page_title: Pioneer Square station
section_title: Station layout
hierarchical_section_title: Pioneer Square station / Station layout
caption_attribution_description: English: Some the artwork in the Pioneer Square Station. I took this photo myself 8-15-2009.
context_page_description: Pioneer Square is a light rail station that is part of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel in Seattle, Washington, United States. The station is located under 3rd Avenue at James Street, between University Street and International District/Chinatown stations. It is served by Line 1, part of Sound Transit's Link light rail system, and provides connections to local buses and Colman Dock, a major ferry terminal serving areas west of Seattle.
  The station consists of two side platforms and a temporary center platform situated under street level, with two mezzanines connecting to the surface at James Street and Yesler Way in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood. It opened on September 15, 1990, and was used exclusively by buses until 2009. The tunnel and stations closed for almost two years, from 2005 to 2007, for renovation and modifications to accommodate light rail trains. Link light rail service to Pioneer Square station began on July 18, 2009, and bus service ended on March 23, 2019. Trains serve the station twenty hours a day on most days at a frequency of six minutes during peak periods and 12–20 minutes at other times.
context_section_description: Pioneer Square station consists of two underground side platforms used to load passengers onto trains and buses, a mezzanine level, and several surface entrances. A temporary center platform is used to transfer riders between trains during single-tracking and has no means of egress except for through the train. The station has two mezzanines on its north and south ends, with the center portion opened to the platform below. The north mezzanine under James Street has two entrances: a pair of escalators and a stairway to 3rd Avenue at the future site of Seattle Civic Square; and a single escalator and stairway to 2nd Avenue in the Lyon Building. The south mezzanine has a single entrance to Prefontaine Park at Yesler Way between 2nd and 3rd avenues, under a large pergola similar to an older streetcar shelter in Pioneer Square. The Prefontaine Park entrance houses an 8-by-50-foot (2.4 by 15.2 m) ceramic mural created by artist Laura Sindell, depicting people-like figures, a 19th-century quilt pattern, a Coast Salish basket design, and a dugout canoe. Several of the station's entrances feature inscribed quotes from historic Seattle figures, including Chief Seattle, "Doc" Maynard, and Arthur A. Denny. The south mezzanine also has a large flywheel once used by the Yesler Way cable car and later buried in a vault until its discovery during tunnel construction. Pioneer Square station is approximately 570 feet (170 m) long, 70 feet (21 m) wide, and 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 m) deep.
  Designed by architect Jerry McDevitt, the station has an arched vault ceiling that is meant to reflect the area's historic buildings. The platform level also makes extensive use of red and gray granite, matching the King County Courthouse and former Public Safety Building, and railings that resemble hitching posts and hanging lamps. Artists Kate Ericson and Mel Ziegler created the station's two "artifact clocks", which hang from the mezzanine at each end of the platform. The north mezzanine clock uses materials from modern construction, including granite, steel beams, and electrical wires; the south mezzanine clock incorporates artifacts found during construction dating back to the city's early history, including cobblestones, brick, and cast-iron pipes. Both clocks use various tools used during construction, including a handsaw and industrial-size tape measure, for the clock face's numerals.
  The station's pictogram, a frigate sailing ship, pays homage to Seattle's roots as a timber supplier for shipbuilders. It was created in 2009 by Christian French as part of the Stellar Connections series and its points represent nearby destinations, including Seattle City Hall, Colman Dock, the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, and King Street Station.
caption: Laura Sindell's ceramic mural, located in the south mezzanine entrance
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