As officials prepare to juggle light rail expansion plans, Seattle makes stand on Graham Street Station and Ballard
Some of the biggest questions for the next generation of public transit around Seattle could be answered Thursday afternoon as the Sound Transit board is slated to vote on changes to the “Sound Transit 3 System Plan” amid a projected $34.5 billion funding gap for light rail and expansion plans over the next 20 years.
Mayor Katie Wilson and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay are putting their political weight behind preserving key planned investments including a promised Graham Street Station serving the Rainier Valley that has already been twice deferred
Meanwhile, Ballard’s representative on the Seattle City Council is making a push for priorities that would continue plans to extend light rail to the city’s northwest neighborhoods.
CHS reported here on proposals and cost cutting ideas floated by officials amid the projected shortfall amid increasingly dismal economic forecasts and rapidly rising land and construction costs. The Sound Transit board and its makeup of regional leaders including Wilson is scheduled to finalize a list of projects the municipal corporation can afford to take on in Thursday’s session.
How do riders want to solve the funding gap? Sound Transit says its survey showed respondents most want local officials to find new state and federal funding. Sound Transit doesn’t address the fact there might not be any to find
Sound Transit began collecting feedback this spring on the projected $34.5 billion shortfall and “cost-cutting approaches” that could “defer” promised light rail to Ballard and West Seattle.
Officials have been floating three options for delivering a reduced set of ST3 expansions amid growing concerns about increasingly dismal economic forecasts for the package as leaders jockey to keep the West Seattle (2032) and Ballard (2039) light rail expansions on schedule.
Wilson is making her stand on Graham Street. “We’re done with broken promises,” Wilson said in a statement before Thursday’s board session. “South Seattle communities have waited far too long for the Graham Street Station. This amendment is about finally delivering the equitable transit access that Rainier Valley residents deserve and continue to lobby for. On Thursday, the Sound Transit Board has the opportunity – and responsibility – to move this project forward.”
Zahilay is backing these major priorities including the Graham Street prioritization, his office says:
- Moving forward to construct the Graham Street station with Mayor Katie Wilson, providing opportunities for transit-oriented development and connectivity in the Rainier Valley.
- Securing resources for transit mitigation for North Tukwila with Mayor Thomas McLeod, Councilmember Steffanie Fain, and Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, supporting mobility while continuing to move forward design on the Boeing Access Road Station and working to identify cost savings and alternative financing and delivery options.
- Allocating full funding that will ensure parking access at the Renton Transit Center with Councilmember Ed Prince, Mayor Angela Birney, Councilmember Steffanie Fain, and Mayor Thomas McLeod. Moving forward long-planned parking to connect with the future STRIDE line connecting communities from Burien to Bellevue.
A fourth backs a push from Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss to prioritize plans for expansion to Ballard but cutting costs:
- Committing to pursue cost-saving and financial resources to complete the full Ballard Link Extension with Mayor Wilson, Councilmember Dan Strauss and Councilmember Mosqueda. This includes directing Sound Transit to initiate a Request for Information to identify strategies that reduce cost or speed up delivery.
Strauss’s plan calls for Sound Transit to build a Westlake to Ballard “starter line” before an expensive second downtown tunnel that is currently part of the ST3 plan.
“One of the key reasons Sound Transit’s plan falls short is because it prioritizes nearly $11 billion in Seattle area funding to build a second downtown tunnel over building light rail to Ballard,” Strauss said in a statement on the proposals he is backing. “That’s a policy choice, not a necessity. To maximize ridership, we must move Seattle’s funding from the second downtown tunnel to where it’s needed most — building a Westlake to Ballard Starter Line.”
The West Seattle expansion plans, meanwhile, will mostly rise above Thursday’s drama. They currently pencil out as affordable under current projections.
In addition to changes to the ST3 plan, the board is also slated to consider a new source of revenue Thursday as it votes on a possible increased tax on car rentals in the Sound Transit service area:
Fixing and imposing an additional 1.372 percent sales and use tax upon retail car rentals; and authorizing the chief executive officer to contract with the State of Washington for tax collection and administration
The current 0.8% rental car tax brings in roughly $4.5 million annually. Approval would implement the full remaining statutory allowance, adding an additional 1.4% tax to bring the total rate to the maximum 2.172% limit. The change could bring totals from the car rental tax to more than $12 million a year.
$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month — or choose your level of support 
You must be logged in to post a comment.