WEST SEATTLE LIGHT RAIL: New survey about station-area planning – for two stations, and neighborhoods beyond

| Sound Transit | West Seattle news

Though the Sound Transit Board is still weeks/months away from decisions about revising West Seattle light rail to get the projected cost closer to the available funding, a new city survey about station-area planning is out today. The survey only asks about Delridge and Junction station areas, a further reminder that the Avalon station is in the cost-cutting crosshairs. The survey is from the city Office of Planning and Community Development, which has planning processes under way for the Junction station area and Delridge station area, and that’s reflected in the survey, which only asks about those two, and includes this map – note that the areas of focus go far beyond the immediate vicinity of even just those two station locations:

Here’s how the survey is explained:

The City of Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) and the Seattle Department of Transportation are kicking off a Station Area Planning effort in the West Seattle Junction and Delridge areas.

“Station area planning” is separate from Sound Transit’s light rail station design and construction. While Sound Transit determines where and how stations are built, the City of Seattle’s role is to work with communities to decide what happens in the neighborhoods that are ½ mile to 1 mile from the stations over the next 20 years. This includes decisions about housing, transportation, places for community to gather, safe streets, job access, and local businesses.

How to be involved

Take a brief community survey. Share your insights and experiences by March 27, 2026: bit.ly/StationAreaSurvey

The survey deadline is March 27. A major touchpoint ahead in Sound Transit planning, meantime, is the board retreat March 18, by which time the board is supposed to receive cost-cutting “scenarios” for projects including West Seattle light rail.

Scarlett March 9, 2026 (4:06 pm)

As I’ve said countless times, light rail is all about civic redevelopment and has little to do with being a transformative mass transit solution. This idyllic notion that light rail is going to soak up hordes of new riders from the increased density sprouting up around stations has never transpired (Columbia City is an example). Light rail is simply too limited in terms of get people around the region, particularly those outside a certain radius of a station, or their destination is outside the radius of a station. In Japan where people are used to walking blocks to a rail station (you even see elderly hobbling along), that might be the case, but not here. You’ll get your obscenely costly light rail bauble, but its not going to change anyone’s life.

JC March 10, 2026 (11:14 pm)

Scarlett, I’m baffled. You see a $7b generational investment almost solely benefitting west Seattle as.. a bad thing? You’re telling me we get a transformative mass transit solution AND tons of money poured into street improvements, park upgrades, pedestrian infrastructure, etc? And I’m supposed to be upset? Maybe it won’t change your life, but it certainly will mine!

Derek March 9, 2026 (5:42 pm)

Keep Avalon. Do elevated track over tunnel. Seems like obvious choice. Also expedite and build NOW!

Leo Brezhnev March 9, 2026 (10:58 pm)

Not even the New York Subway system has stations as closely spaced as Junction and Avalon were supposed to be. Keeping it would be a massive waste of money which we don’t have. Also, elevated? In the middle of the West Seattle Junction? Are you joking? If that ever happened, that monstrosity would stand as a monument to the gross incompetence, indifference, and a lack of vision for all future generations. I’d rather they didn’t build it at all than stare at the Soviet style concrete eyesore every day.
- WSB March 9, 2026 (11:25 pm)
  
  ICYMI, that was the original (somewhat cheaper, see graphic in this story) plan.
Platypus March 10, 2026 (8:19 am)

Avalon is important because of how the buses currently work. Along 35th, the 21 bus doesn’t go to the junction. So someone would need to take the 21, get on the C, and then the light rail. Avalon station would be so nice.
- Neighbor March 11, 2026 (1:41 pm)
  
  Bus routes can be updated to accommodate the new train option. Rapid ride becomes less necessary because rail connects neighborhoods.
- Shawns March 11, 2026 (7:52 pm)
  
  I agree, Avalon would help connect so many more people!

Bradley March 9, 2026 (6:59 pm)

Build a garage at Delridge and terminate there to save funding.

Derek March 9, 2026 (7:32 pm)

A stub line makes zero sense. It has to go to the Junction. Junction is ALREADY the compromise.
- bradley March 10, 2026 (11:36 am)
  
  Not worth the cost. Every one thinks it should end in their neighborhood, but willing to exclude the rest of the community from easy access. A large, central parking garage and Rapid Line access allows more commuters.
  - SoLongDelridge l March 10, 2026 (4:03 pm)
    
    “Not worth the cost” says person who will be dead long before this infrastructure needs to be replaced.

snowskier March 9, 2026 (7:22 pm)

Cut Avalon and route buses differently to the stations. Route the tunnel entrance to impact fewer existing homes and businesses.

Derek March 9, 2026 (8:50 pm)

Tunnel literally makes it more expensive. We can do grade down Fauntleroy. Or elevated track for way way cheaper.
- Canton March 10, 2026 (5:02 am)
  
  Can you explain what exact residential/commercial addresses need to be demolished for your preferred route?

gh March 9, 2026 (8:28 pm)

Give everyone a pony, make the trains go 300 miles per hour, do it at 1/3 the current price. Yes these are all very practical suggestions.

wscommuter March 9, 2026 (10:09 pm)

I’m weeping.

JO March 10, 2026 (10:57 am)

I encourage my fellow community members to fill this survey out. That being said, I just filled it out and found the questions to be extremely biased in favor of the type of development the city government wants. This makes me lose faith that this survey will produce meaningful results that will benefit West Seattle. The only way around this is if enough community members take this survey and answer in a way that cuts through the bias. I am a firm supporter of the light rail and better transit options for West Seattle. The community and the city need to find solutions that both create more equitable housing and preserve the charm and character that make WS such an amazing place to live. Taking this survey makes me feel like the city does not care about preserving the community, only development for development’s sake. I encourage all my fellow community members to respond to this survey. Read each question carefully and ensure your responses are truly reflective of your beliefs. I also encourage them to attend community events that address the light rail and development. It may not feel like it at times, but we as West Seattleites have the power to shape our community.

Doug March 10, 2026 (2:52 pm)

Just filled it out, and I see what you mean. “Don’t you want 12-story buildings?!” “Where do you want to put the amphitheater?!” “Which streets should be pedestrian-only???” These are not trivial questions.

I requested an increased conflict-resolution / police presence because you can’t really enjoy what’s there when you don’t feel safe. A fancy new outdoor art installation doesn’t really matter when someone is dropping trow next to you.
- WS Res March 10, 2026 (4:46 pm)
  
  Doug, none of those questions, phrased in that way, were on the survey. I filled it out last night and it is an absolute lie to say that it asked “where do you want to put the amphitheater” or any of those others you “quoted.”
Mike B March 10, 2026 (4:25 pm)

I filled it out and they’re reflective of my beliefs and values: add tall buildings, invest around light rail, welcome new people to our neighborhood, build equitable housing in our wonderful neighborhood, and refocus The Junction around people instead of cars. To me, this captures values we claim to have as community: welcoming people of all types, seeking equity, and embracing change, and our neighborhood’s future vision must encompass that.With a multi-billion-dollar transit project massively benefiting West Seattle with high-quality light rail comes great responsibility to our larger community. That includes some changes that we may be uncomfortable with, but I hope folks here aren’t so conservative in their outlook to remain so focused on what West Settle has been since “I moved here in 1983” and can see look forward into the future to see how West Seattle can change to become even better.
- WS Res March 10, 2026 (4:48 pm)
  
  I feel similarly, Mike B, and filled it out accordingly. I felt that there were plenty of opportunities to clearly express being for or against any of the proposed options and to add concerns that were not listed (both of the neighborhood “concern heat maps” asked “are there any concerns not captured here that you want to add?” for example.)
WS98 March 10, 2026 (6:16 pm)

‘create more equitable housing and preserve the charm and character that make WS such an amazing place to live’. That would be fantastic but sadly none of it is happening with the current neighborhood plan. Developers are replacing charm and character with cheap industrial structures and selling them at unaffordable prices.
- Derek March 11, 2026 (7:15 am)
  
  My west Seattle home was a catalog house after WW2 built so cheaply, since you ordered parts of a catalog, and built it. I am making tens of thousands of repairs on it. These weren’t built sturdy either lol
- Shawns March 11, 2026 (8:01 pm)
  
  I totally agree with you!

gh March 10, 2026 (10:57 am)

I understand the reasoning for dropping Avalon, although I wish they would keep it.FWIW the idea of the Avalon station is to support/encourage density in one of the areas of WS that is already one of the lowest portions of SFHs.

k March 10, 2026 (11:33 am)

Drop Avalon and the Junction, run the train to White Center.

Derek March 11, 2026 (7:16 am)

White Center doesn’t have the density and it would be easier to stub line Tukwila up to Burien and WC using International Blvd/old Interurban path.

PDiddy March 10, 2026 (2:30 pm)

This is a massive 7 billion dollar waste of money. We dont need ST3.

Long time resident with wisdom March 10, 2026 (4:19 pm)

An absolute waste of money and a dinosaur in the making. The plans for fundraising are ridiculous, ie. having our children and grandchildren pay for it with 75yr. Bonds. Go to white Center is a an option for those of us who want to preserve the Alaska Junction and surrounding area that make living here so worthwhile. Who will this serve? Definitely not as many as Metro in much less time. I wonder what the average age is for those supporting this fiasco?

My two cents March 10, 2026 (6:55 pm)

So, just wondering – for example, how does this differ from having to pay for the Evergreen Point floating bridge? The previous generations didn’t seem to have a problem sticking that cost to us (even though it was paid off earlier than originally planned – by 20 years). Capital infrastructure projects are not constrained to one generation or one set of users. City of Seattle population in 1963 was ~550,000 compared to ~800,000 today. Original bond issuance was $30 million. As an illustrative example, the increased population of 250k multiplied by $.50 (tax burden) per month for 20 years equates to $30 million. Used this as an example to illustrate how financing for capital projects can look vastly different from day one to a .20 years in the future.