Officials float proposals for cutting Sound Transit costs including canceled stations, parking cuts, and debt

Officials are floating proposals to cut or defer planned stations, eliminate costly planned parking facilities, and enabling Sound Transit to take on more debt to overcome a projected $34.5 billion funding gap for light rail and expansion plans over the next 20 years.

Seattle officials are hoping the city’s political and financial power will be enough to complete planned expansions to Ballard and West Seattle on schedule even as Sound Transit faces “historic inflation, tariffs, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and other factors.”

The Sound Transit board and its makeup of regional leaders including Mayor Katie Wilson is scheduled to finalize a list of projects the municipal corporation can afford to take on later this month.

In the meantime, officials are floating proposals to overcome the deficit including ending the eventual expansion to Ballard at the Seattle Center, pushing for a West Seattle expansion opening in 2032, and axing six park-and-ride garages or upgrades, the Seattle Times reports.

Allowing higher debt limits and increasing Sound Transit’s borrowing power and a possible rental car tax could also be on the table, the Urbanist reports.

Another possible cost saving option championed by the Urbanist and some officials is building faster as costs continue to rise with inflation.

Sound Transit may also need to institute other changes including improving “fare recovery” to address non-paying riders.

CHS reported here as Sound Transit began collecting feedback last month on the projected $34.5 billion shortfall and “cost-cutting approaches” that would “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.

Light rail has now reached the Central District as Judkins Park Station celebrated its grand opening in March, part of a full transformation into a two-line system — the original 1 Line serving the city and its north-south neighbors, and now the added 2 Line connecting Seattle to Bellevue and Redmond on the world’s first light rail on a floating bridge.

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