U District station also includes five bus bays served by several King County Metro and Sound Transit Express routes that connect to nearby areas.

[7][8] The rezoning proposal ran into opposition from locals who filed an appeal to halt planning, citing a need for affordable housing and open space.

[9] A revised plan unveiled in September 2016 by Mayor Ed Murray requires new developments in the neighborhood to include rent-restricted affordable housing or pay a fine.

[15] Neighborhood residents and activists, including former UW professor Phil Thiel, instead proposed a public plaza on top of the station, citing the dimensions being similar to those of central squares in European cities.

[18][19] Construction on the building began in 2023 and is scheduled to be completed in 2025; five stories will be occupied by the university's administrative offices per an air rights agreement, while the rest is leased for other clients.

[24] The Forward Thrust plan of the late 1960s proposed building a four-line rapid transit network using $385 million in local funding to augment a larger federal contribution.

A smaller, $3.9 billion plan was approved in November 1996,[28] with the University District as its northern terminus; an extension north to Northgate via Roosevelt was deferred until additional funding could be secured.

[30][31] Cost over-runs and withheld funding from the federal government led Sound Transit to truncate its initial light rail line to Downtown in 2001, with the segment north to the University District to be built at a later date.

The northern segment to Northgate was split into a separate project, "North Link", and was included on the 2007 Roads and Transit ballot measure, which was put before voters in November 2007.

[37] The station site was further complicated the following year by Safeco's decision to expand its headquarters building on the west side of Brooklyn Avenue NE, impacting staging areas that were selected by Sound Transit.

[42][43] The contract for tunneling and station construction on the project, since renamed the "Northgate Link extension", was awarded by Sound Transit to JCM Northlink LLC (a joint venture of Jay Dee, Coluccio, and Michels) for $462 million in 2013.

[52] The second TBM, "Pamela", arrived later than expected on March 25, 2016, after stopping 650 feet (200 m) north of the station because of damage to the cutterhead and other parts that forced reduced speed to complete the southbound tunnel.

[56] In March 2017, the Sound Transit Board awarded a $159.8 million contract to Hoffman Construction to build U District station, including structural and architectural finishes.

[61][62] Light rail service at the station began on October 2, 2021, and was celebrated with a street fair on Brooklyn Avenue along with live performances and food walk on University Way.

[63][64] The opening of a bus-only lane on Northeast 43rd Street, serving a bus bay at the station's south entrance, was delayed to June 2022 due to the discovery of underground utilities during construction and supply chain issues.

[72] Lead Pencil Studio was commissioned to create Fragment Brooklyn, a platform-level installation at the station that covers the west wall with depictions of architectural features.

[74][75] The fixtures drew inspiration from buildings in the University District and Brooklyn, New York,[76] as well as the phenomenon of "parasitic architecture" that Lead Pencil Studio researched using LiDAR scans of cities.

[78] U District station is also served by several King County Metro and Sound Transit Express buses that provide onward connections to surrounding neighborhoods and regional destinations.