Redmond

Understand

Local information

• Redmond City Council website

Get in

By plane

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), nicknamed "Sea-Tac", is the nearest major airport. To get to Redmond by public transit from the airport, the best way is to take the Link light rail 1 Line to Downtown Seattle, and then transfer to the 2 Line to Redmond. The journey takes about 1.5 hours; if you're in any kind of hurry, a 30-min Uber (in good traffic) may be worth the premium.

By car

• from & SR-520 connects Redmond to I-405 (Exit #14), north of downtown Bellevue. It continues across Lake Washington to I-5 (Exit #168B), between downtown Seattle and the University District. It's a 10-15 minute drive without traffic, but rush hour traffic can increase travel time between the Eastside and Seattle to approximately 30-40 minutes. The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge across Lake Washington is tolled with rates that vary by the time of day. There are no toll booths. If the vehicle has a "Good to Go" sticker on the windshield, the toll is deducted from a prepaid account. Otherwise, transponders take a picture of the license plates, front and back, and mail the bill to the registered owner.
• East Lake Sammamish Pkwy goes 12 mi along the east side of Lake Sammamish from Front St & (Exit #17), north of Issaquah, to its intersection with SR-202 just east of downtown Redmond. Front St continues south through Issaquah and connects to at "Issaquah-Hobart Rd".
• West Lake Sammamish Pkwy goes 10 mi along the west side of Lake Sammamish to Exit #13 of I-90 (Lakewood Blvd) just west of Issaquah.

By bus

The following routes run least every 15 minutes throughout the day: * 542 Redmond Transit Center, University of Washington in the U-District *

* 566 Redmond, Bellevue, Renton, Kent and Auburn on SR-167, I-405 & SR-520.

For intercity bus services beyond the region, travel to Seattle.

By train

Downtown Redmond is the east terminus of the Link light rail 2 Line, from Lynnwood City Center via Seattle, Mercer Island and Bellevue. Adult fares are a flat $3.00, regardless of distance; children 18 and under ride for free. A train runs every 8 to 10 minutes between 5:00 am to 1:00 am (weekdays), and takes 41 minutes end to end.

Amtrak provides service to Seattle's King Street Station. To get to Redmond, take Sound Transit Express bus route 545 (see #By bus), which stops just around the corner from the station, on 4th Avenue South.

By bicycle

Given that Redmond styles itself the "Biking Capital of the Northwest", you might expect Redmond to be accessible by bike from surrounding areas, but this isn't always the case. Redmond is internally well-connected by bicycle paths, but getting into Redmond, especially from areas due west like Kirkland, can be more difficult than you'd expect.

• From the south The 520 Bike Trail offers the safest route into Redmond, as a paved trail separate from the road. 520 Terminates at the Sammamish River near Leary Rd directly south of Downtown and offers connections to several other bike trails from there. West Lake Sammamish Pkway has a bikelane, but it is not protected from high-speed vehicles and can feel very dangerous to ride.
• From the west Redmond Rd does not have bike lanes, so the main artery into the city from areas west of Redmond is inaccessible to bicycle traffic. The best option for getting into Redmond from Kirkland is to take Old Redmond Rd, which does have bike lanes (unprotected, but better than nothing) and either taking 154th Ave NE South to connect with the 520 Bike Trail, or riding the short distance from the end of Old Redmond Rd east to the trails on Leary Rd
• From the north, the Burke-Gilman Trail runs along the western rim of Lake Washington through Seattle and Lake Forest Park, then along the Sammamish River through Kenmore, Bothell, Woodinville, and Redmond to Marymoor Park. Despite the hilly surroundings, the track is flat as it used to be a railway line.

Get around

Downtown Redmond is walkable, but better yet, get a bike (see #Do), as it is flat and bike-friendly. The city has numerous trails and the only velodrome in the state of Washington (at Marymoor Park). Just be careful, as some trails end on extremely busy roads. King County has great information on biking paths and trails.

By public transit

The public transit hubs in Redmond are Redmond Technology Station (Overlake Transit Center) at NE 40th St and SR-520 and Redmond Transit Center on NE 83rd St and 161st Ave NE in downtown.

The following are useful routes operating at least every 15 minutes throughout the day: * Travels through the Overlake area, which has Microsoft's main campus.

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Go next

• Seattle is right across Lake Washington. It's the headquarters for Amazon, the region's other massive tech company.
• Everett has a massive tourable factory for Boeing, the region's other big employer.
• Woodinville Wine Country starts just to the north of the city.