SEATTLE, WA – STV joined Sound Transit in celebrating the opening of the Crosslake Connection, delivering the world’s first light rail service to operate on a floating bridge and completing the final segment of the 2 Line across Lake Washington. STV served as systems construction management partner for the project.  

The seven‑mile Crosslake Connection travels along Interstate 90 with new stations at Mercer Island and Judkins Park. The extension directly links Bellevue to Seattle by light rail and connects the 2 Line with the 1 Line, forming a roughly 60‑mile regional light rail network that stretches from Redmond through Seattle to Lynnwood and Federal Way.  

STV supported the Crosslake Connection as systems construction management partner, working in collaboration with Mott MacDonald through the Northwest Transit Systems Partners joint venture. STV’s engineers and inspectors oversaw installation and testing of the overhead contact system, signaling and communications systems, supporting reliable service in a new and unprecedented operating environment enabling passenger rail operations on the floating I-90 bridge. 

“This project pushed light rail into an operating environment no one had solved before,” said Allison Dane Camden, vice president and Pacific Northwest area manager at STV. “Delivering safe, reliable service across a floating bridge required disciplined systems integration and years of testing, and it expands how regions can think about connecting communities across challenging geographies.” 

STV and Mott MacDonald have supported Sound Transit’s expanding Link light rail system as the Northwest Transit Systems Partners, overseeing systems construction for Sound Transit’s East Link, Northgate Link and Lynnwood Link extensions. The joint venture’s long‑standing role across Sound Transit’s largest extensions provided the continuity and systems insight required to deliver the final and most complex segment of the 2 Line. 

STV has a strong local presence in the Pacific Northwest with two principal offices in Portland and Seattle and decades of experience creating better transportation networks in collaboration with TriMet, Sound Transit and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). STV’s signature regional projects include Sound Transit’s East Link, Northgate Link and Lynnwood Link extensions, Trimet’s Max Blue Line substations and the Tilikum Crossing.