WEST SEATTLE LIGHT RAIL: Three updates from Sound Transit board meeting

Three things to know from Thursday’s Sound Transit board meeting:

‘RECORD OF DECISION’ DELAY: We reported earlier this week on the Federal Transit Administration‘s new date for a “Record of Decision“ on the West Seattle Link Extension project, a milestone that allows the project to move into final design. This is what interim CEO Goran Sparrman told the board, in a ST-provided transcription:

We recently got word that the federal Record of Decision, which we anticipated at the end of this month, will likely be delayed 30-60 days to allow time for the Federal Transit Administration to work with the Office of the General Counsel at the White House to review and ensure consistency with recent Executive Orders. We understand that this added process step is not exclusive to the WSLE project and is being applied broadly at this time. We will continue to work diligently with FTA on next steps and look forward to providing you and the public updates as we have them.

BOARD APPROVES EARLY ACQUISITION: Board members approved the resolution authorizing “early acquisitions” in the 3800 block of Delridge Way SW (here’s our story from last weekend). That will pave the way for more North Delridge businesses including Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor), nonprofit Mode Music and Performing Arts, The Skylark, and Ounces to work with ST regarding relocation assistance.

COST SAVINGS: The board got a technical-detail-heavy update from deputy CEO of megaprojects Terri Mestas and West Seattle project director Brad Owen regarding potential cost-savings measures – systemwide as well as on WSLE – mostly involving “design optimization.” Here’s the slide deck. They promised more cost specifics next quarter, but in the meantime, some of what they’ve identified includes:

-Precast (constructed offsite) components of guideways for elevated segments
-Seven “station prototypes” that could be used on projects throughout the system
-Measures to reduce station footprints
-Measures to reduce wetland impacts

Until those upcoming specifics are available, there’s no new overall cost estimate – though a possible WSLE savings of a third of a billion dollars is shown on one slide – but one board member, Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell, said she’s still worried about “off-ramps” for the West Seattle project, given the “sticker shock” of the most recent estimates. Mestas told her that once they hire a design firm – expected this spring – that team, for example, could do “limited design work” that would help zero in on cost savings.

Watch for the video of Thursday’s board meeting to appear here. EVENING UPDATE: It’s viewable here.

Seth February 28, 2025 (1:12 pm)

Do we know what the early aquisition entails? Will they still be open until demo time or final decision or are they kicked out ASAP?

Ron February 28, 2025 (2:28 pm)

This is such an unnecessary and wasteful project. Estimated to cost over 7 billion dollars, over twice as much as the SR 99 tunnel.

WS Urbanist February 28, 2025 (3:43 pm)

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Sure, it’s expensive now, but it’s an investment in making our daily lives better and our city greener for years to come. Light rail will provide a reliable, efficient alternative to driving, reducing traffic congestion and car dependency while also protecting local coho salmon who are harmed by the tire dust that comes off cars and buses. Good public transit is worth its weight in gold.
- Mike February 28, 2025 (8:36 pm)
  
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  That’s right! These are long-term investments that enable more energy-efficient travel with lower carbon emissions for West Seattle residents now and in the future.
  - Ron February 28, 2025 (9:36 pm)
    
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    I totally agree, that sounds incredible. However, there is absolutely no way to justify the project costing over 7 billion dollars for a rail to go back and forth 4 miles between WS and SODO.
    - Foop March 1, 2025 (12:09 am)
      
      That cost is for the whole line to Ballard. Stop lying.
    - WSB March 1, 2025 (1:59 am)
      
      $7 billion was the original estimate for the entire WS-and-Ballard-extensions project.
      Then last September, $7 billion became the “high end” cost estimate for WSLE alone.
      We reported it at the time, as did others.
      https://westseattleblog.com/2024/09/west-seattle-light-rail-from-disappointed-to-concerning-sound-transit-board-committee-members-reactions-to-new-estimates
Platypus February 28, 2025 (3:47 pm)

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The WSLE will carry far more people then the tunnel. The tunnel was a waste and shouldn’t have been done, 20/20 hindsight. This is actual useful transportation infrastructure that will greatly increase our resilience.
- Reed February 28, 2025 (7:36 pm)
  
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  And let’s not forget what we voted for with the tunnel: a large urban park where there is now an ugly 6 lane surface street.
- wscommuter March 1, 2025 (10:03 am)
  
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  Hard to believe there are still misinformed opponents of the tunnel, given that it has proven to be a remarkably effective addition to our transportation infrastructure. Except, I guess, for the anti-car fringe. I always love to hear the tunnel opponents twist themselves into pretzels trying to describe what they would have done instead of the tunnel. The transformation of the waterfront has been a huge plus. Post-Covid, it has become the most vibrant part of downtown.

Derek February 28, 2025 (3:11 pm)

This will get built cheaper if we all stop getting in the way and expedite it. SR99 is an unfair comparison. Much smaller scale project.

Ron February 28, 2025 (5:03 pm)

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A 2 mile long, 200 foot deep tunnel with 4 travel lanes bored underneath and through a large busy city vs. a railway system that goes east – west a few miles to SODO, that costs over 7 BILLION dollars. Absolutely delusional.
- Bus rider February 28, 2025 (8:53 pm)
  
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  Norway is digging a 17 mile undersea tunnel for $2 billion. Sound Transit West Seattle 4 mile track will be +$7 billion which will decimate West Seattle’s economy and environment.
  - Ron February 28, 2025 (9:44 pm)
    
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    The Rogfast tunnel. It will be the world’s longest and deepest underwater tunnel, cost a fraction of the West Seattle light rail. It’s also set to open by 2033. 7 billion dollars for a few miles of light rail is horrible.
    - WS Urbanist February 28, 2025 (10:27 pm)
      
      Looking at just the 4-mile stretch to SODO misses the bigger picture. We’re not just paying for an isolated track – we’re paying to connect West Seattle to an entire regional network. Our car tabs have been funding Sound Transit for decades while we’ve watched other neighborhoods get stations and service. Meanwhile, we’re stuck with a single bridge chokepoint that paralyzes the peninsula whenever there’s an issue. The $7B isn’t just for 4 miles – it’s for finally plugging us into a system that can move people regardless of traffic, bridge problems, or bus route reductions. That’s the value we’re getting, not just the track distance.

InfrastructureFan February 28, 2025 (3:26 pm)

This is a very necessary and NOT wasteful project. This is infrastructure and bringing West Seattle into the 21st century, kicking and screaming.

Joe February 28, 2025 (4:04 pm)

Wasteful project!!

Money Pit February 28, 2025 (5:38 pm)

I hope the WSLE gets delayed indefinitely. The vast majority of trips within West Seattle and out of West Seattle are by car and will continue to be for another hundred+ years. Downtown Seattle and SODO are not the most popular destinations for West Seattle residents. Burien, Tukwila, Renton, etc, are where most of us do our major shopping. No one will bring home a flat cart full of $250 worth of items from the SODO Costco on the trains.

Hunk February 28, 2025 (7:24 pm)

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And before the building of good roads, everyone got around our region by boat. People travel using the systems that exist–not rocket science, and not an argument against improvements. Also, I’m sorry that your only excursions beyond West Seattle involve going to big box stores in the suburbs, but many of us have jobs and friends in other parts of the city, or like to go out to eat, or go to shows, etc etc etc.
- Bbron March 1, 2025 (8:01 am)
  
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  Even before roads and after/in addition to boats people got around by *drum roll* trains and street cars. and then we lost them due to automobile companies dictating policy and culture.
- Scarlett March 3, 2025 (2:02 pm)
  
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  Actually, Hunk, you missed the intermediary step of streetcars such as the Interurban Rail Line. What happened? It was abandoned because it was didn’t provide flexibility and access to places people wanted to go – sound familiar?

Arbor Heights Resident February 28, 2025 (6:57 pm)

It’s good to see ST taking the cost creep seriously, and searching for ways to save money where possible. West Seattle is home to 1 in 5 Seattlieites and has strong growth potential for the future. We are absolutely deserving of access to this transit system we’ve been paying for since the 90s. As part of the South King subarea, our taxes will go towards paying for Link expansion and operations whether it’s actually useful to us or not. WSLE will address the difficulty of getting to our peninsula to the rest of the city, something which has always been a challenge going back to the 1800s. But of course the Trump administration has nothing but contempt for us and our state and will most likely deny all funding, not just for this but for anything we in Washington want to do with our federal tax dollars. We’ll see. But I’m sure the rethinkers are glad Trump is in office for this reason.

Scarlett February 28, 2025 (9:26 pm)

By the way, I think its important to point out that some of us, yours truly included, have no affiliation with “Rethink the Link,” or the gondola people or any other person, entity, or organization opposing light rail. We simply looked at the project in totality, whether it substantially addressed the problems it claimed to address in a cost-effective manner, and concluded this was, well, your classic spendy infrastructure Albatross. No conspiracy, no hidden agenda’s, no MAGA hats hidden in the closet.

When a project is displacing and uprooting the lives of neighbors and running into the billions of dollars for what will be minimal benefit, it is the responsibility of those making extraordinary claims, as C. Sagan might have said, to back it up with extraordinary evidence.

WS Urbanist February 28, 2025 (10:23 pm)

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I respect that you’ve come to your own conclusions, but let’s not forget that thousands of people were displaced when they built the highway system we all use today. Entire neighborhoods were bulldozed for interstates like I-5 and I-90. Those weren’t “albatrosses” – they became essential infrastructure. Change is hard, especially for those directly affected, but we have to think long-term about what serves the most people. The light rail isn’t just about today’s commute – it’s about building a system that works for the next century as our city grows.
- K March 1, 2025 (6:55 am)
  
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  Not thousands, tens of thousands. When you see tents lining I-5 through downtown, remember that 40,000 housing units were razed through that tract alone to make way for cars. That’s in addition to the roughly 4500 businesses that were displaced. Roads, and the vehicles that require them, will always be the maximum displacement option.
Bbron March 1, 2025 (8:08 am)

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Where has your extraordinary evidence that all we need are buses? I’ve asked at times to no response about: how will we get enough drivers, how will the streets hold the number of buses required, how will the environment be impacted by the brake dust and rubber pollution, where will the buses by stored and maintained, how will the high bridge have to be repaired/rebuilt with heavy bus traffic, what will the additional costs on road maintaince be, how are buses ever supposed to compete with cars using the same infrastructure (cause God forbid if we’re still using cars in 100 years like another commenter said).
- Scarlett March 3, 2025 (2:05 pm)
  
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  Stop trolling me with your silly challenges that come out of nowhere, BRON. Good grief.

Stickerbush March 1, 2025 (8:10 am)

When the federal money dries up as I believe it will, Sound Transit will face a reckoning on all of the ongoing transit projects.

KT March 1, 2025 (10:29 am)

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And the West Seattle bridge will be tolled to make up for lack of federal funding.
- WSB March 1, 2025 (10:38 am)
  
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  Assuming you’re not just being facetious … the time, money, construction that would take to set up – assuming it is even legal under city code (the WS Bridge is technically a city street) – would likely outstrip the $ raised.

Canton March 1, 2025 (9:15 am)

How many advocates are in the actual service area? LR doesn’t serve many in West Seattle. It doesn’t directly serve the Admiral district, Westwood, Arbor heights, Highland park, Morgan junction or Lincoln park. The LR only serves the Alaskan junction and Avalon… That’s it. If you really think any southward extension will happen is ludicrous. They will never get the support to level hundreds of homes along Delridge or 35th going south. This is a vanity project for a unaccountable ST panel of unelected directors.

Ex-Westwood Resident March 1, 2025 (1:58 pm)

I’d like to know where those who believe that the LLR will REDUCE congestion on ANY of the roads in and out of West Seattle are getting their data?

Even Sound Transit has come out and PUBLICALLY stated that LLR does NOT reduce congestion or the number of cars on the roads.

What it DOES do is shift the people from busses to the LLR.

Which brings another issue to the fore front; WHERE will the LLR riders that DRIVE to these stations park???

WS Urbanist March 1, 2025 (9:03 pm)

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Interesting point about congestion. In the 1890s, New York City faced what they called the “Great Horse Manure Crisis” – experts predicted the city would be buried in horse waste with no solution in sight. Then came automobiles, changing everything. We’re in a similar spot now with car dependency. When our bridge failed in 2020, we got a harsh lesson in what happens when we rely on a single transportation mode. Light rail isn’t about eliminating cars – it’s about giving us options when we need them most. As for parking concerns – the stations are designed primarily for walking, biking, and bus transfers. This creates a network effect where not everyone needs to drive to the station. Even those who do park and ride are taking shorter car trips, which is still a win for our community compared to having everyone drive the entire distance. It’s about resilience, not just reducing traffic.

Dunno March 1, 2025 (5:08 pm)

I’m a supporter of light rail. Just wish we could make everyone feel safer when riding! I use the Phoenix light rail 4 or 5 times a year. They have contractors for security. I’ve had my ticket checked multiple times, every time I’ve ridden. This includes their bus system! Never been checked, although I’ve seen the security teams, but not nearly enough here!! Look at the result. I know women friends that are scared to death to ride our transit!!!

123years March 1, 2025 (10:06 pm)

West Seattle – oh the loss of a gem of an area! In the 90’s I stood at the Northeast top floor window of Jefferson Square looking out at the end of the West Seattle we knew and loved. Zoning was changed and we saw our quaint town be immersed into huge growth – aging elders forced out of starter homes of generations past for high rise apartments, condos. An extension of Downtown Seattle they said the best of both worlds – million dollar views, safe streets, great schools, close to workplaces- a new bridge. I am so fortunate to have seen West Seattle in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s now I leave because there is no more WS only scattered long time residents being forced to witness a demise to this gem – you can argue that it’s for the good of society – but is it? Is it better? Thank you for 100+ years in West Seattle from an original West Seattle family RIP! ❤️