29 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE LIGHT RAIL: Community forum set for April 1st"

• Jradz March 5, 2026 (6:11 pm)

  Fitting that this meeting is on April Fools Day… the city and county have been calling us fools for wanting mass transit since the 70s… grrr.😡 

• Javier March 5, 2026 (6:35 pm)

  Seems like it’s dragging on forever, but don’t despair – West Seattle is next in line to get Link stations. Sound Transit is getting things done – and quickly. In just the last year they’ve opened the Downtown Redmond Link Extension, Federal Way Link Extension, and on March 28 the 2 Line will finally go across Lake Washington. The Sound Transit folks know what they’re doing despite what people say in these comments.

  • CarDriver March 5, 2026 (6:48 pm)

    Ummm……Wouldn’t they be on their original budget and schedule if they knew what they were doing?

    • K March 6, 2026 (5:10 am)

      The original budget and schedule were set before COVID.  Planning for normal increases in costs is one thing, but planning for a global pandemic that shut down so much work for so long, that killed a million Americans just in the first 18 months (disproportionately lower and middle class workers), a massive shift in employment expectations, worker shortages, supply chain issues, followed by rampant inflation is just not something ANY agency could have prepared for with budget or timeline.  Those are all events without real precedent, and they all happened at once.

      Sound Transit also could not have predicted thw tariff fiasco that came with the second Trump presidency, and a federal government that prioritize loyalty rather than need when allotting grants for state projects.  Again, these things are without precedent, and there was no way for Sound Transit to plan for any of it in their budget or timeline.

      • Scarlett March 6, 2026 (12:13 pm)

        It is a misleading to blame the pandemic, a ‘Black Swan” event, for costs that were already skyrocketing well before the pandemic.   Light rail is just an obscene juicy infrastructure pork chop.  

        • k March 6, 2026 (6:50 pm)

          Literally everything you say in these comments about Light Rail is misleading or flat out wrong.  There is honestly no better indicator that someone is probably right than having WSB commenter Scarlett disagree with them, lol.

  • Jradz March 5, 2026 (6:54 pm)

    Dude, are you new? We’ve been asking for equitable access for 50 years. Stop blowing smoke and fluffing the ego of the people dragging this process out and wasting more money with every pause and delay. PLEASE! Projects do not get less expensive, and SOOOO much time has been wasted that final costs will now be 6-7x the most recent projections. West Seattle is the original Seattle, and you’re taking up east side expansion!?! Save your breath, and go blow smoke up someone else’s butt. Get this done work done NOW!

  • Daniel March 5, 2026 (7:12 pm)

    I agree. It’s easy to complain. Yes, it costs a lot. But the people behind this are doing amazing work and truly care about building something that will pay dividends for generations. 

  • Purple Pilot March 5, 2026 (8:58 pm)

    

  • Alex March 7, 2026 (5:58 pm)

    I just want underserved areas to be better served when the light rail arrives, instead of just focusing purely on the high demand areas until Ballard opens up. Otherwise I will be furious and driving an electric car as if transit didn’t exist.

• Dysfunction March 5, 2026 (6:48 pm)

  Are all those on time and budget? We know the line to West Seattle is way over budget and years behind. Who knows what the final tab will be and when it will be done. One thing is for sure. It’s shaping up to be the most expensive rail line per mile in the history of mankind. Yes, it would have been great to have this built 50 years ago. But not now with the future of transportation evolving 

• Admiral2009 March 5, 2026 (7:01 pm)

  Note the date is April 1st!

• Neighbor March 5, 2026 (7:02 pm)

  Good!  Keep building momentum!

• K March 5, 2026 (7:23 pm)

  Jesus christ, another community forum?  How much money has Sound Transit squandered in service of people’s feelings?

• PATRICK March 5, 2026 (7:39 pm)

  April fools day. How fitting.

• Pete March 5, 2026 (7:52 pm)

  Must be an April Fool’s joke on West Seattle that anything new will be revealed. Just think it has taken these elected and well paid ST employees 5 months to come up with answers to questions that were asked at the last forum. At this rate the ground breaking will be in a year in the next decade it seems. 

• T March 5, 2026 (8:55 pm)

  Waste, fraud & abuse

• D E F U N D S O U N D T R A N S I T March 5, 2026 (10:04 pm)

  Fitting day for it.

• Bob March 5, 2026 (10:39 pm)

  Let me be the first to say the quiet part out loud.  I question the need for light rail coming to West
  Seattle.  I have three objections (I’m
  sure there are more),

  1)     1)      Stop the foolish spending of money for a 3
  mile light rail extension. The cost per mile of the light rail is
  outlandish and is causing many compromises to be made in the design.  I believe folks are now talking about making
  the transfer at Sodo permanent.   That means there would not be a direct
  connection to Central Seattle.  This means
  less service not more.

   

  2)     
  2)  Keep the Rapid Line C and improve it. Currently
  we have a very efficient set of bus routes going into downtown Seattle.  I ride the Rapid Line C.  I can leave my home near Gatewood School and
  be at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center near Lake Union in 45 minutes. Once light
  rail comes to West Seattle that trip will take much longer.  First, I will take the Rapid Line C to the light
  rail terminal in the Alaska Junction. Wait for a train there.  Then, I will take light rail to Sodo. Wait
  for a train there.  Then, I will take yet
  another train to take me downtown. Then, I will have to find a bus that will
  take me to my appointment at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.   What was a seamless 45 minute ride with will
  now involve two buses, and two light rail lines. Light rail in West Seattle
  means wit, wait, and wait some more.

   

  3) Light Rail goes almost nowhere in West Seattle. There are currently no plans to extend light
  rail either north to the Admiral district or south to the ferry.  Why? Because to do so is very expensive so we
  will be stuck with two or maybe three light rail stops in an area of over
  100,000 people.  Invest in a more robust
  bus service covering all parts of West Seattle with more frequent buses.

  • Foop March 6, 2026 (7:24 am)

    This is less “the quiet part out loud” and more the “vocal minority screaming falsehoods while shaking fist a sky”your first point is just like, your opinion man.the second point as a disingenuous half truth, once the Ballard link (full project) is complete our line will all all the way to Ballard via Seattle center.your third point ignores the fact that this line is the final piece of ST 3 which was voted on 10 years ago and largely slowed down by the Seattle process. The current configuration, despite giving up many concessions, is built to be extensible.On top of all that, our busses are slow and frequently stuck in traffic. Folks cry out any time a bus or bike lane is built, so arguing the bus system works as is is disingenuous at best. After ST3 is completed this will enable us to use existing busses to cover more ground *within* west Seattle, which we desperately need. I would prefer the busses remain redundant for when the rail needs maintenance or some options don’t work and the rail won’t help me personally since getting to the station is tricky by bus, and there’s nearly no bike infrastructure that will safely get me through the hills from where I live to the junction but it will help the densest part of our peninsula by far, reducing our depenency on cars and sitting in traffic.assuming we can continue to build the junction into a community space it will thrive with this addition. Delridge needs a lot more work to get there but if we build, more than just next to the station, we can imagine a community hub with walkable streets, cafes, book stores, restaurants, and get people outside on their feet enjoying community.as is, we fight every bit of change and it’s causing our lovely city to stagnate and rot, as those of us with means leave others without behind.

  • Alex March 7, 2026 (6:01 pm)

    At a bare minimum, balance the frequency of the buses so that currently underserved areas like Admiral, Alki, Beach Drive, and Arbor Heights actually have direct all-day bus service.

  • Dorothy Gesick March 13, 2026 (9:25 am)

    Your perspective is very similar to mine. This is what I sent to  King County Exec, our King County council member and her staffer, and our Seattle council member:
    Dear Maria and Erin,
    My husband and I moved to West Seattle in June 2021.  We love the community vibe and easy access to downtown. We are heavy users of public transit and light rail.  We were delighted to use light rail from SeaTac to downtown when we visited years ago.
    We are disappointed to learn that two primary grocery stores in the Alaska Junction, Safeway and QFC, may be gone if the West Seattle link becomes reality.  In recent years, West Seattle has increased multi-unit housing in the Junction, even as the long-time vacant lot at California and Brandon remains an eyesore.  We are not opposed to increased housing.
    We weren’t here when the 2016 ballot measure passed.   Sound Transit promoters refer to the “voter mandate”.  The Sound Transit website refers to the “most ambitious transit expansion in the country”.  I hope that we don’t proceed with the future expansion just to put a “feather in the Sound Transit cap”.
    Following are questions and concerns specific to the West Seattle Link extension:What are the ridership projections for the 4.1-mile link and how were they arrived at?  How does that compare to the ridership for Lines 1 and 2?  This is important because West Seattle is a terminus unlike Line 1, which is a high-density corridor.  I fail to see how ridership will pay for it even with increased housing.  Remote work and business moving out of downtown Seattle adds to ridership uncertainty.
    What were the costs per mile to build existing lines (in today’s dollars)?The engineering challenges with steep costs (bridge and tunnel) are not insignificant.  Project costs are approaching $8 B for 4.1 miles.
    In conversation with a fellow Rapid-C bus rider, the comment was Sound Transit has significant sunk costs during the planning phase, so we need to complete the project.  Capital projects do get abandoned after extensive study when it is determined that total project costs exceed its benefits.
    What are the costs expended to date relative to total project costs?  We accept the impact of inflationary construction costs, but we must also accept the unfortunate financial reality.
    We have friends in West Seattle who are not served by any bus service within walking distance.  No doubt you have heard from these constituents.  West Seattle needs more buses and improved streets.  Rapid C busses violently shake on SW Alaska St. from Fauntleroy to 42nd.  How is the Link extension going to change that?  In truth, we could for a lot less money increase our bus routes, maintain our streets, and serve all West Seattle residents not just the commuters and visitors.  
    We are geographically isolated, hence the enormous, unjustified costs to bring light rail to West Seattle.  Let’s instead improve what we already have.
    The planned extension to Tacoma is a better use of our transit funds and will serve more riders. 
    Sincerely,Dorothy Gesick and Gary Johnson

• Mellow Kitty March 6, 2026 (7:04 am)

  They’ve been working on formulating answers since November. They’d better have some darn good answers. And I mean answers, not a lot of talking in circles to make it sound like it should be an answer but isn’t an actual answer. 

  • bill March 6, 2026 (9:35 am)

    I am a supporter of Link but you make a good point.

• Aaron G March 6, 2026 (8:03 am)

  I’m looking forward to light rail in West Seattle.

• Jake March 6, 2026 (8:50 am)

  Build the trains faster so it’s cheaper. I am so tired of waiting, I want it now! 

• Scarlett March 6, 2026 (9:08 am)

  Light rail has reached the hallowed realm of ideology, so forget any rational analysis of what it will actually provide in addition to existing bus transit. 

• 935 March 6, 2026 (3:18 pm)

  Another meeting, another positive step in the direction of this never happening.

  Utilize the transit already in place (to its fullest capacity) and then have a conversation about expansion  to different modalities.

  At this point – (realistically 15+ years from “go”) the choo choo will rob riders from the already underused transit system. But would we get our vacant “Bus Use Only” lanes back for general use?? (not likely)

• Chris March 8, 2026 (1:14 pm)

  The RTA initiative promised a spine from Tacoma to Everett.  As a resident of SnoCo, Gllyad I stopped buying car tabs to fund a Seattle only improvement.  

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