A deer ran about 1.5 miles along the light-rail tracks through downtown Bellevue this week, Sound Transit reported. Train operators were warned about the animal; they sounded their horns and flashed their headlights in an effort to drive it off the tracks. The deer was unharmed, and train service was not disrupted. Its route on Wednesday, captured by surveillance cameras, passed through Downtown Bellevue and Wilburton stations.
At about 12:30 p.m., an operator saw the deer head west into a tunnel beneath downtown, then emerge on the other side and leave the tracks. Six minutes later, it returned to the station, ran along the elevated track over Interstate 405 to Wilburton, and disappeared into the city again. Sound Transit spokesperson Henry Bendon noted the animal’s agility: Traveling at speeds of up to about 35 mph, the deer may have been able to outrun trains and change direction between their arrivals. The incident also recalled a former symbol of Othello Station in South Seattle — a deer image chosen because the animals lived in that area many years ago.
Based on: A deer prances along the light rail tracks in downtown Bellevue