and BNSF Railway are asking the city of Seattle to close a section of a street near the Seattle Mariners’ ballpark in the city’s Sodo neighborhood to expand the passenger carrier’s maintenance facility and eliminate a busy grade crossing.
The Seattle Times reports the proposal would close South Holgate Street, which splits its current maintenance yard, between Occidental Avenue and Third Avenue. This would allow construction of a 900-foot-long maintenance shed and extension of six tracks, connecting the north and south halves of the yard. The facility would then be fenced off. Amtrak would contribute money and engineering for a foot and bike bridge across the yard.
Erin Goodman, executive director of the Sodo Business Improvement Area, told the Times the facility is the only yard in the country bisected by a busy street. Holgate is ranked as the state’s most dangerous grade crossing, according to a 2022 state report; the Times says half of the freight traffic in Washington state passes through the grade crossing.
But a shutdown could have a major impact on traffic, particularly before and after games at the Mariners’ ballpark and the adjacent facility shared by the Seattle Seahawks and Sounders. The Seattle Department of Transporatation recently received a $2 million federal grant, to go with $500,000 in city funds, to study the feasibility of the closure.
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