3:42 PM: We’re in the Sound Transit board room at Union Station downtown, where ST board members have just voted unanimously to appoint Dow Constantine – the West Seattleite in his fourth and final term as King County Executive – as the transit agency’s CEO. The vote followed their search consultant’s recap of the process, including defense of the candidate confidentiality, and members’ reiteration of their confidence that Constantine was the most qualified and will “hit the ground running.” Board members’ remarks also acknowledged the big issues facing the agency, and one mentioned that Constantine “will not get a honeymoon” – those issues need to be addressed fast. As we reported yesterday, his starting salary will be $450,000.

He entered the board room right after the vote and is speaking next. (Added: Here are the 55 minutes of video including the discussion of his nomination, the vote, and his remarks afterward:)

4:14 PM: Constantine promised his new bosses that he will prioritize “regionality, transparency, stability, reliability, safety, and cleanliness.” He also vowed “we will navigate these choppy waters together,” alluding to the many intensifying challenges facing the agency, not the least of which is funding. We spoke to him briefly afterward; more on that after we’re back at HQ, but first, he confirmed that he’ll start work at ST on April 1 (next Tuesday) and that deputy county executive Shannon Braddock – also a West Seattleite – will take over on an interim basis until the County Council decides what to do until a new CE is chosen by voters this fall.

ADDED THURSDAY EVENING: Here are our two hallway questions, post-vote:

Here’s the Sound Transit news release with the announcement.

1:46 PM: Toplines of the contract Sound Transit is offering Dow Constantine to become its next CEO – pending a two-thirds-or-more board vote tomorrow afternoon – are now posted on the ST website, in this proposed board motion. The base salary is $450,000; the contract would start April 1 and run through December 31, 2026, “with two one-year renewal options at the Board’s discretion.” The motion also notes:

A market study will be completed at the end of 2025 to determine a base salary for 2026 that will be set, at a minimum, at the average of market comparable salaries, but not less than the current annual salary. The same process will be applied to determine base salary for 2027 if the Board, in their discretion, renews the agreement for the 2027 one-year term.

In addition to the annual market-rate base salary increase in 2026 and 2027, for each year, an annual 3% to 6%-Base Salary increase will be awarded based on Mr. Constantine’s annual performance rating.

Various amounts for incentives and expenses are laid out, too:

*”An Annual Contribution Performance Award of $30,000 may also be awarded on based upon the achievement of mutually agreed to goals”

*”Mr. Constantine will receive an annual taxable expense allowance of $24,000 to defray routine business expenses incurred performing his duties under the employment agreement”

*”Mr. Constantine will receive a one-time home office equipment stipend of $10,000 to facilitate the initial setup of the CEO’s technology and equipment needs and to further the performance of the CEO.”

The board motion also goes into details of health benefits, retirement-account contributions, and travel. It’s not the actual full contract, though; we’re requesting that. Meantime, Thursday’s meeting with the scheduled vote – which includes as usual a public-comment period – is set for 1:30-4 pm at the ST board room inside Union Station, or you can attend/comment online (the agenda document explains how).

5:23 PM: A Sound Transit spokesperson tells us we’ll have to file a public-records request to get the actual contract. … Meantime, looking around the ST archives, we found documents noting that former CEO Peter Rogoff was hired at $365,000 base salary in 2018; short-term former CEO Julie Timm‘s starting base salary in 2022 was $375,000.

(WSB photo, March 13)

4:29 PM: It’s official – the Sound Transit Board Executive Committee‘s “preferred candidate” for CEO is outgoing King County Executive Dow Constantine (a West Seattle resident). That was finally revealed in this announcement sent this afternoon, almost two weeks after the committee’s vote to recommend what was at the time referred to only as “candidate C”:

The Sound Transit Board is scheduled to vote on the appointment of a new CEO at the full Board meeting on Thursday, March 27. The preferred candidate is Dow Constantine, and the appointment requires a supermajority vote at a public meeting. People can access meeting information and the link to watch it from the online calendar on the Sound Transit website.

The following is a statement from Snohomish County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair Dave Somers, Pierce County Executive and Sound Transit Board Vice Chair Ryan N. Mello, and King County Councilmember and Sound Transit Board Vice Chair Claudia Balducci:

“We are pleased to put forward Dow Constantine for a vote of the Board. We are confident he has the knowledge, experience, and commitment to achieve Sound Transit’s goals and complete the ST3 package.

“Being CEO of Sound Transit is a tough job with many constituencies to serve, and Dow has proven over his career in public service that he can deliver large capital projects, successfully oversee a major transit agency, and foster partnerships across our region that are essential to make Sound Transit function at the highest possible level. We know this is a crucial time for the agency, and there are difficult and complex discussions on the near horizon, along with reforms that will require knowledge and commitment to continue forward. These include operational and maintenance challenges that need to be addressed immediately by an incoming CEO, increased accountability measures, as well as rising financial pressure from inflation and economic uncertainties. As Board leaders, our priority remains delivering on the voter-approved ST3 package, while operating a safe and dependable system.

“The search for a new CEO was competitive. The Board started with 60 applicants from around the world and narrowed the field from 15 to 5 to 3 and finally to 1. It was a thorough process with significant public input, vigorous discussions, and multiple panels that included transit riders, disability advocates, other regional transit agencies, and labor and economic development organizations.

“We are grateful to the many board members, agency staff, and community partners who provided valuable insights and have put their time and skills toward making sure we had an extensive and thoughtful CEO search process. We look forward to the Board’s decision on Thursday.”

Since the King County Executive has a guaranteed seat on the board (as do the executives of Snohomish and Pierce counties), Constantine has been an ST board member for 15 years. He announced last November that he would not run for a fifth 4-year term. That was 10 months after ST’s previous “permanent” CEO Julie Timm left. Interim CEO Goran Sparrman has held the job in the meantime but did not seek the permanent appointment. The proposed contract and other documents related to the proposed appointment are not yet available on the ST website.

ADDED 8:40 PM: An ST spokesperson tells us those documents should be available online by Wednesday. The meeting during which the hiring vote is scheduled is at 1:30 pm Thursday at Sound Transit HQ downtown; you can attend (and comment) in person or online, as explained on the agenda document.

Following a 48-minute executive session (non-public discussion) during a special meeting, members of the Sound Transit Board‘s Executive Committee have just voted unanimously in favor of a CEO candidate, without identifying them by name. Search consultant Gregg Moser reported having about 60 people apply (including some that he recruited), 15 who met qualifications, narrowed that down to five semifinalists, then three finalists, whom the board identified publicly only as A, B, and C, voting unanimously today for C. Now board reps will negotiate an employment agreement with candidate C, bringing it to the full board on March 27.

The recommendation for permanent CEO comes 14 months after the last permanent ST CEO, Julie Timm, left; she had held the job 16 months. Goran Sparrman has been serving as interim CEO. The executive session in today’s meeting was preceded by a public-comment period which drew seven written comments summarized as opposing choosing King County Executive and ST Board member Dow Constantine – the only candidate whose name has been made public (Moser explained the need for confidentiality in a national search) – as CEO, plus three “live” commenters, one of whom voiced support for Constantine, another who stressed choosing someone who would “prioritize nailing the fundamentals” of service, and another who urged board members to have a more “transparent” process.

ADDED: Several board members made comments before the vote, but none gave overt hints at the winning candidate’s identity. They mostly discussed their hopes for the new CEO – Auburn mayor Nancy Backus, for example, said the new CEO must be committed to “get(ting) the spine built.”

With the Sound Transit board having already interviewed candidates for CEO – the only candidate name mentioned publicly so far has been board member King County Executive Dow Constantine – this might be your last chance to offer a comment: The board’s Executive Committee is having a special meeting 4-5 pm tomorrow (Tuesday, March 11). The agenda has a comment period followed by an executive session (non-public) and then possibly a recommendation of who the committee thinks the whole board should vote on. Here’s the agenda document, which explains how to participate either in person or remotely. (You can also email a comment now to meetingcomments@soundtransit.org.) Whoever is hired will take over at a pivotal time for the planning of West Seattle light rail, among other projects.

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.

Thanks for the tip. Curiosity has run high about how the change of administrations in Washington, D.C., could affect local services that rely on federal funding, and now we have one sign: The federal “Record of Decision” for Sound Transit‘s West Seattle Link Extension has been delayed, again. The original timeline was that it could have happened as soon as a month after the ST Board made its final decision back in October about West Seattle light-rail routing and station locations; then the Federal Transit Authority‘s online dashboard showed a new date for the Record of Decision, due in late February, aka right about now – but a reader just pointed us to the federal website link showing it’s just changed again, to late April.

We have questions out to Sound Transit, including how, or whether, that affects work being done now on the project; the project website notes that when it’s issued, for example, final design can begin.

As we reported four days ago, the ST Board’s monthly meeting tomorrow is scheduled to include a vote on expanding the list of properties for which it’s pursuing early acquisition; the additions to the list would include the North Delridge buildings that house Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor), Mode Music and Performing Arts, The Skylark, and Ounces, all on the site designated for the Delridge light-rail station. We also reported last week on Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, an ST Board member, issuing an executive order setting up city actions that might speed up the construction timeline.

As previously reported here, tomorrow (Saturday, January 25) is the day the light-rail skeptics of Rethink the Link are planning a public forum at the Center for Active Living. We asked organizers for updated details of the planned 10 am-noon event – here’s their summary:

The purpose of this town hall is to host a community discussion of Sound Transit’s West Seattle light rail plans. A gallery will display maps of the route segments, station maps, and charts of properties impacted from the Alaska Junction to SODO. This will give people an integrated look at what the West Seattle Link Extension light rail project entails.

Our group discussion will be framed by five topics will be posted on display boards; Cost escalation, Ridership changes, What voters approved, Environmental disaster, and Better, More Workable Transit Alternatives. Neighbors are invited to write their questions on those topics (on sticky notes). Each topic will be given a 15-minute time block to help maintain focus. All comments will be tallied and posted on rethinkthelink.org website.

We have invited Mayor Harrell, King County Executive Constantine and our other elected representatives to join us. As we did not ask them to RSVP we do not know if any (or all) will be attending.

The center is at 4217 SW Oregon. Meantime, exactly three months after the Sound Transit Board approved routing and station locations for the West Seattle Link Extension, the agency continues to await the formal federal Record of Decision, most recently estimated as likely to come out next month. The current estimated opening timeline remains late 2032.

Sound Transit has been preparing a site along SW Genesee for geotechnical work that they tell us will start on Monday. From the announcement:

… Sound Transit plans to conduct a geotechnical boring for soil analysis behind the guardrail along eastbound
lanes of the West Seattle Bridge. The area will be accessed from the alleyway at SW Genesee Street. This location may shift slightly depending on the placement of underground utilities. Sound Transit is in the planning phase of the West Seattle Link Extension project. This work, along with other investigations throughout the project corridor, is essential for planning and designing the project to be built.

To study soil and groundwater conditions, a drill rig is used to bore vertically into the ground while collecting soil samples. Following the collection of soil samples, a monitoring device is installed which will be used by crews to monitor water levels on future visits. Water level readings will be taken every few months as the design phase progresses. In accordance with all local regulations, the 4- to 12- inch diameter borings will be installed carefully
to avoid soil erosion and dirt or mud from leaking into surface waters, wetlands, and drainage systems.
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• Vegetation clearing to access the work area (occurred) on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 2 and 3. Drilling is expected to begin on Monday, Jan. 13 and take approximately seven days. Activities are scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

• Access will be maintained in the alley and on all roadways. No-parking signs will be placed at least 72 hours prior to work. No-parking signs are enforceable during the dates and times listed on them.

• Crews will do minor brush clearing to access the work area using an excavator and small equipment. No trees will be impacted. Vegetation management will adhere to City of Seattle permit requirements.

• A portion of the metal fence adjacent to the West Seattle Bridge will be replaced following the work.

• Due to inclement weather or unforeseen issues, dates and times are subject to change.

• Drilling equipment will sound like a truck engine running, with occasional hammering.

ST has done this type of work at other sites in the past few years. As we reported earlier this week, the next milestone for West Seattle light-rail planning is the federal “Record of Decision,” now expected in February.

Two notes about West Seattle light rail tonight:

(Image from Final Environmental Impact Statement for West Seattle Link Extension, page 176 of appendix N.2)

BOARD CHAIR’S OPTIMISM: When King County Executive Dow Constantine spoke to the Rotary Club of West Seattle today, light rail was one of the topics. He noted first that the next step is the Federal Transit Authority’s “Record of Decision,” formalizing what the Sound Transit Board – which he chairs – approved in October. That’s expected in February, he said (a few months later than planned, as a Sound Transit spokesperson had told us last month). But he believes “we are in a strong position to deliver what voters approved” in 2016. A short time later, in response to a meeting attendee’s question about timeline (officially still projected to open in 2032), Constantine said, “the scope is really the question – such as, do you build the Avalon station or not? – there are 100 questions like that, that the board’s going to have to answer.” He won’t be there for all the answers, as he’s not running for re-election (which he had more to say about, as we’ll report in a separate story tomorrow).

OPPONENTS NOT GIVING UP: The Rethink the Link group, which wants to see West Seattle light rail canceled, is planning a community forum on January 25, its first event since a walking tour last June. One organizer says, “Yes, it is the eleventh hour, but that is often when people wake up.” We asked about the point of the forum, since the board has chosen the “project to be built” – this is most of their reply:

Broadly speaking, our mission is to inform the West Seattle community of the scope and impacts of Sound Transit’s light rail project. The information given to folks at various “outreach” events- and found in both the 2022 Draft EIS and in Sound Transit’s Final EIS (released September 20, 2024) is often incomplete, inaccurate, vague, or non-existent.

The West Seattle Community Transit/ Light Rail Forum will include

(1) a complete and detailed map of the entire route! (All segments will have the same scale and north orientation!)

(2) a list of all residences and businesses that have been notified of potential eminent domain.

(3) a map of the Delridge, Avalon, and Alaska Junction stations WITH list of businesses and residences that will be demolished

(4) a street map of traffic detours during construction, e.g., the closure of Alaska forcing all traffic to be moved to Oregon and Edmunds

(5) a map of our current bus routes, and routes that Metro has cut (Our experts can talk about how easily and inexpensively we can give ALL of West Seattle better transit without light rail.)

(6) a list of the 13 food sources that will be eliminated (causing a ‘food desert” from Delridge to WS Junction

They also believe that some ST Board members “realize dropping WS light rail could be a win/win/win!” and observe that “The new US Department of Transportation might also help us out by cutting the funding.” Their forum is set for 10 am Saturday, January 25, at the Center for Active Living (4217 SW Oregon).

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

With only two “no” votes, the Sound Transit Board officially approved the “preferred alternative” for West Seattle light rail as the routing and station-location plan for the extension currently planned to launch in 2032.

As with the System Expansion Committee earlier this month, the full board had very little discussion about the merits of any particular routing options. The overarching point of discussion was again the potential $7 billion price tag that surfaced with the Final Environmental Impact Statement. But ST staff assured them repeatedly that this vote isn’t committing them to actually building the project – just to moving into design.

Before the vote, there were two presentations. Project leader Jason Hampton (here’s the full slide deck) began with a recap of what’s led up to this, in the past few years:

He recapped that construction would not begin before 2027, and went through some other points presented at the System Expansion Committee, including what ST feels the project would accomplish, both for West Seattle (redundancy when the West Seattle Bridge is closed, for example) and for the entire system (providing a new connection to ST’s Operations Maintenance Facility, for example). Hampton said the preferred alternative minimizes displacements, compared to the others.

As explained, this decision would advance the West Seattle project toward the end of environmental review and allow the project to move into design in a timely manner.

In Q/A/comments, board chair Dow Constantine, King County Executive, observed that in essence, this would get the project to the “shovel-ready phase.” Board member Cassie Franklin, Everett Mayor, wondered why this is so high-priority compared to some other projects in queue, and Hampton recapped its importance. She then asked whether costs could be cut by, for example, reducing park protection – “I love parks but I really want to get the spine built.” Hampton responded, “We’re going to look at everything to try to reduce costs.” She pressed, “Is this the more expensive route?” Not in a big way, he said, and in some cases, like the Duwamish Crossing – the new bridge that’ll be built to get the line across the river – the not-chosen north alternative, would not affect parks at all, but would be much more costly.

Board member Girmay Zahilay, King County Councilmember, said he was surfacing some concerns/questions from his fellow councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (who’s not on the board), such as the West Seattle Health Club impacts. Has ST engaged with her and/or addressed her concerns? Constantine said he had spoken with her often. CEO Goran Sparrman also said they’d engaged in “multiple conversations” regarding mitigation, and turned it over to Mestas for details. She promised “more open houses and roundtables to get feedback.” She said they’re working with the health club “on different options.”

Board member Dan Strauss, Seattle City Councilmember, said he’d heard concerns about the alignment but “staff has assured me” they can work through it, so he supports the preferred alternative: “We can’t stop now.” Mestas again said they’re looking at “how businesses operate” and so they’re examining construction methods – modular, off-site, for example – to reduce direct impacts. Strauss said he’s more focused on longterm impacts such as sidewalks, trash pickups, for example. Board member Jim Kastama, Puyallup Mayor, was worried that advancing this project could cause harm to Pierce County projects further down the line. McCartan said, no, it won’t, because these are design dollars – construction dollars could be a different story but they’ll get there when they get there. “You can move forward this project without imperiling extensions to Everett or Tacoma.”

Board member Bruce Harrell, Seattle Mayor, said he wants to be certain that it be easy for people to get involved with Sound Transit and this “megaproject,” whether small businesses or residents, “to make sure their concerns are heard.”

Board member Nancy Backus, Auburn Mayor, also voiced concerns about “subarea equity,” being sure that folks in all areas paying into ST are getting something for their money.

Board member Christine Frizzell, Lynnwood Mayor, said she’s heard the most from constituents and community members about the “sticker shock,” so she’s wanting to be assured that this and other projects are being presented with the most accurate approach. Mestas said this and other projects would all be evaluated with the same methodology. Frizzell pressed further: “Where did we go so wrong” on estimates? Mestas recapped the factors that had been mentioned previously, from “market conditions,” such as lack of competition, to “scope evolution.”

Board member Claudia Balducci, King County Councilmember, said, as she had at the System Expansion Committee, that absolute clarity on the board’s “levers” is vital. In recapping her committee’s discussion before the vote, she reiterated that “time is money” and things will only get more expensive if they wait.

Board member Bruce Dammeier, Pierce County Executive, said he’s excited about the budgetary discipline that the workplan (more on that later) will bring to this project and others – so he’s “cautiously optimistic.” But he said, “I still have concerns …” and he doesn’t see how even all the ideas for cost savings will cut the projected price tag by billions, so he is “very concerned that this project jeopardizes the ability to get to the spine.” So he said he would vote no, and he did.

Strauss added an amendment to the final resolution, summarized in Sound Transit’s post-meeting news release as follows:

The Board’s approved resolution included an amendment to move forward with the development and implementation of the workplan to improve the agency’s financial situation and move the West Seattle Link Extension through design. This amendment also directed the agency to continue working to reduce identified project impacts during the design phase and advancement of the workplan to achieve cost savings and to minimize community impacts in SODO and West Seattle, while continuing to provide enhanced transit integration and station access and engaging with impacted residents and businesses.

Before the final vote, Harrell reiterated that Seattle residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of ST3, and “we’ve done a lot of work to get to this point,” so “this is the right vote to take to support this project … at this point.”

And Constantine – who led the push to include West Seattle in ST3 almost a decade ago – recalled the board choosing a preferred alignment in 2022, making the project “a little more real.” Yes, he acknowledged, everyone is frustrated by the costs of delivering infrastructure projects. “We are seeing this EVERYWHERE,” he stressed. But “I really need us to keep our focus on moving projects forward even in times of financial volatility.” The design work and workplan will help them move beyond the only ways they’ve cut costs in the past, “scope reduction and delay. … If we become paralyzed, continuing that pattern of delay, and reducing what we’re willing to build, we’re going to (fail to) keep the promise we made to the voters.” He insisted that this isn’t just a stub, it builds capacity for the extension to Everett. “We’re going to learn how to deliver a capital program under these changed circumstances.” And he underscored that a vote to approve this action is not a final commitment to deliver the project at any cost. But he urged support for delivering light rail “to the 100,000 people who live on the Duwamish Peninsula.”

The resolution passed, 14-2, choosing the preferred alternative, as the “project to be built.” Dammeier and Kastama were the two “no” votes.

Earlier:

WEST SEATTLE WORKPLAN: As they had done at the System Expansion Committee two weeks ago, deputy CEO Terri Mestas and Hampton talked about the workplan that board chair Constantine had requested, including some toplines about ways they will look for cost savings. Here’s the full slide deck. Mestas noted that the next phase of this project will be “design validation” but many other milestones follow, including 80 percent design, when a key decision about going ahead with construction would be made.

A big part of the workplan also is setting up systems – such as dashboards – for “real-time monitoring” and reporting progress. Responding to some criticism at the committee meeting that the presentation was too generic, some details were added about touchstones for cost savings:

She also showed a funding timeline. Construction will take about 86 percent of the project funding.

The board also heard from Brian McCartan, a former ST CEO who has come on board as a consultant. He talked about four “buckets” for “financial opportunities,” and two later phases of financial focus. Mestas then showed three touchstones for next year, including board approval of a design-services contract, and “programmatic” planning such as reviewing lessons learned from ST2:

Right of way (ROW) acquisition had been mentioned a few times, so Mestas was asked at the end of the presentation about criteria for that. Hampton said that basically, it depends. Any way to prioritize properties that wish to be acquired? Hampton said there’s federal criteria for considering that, so it’s a possibility.

WHAT’S NEXT? A whole lot of activity – more intensive property acquisition talks, for one – and also an official step called the “record of decision.” Then, those touchstones – including “baselining” in the next few years to determine when and how much will be spent. See more details on the project website.

Two weeks after the Sound Transit Board‘s System Expansion Committee went on record in support of the “preferred alternative” for West Seattle light rail (WSB coverage here), a final board vote could come tomorrow. Deciding on West Seattle routing and station locations is on the agenda for the board’s monthly meeting, scheduled for an extended time period, 1:30-5 pm Thursday (October 24) in the board room at 401 S. Jackson on the south end of downtown. (The agenda also explains how to watch/participate online.) The meeting starts with a public-comment period, if you want to speak your mind on this one more time before the vote. What they won’t be resolving is how to cover the ever-rising cost, most recently estimated as high as $7 billion. The vote tomorrow would move the project further into design – it’s about 30 percent of the way now – and then funding decisions would come at other milestones in the process, particularly what’s known as “baselining.” Meantime, here’s the motion the board will consider Thursday.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Though the motion approved by a Sound Transit Board committee today recommends the West Seattle light-rail “project to be built,” committee members needed to be amply reassured that their vote was not a commitment that it will be built.

They got that reassurance from Terri Mestas, ST’s deputy CEO of megaproject delivery. She told System Expansion Committee members the board would have other milestone votes before a commitment to construction, while stressing that moving the project further along the design path was the only way to resolve some of the concerns.

Committee chair King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci of Bellevue observed that there are “some big questions besides cost.” But it’s the potential $7 billion price tag, which emerged with the Final Environmental Impact Statement last month, that hung in the air throughout the discussion.

Read More

By month’s end, the Sound Transit Board of Directors is expected to make its final decision on routing and station locations for West Seattle light rail. The first step is a vote at next Thursday’s System Expansion Committee meeting. The agenda for that meeting is out, and with it, the proposed resolution spelling out Sound Transit staff’s recommendation for the routing and station locations. The recommendation mirrors the “preferred alternative” from the Final Environmental Impact Statement – in short, the segments titled SODO 1c, DUW-1a, DEL-6b, and WSJ-5b (to find them more quickly, check the Executive Summary). The recommendation keeps all three proposed West Seattle stations (Delridge, Avalon, Junction). Here’s how the routing is described in words, without graphics, in the proposed board resolution:

The route, profile, and stations for the West Seattle Link Extension are identified in the following paragraphs (as generally described in the West Seattle Link Extension Final Environmental Impact Statement):

A. SODO Segment: The West Seattle Link Extension would begin just north of the existing SODO Station and travel at-grade west of and parallel to the existing Link light rail line replacing the SODO Busway. It would continue south at-grade under South Lander Street, which would be reconstructed as an overpass over the new and existing light rail. It would transition to an elevated guideway south of South Lander Street.

The new SODO Station would be at-grade, immediately west of the existing SODO Station. The existing at-grade pedestrian crossing of the light rail tracks at SODO Station would be closed, and a new pedestrian grade-separated crossing of both existing and new tracks would be used to access both stations. There would be a station access from the new South Lander Street bridge. Access to 4th Avenue South would occur via South Lander Street.

B. Duwamish Segment: Elevated route would continue along the west side of the existing light rail line, south from South Forest Street; continuing southwest to cross over to the south side of the Spokane Street Bridge and the West Seattle Bridge. The guideway would continue west and to the south side of the West Seattle Bridge, crossing over the Duwamish Waterway and Harbor Island on a new high-level fixed bridge. The height of the bridge could be adjusted through coordination with the United States Coast Guard. The guideway would then cross the northern edge of Pigeon Point in a combination of elevated guideway and retained cut-and-fill; turning southwest on an elevated structure that follows Delridge Way Southwest.

C. Delridge Segment: Elevated route would continue along the west side of Delridge Way Southwest, north of Southwest Andover Street. The elevated guideway would travel west along the north side of Southwest Yancy Street then cross Southwest Avalon Way, transitioning from elevated to at-grade in the vicinity of 32nd Avenue Southwest. The guideway would turn south to travel south along the east side of the West Seattle Bridge connection to Fauntleroy Way Southwest and transition into a retained cut.

The Delridge Station would be elevated north of Southwest Andover Street and west of Delridge Way Southwest in a northeast-southwest orientation.

D. West Seattle Junction Segment: Tunnel route would begin in a retained cut south of Southwest Yancy Street and follows the east side of the West Seattle Bridge/Fauntleroy Way Southwest to Southwest Genesee Street, entering into a tunnel at Southwest Genesee Street and 37th Avenue Southwest and curving southwest west of 37th Avenue Southwest to 41st Avenue Southwest to terminate at Southwest Hudson Street, with tail track in a north-south orientation under 41st Avenue Southwest. Preferred Option WSJ-5b is a refinement of Alternative WSJ-5 analyzed in the Draft EIS, and it was refined based on the Sound Transit Board’s direction to explore an option to shift a station entrance to 42nd Avenue Southwest at the Alaska Junction Station to improve access to the Alaska Junction.

The Avalon Station would be in a lidded retained cut south of Southwest Genesee Street, beneath 35th Avenue Southwest.

The Alaska Junction Station would be in a tunnel beneath 41st Avenue Southwest and Southwest Alaska Street. Station entrances would be on either side of Southwest Alaska Street. The entrance south of Southwest Alaska Street would be on the west side of 41st Avenue Southwest. The entrance north of Southwest Alaska Street would be on the east side of 41st Avenue Southwest.

The System Expansion Committee could vote on this resolution as-is, or could decide to amend it. Their meeting is scheduled to start at 1:30 pm Thursday (October 10) in the Santa Fe Room at Union Station downtown (401 S. Jackson); the meeting will also be streamed, as explained on the agenda, which also has information on how to comment. The next major step after this meeting is expected when the full board meets two weeks later.

ABOUT THE COST: As reported when the Final Environmental Impact Statement was published, the West Seattle extension’s cost projection has swollen, potentially past $7 billion. The decision on routing and station locations does not include an allotment of construction money; it moves the project further down the design road, which is expected to take three more years. Past the midway point in design is usually when a “baseline” budget will be set and approved, for example. At last month’s meeting, board members passed this motion “directing the (CEO) to develop a workplan on measures the agency will pursue to address rising project costs and inform future baselining decisions.”

Two notes related to the West Seattle Link Extension light-rail project:

BOARD MEETING: The routing/station-location decision is expected at next month’s Sound Transit Board meeting, but two related items are on the agenda for the board’s 1:30 pm meeting this afternoon. One is a presentation about the newly released Final Environmental Impact Statement. The other addresses its revelation that the projected cost is now as high as $7.1 billion; at last week’s Executive Committee meeting, board chair King County Executive Dow Constantine mentioned he’d be making a motion for a “workplan” to address that. The motion was available on the ST website yesterday but the list of documents for today’s board meeting seems to be temporarily unavailable, so we’re requesting the motion via email to link here in case that doesn’t get fixed quickly. (Update: Here it is.) The agenda explains how to attend this afternoon’s meeting, either in-person or online.

DROP-IN SESSION #1: We got to Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in the final half-hour of last night’s two-hour drop-in session offered for people with questions about the Final EIS. ST says next Tuesday’s session in The Junction will offer the same components, so we made note of those during our visit. First, of course, easels:

Of the ~20 boards on easels and tabletops, only a few focus on specific segments of the route. Most are more big-picture, such as showing the West Seattle spur’s place in the regional network, both when it opens in 2032 and when the Ballard extension opens in 2039:

You can browse a hard copy of the Final EIS:

And if you have questions about the property-acquisition process, there was a table for that:

Since the release of the Final EIS did not trigger the same type of formal comment period as the Draft EIS in 2022, this meeting isn’t geared toward commenting, although ST’s Rachelle Cunningham told us whatever’s received will be shown to the board. We saw scattered sticky notes:

The two remaining drop-in sessions – no presentations, just the opportunity to view materials like these and ask questions one-on-one – are set for Tuesday, Oct. 1, 4:30-6:30 pm at Alki Masonic Center (4736 40th SW), with Spanish and Vietnamese interpretation available, and Wednesday, Oct. 2, 11 am-1 pm at Gallery B612 (1915 First Ave. S. in SODO).

Two notes as Sound Transit moves toward finalizing the plan for West Seattle’s light-rail route and station locations:

DROP-IN MEETINGS: With the official release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, Sound Transit announced three drop-in meetings, two in West Seattle. The first is tomorrow (Wednesday, September 25), 4:30-6:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW); the second is next Tuesday (October 1), 4:30-6:30 pm at Alki Masonic Center (4736 40th SW). We verified two things today with ST spokesperson Rachelle Cunningham: First, no presentation is planned for these meetings – they are 100 percent drop-in and circulate around the room. Second, both will feature exactly the same material (we had wondered if the Delridge meeting would be focused on the Delridge station/segment, for example). If you can’t get to either of those, there’s also a drop-in session in SODO 11 am-1 pm October 2 (Studio B612, 1915 First Ave. S.).

PRO-LIGHT RAIL NEIGHBOR’S VISION: The board has to decide – perhaps in just one month – which of multiple routes the line would travel. Some community members are getting in one more push for their preferences. In our report on last week’s ST Executive Committee meeting, we mentioned that a West Seattle property owner told the committee she favored Delridge 6A over 6B. We didn’t get into why. The property owner, Beth Boomgard-Zagrodnik, has since provided us with a written version of the vision behind what she voiced:

I did say that Del-6A option makes more sense than the currently “preferred” Del-6B from an impacts comparison perspective; but the more relevant dimension of the comment is that Del-6B leaves a parcel of 12 single family homes materially impacted, but not acquired in the dregs our current neighborhood (on 85K combined sqft) at Andover and 32nd SW [map].

Here is the rendering from the FEIS of the view south on 32nd from Andover. My driveways are shown on the right next to my neighbor’s mailbox. (Marilyn Kennell‘s (of Rethink the Link) house is also not acquired and is next to the Monkey Puzzle tree on the opposite side of the tracks for reference.) This proposal does not relate to that south side of the proposed track.

Here is the view of the 12 parcels from the FEIS. I have augmented the picture with triangles (red are the homes owned by my neighbors and the blue ones owned by Joe and I / our small business). These homes are in a 5-min walkshed of the Avalon Station and I believe it is worth exploring if there is a better use for this land than keeping it as single-family homes, low-density, car-centric – particularly given how dramatically the neighborhood will change with construction / operation.

Here is the image from the FEIS with pink homes being acquired and empty parcels mapping to above triangles.

I reached out to Homestead Community Land Trust for over a year to begin exploring how I might advocate for a better outcome for my neighborhood and a more pragmatic development vision for the Avalon Station – starting with the two lots we own. We continue to jointly explore avenues to both advocate to Sound Transit, City of Seattle, County, State and community housing organizations and paint a vision for what could be on these parcels.

Specifically, Joe and I are advocating for:

-the timely delivery of the light rail extension to West Seattle (a unique perspective in the verbal public comments [at the committee meeting])
-for Sound Transit to consider acquiring some or all of the triangle lots as a part of the acquisition process should the prefered alternative (Del-6b) proceed.

If acquired, we would encourage ST to then sell or transfer the combined parcels to the city / private affordable housing developers / community groups (like Homestead) as they have done with other parcels elsewhere in the system build out for transit-oriented affordable housing development.

OR

for the City to accelerate and increase the level of upzoning associated with these parcels to LR-2 and then working with a community land trust or similar organization to acquire some or all of the parcels to build transit-oriented affordable housing.

Should Sound Transit acquire the parcels, this land could be used for construction staging or immediately – instead of almost 20 years after the fact as was the case in the Rainier Valley – be transferred to transit-oriented affordable housing developers to redevelop the parcels, increasing the availability of affordable housing in the immediate walkshed of the Avalon Station in line with the construction timelines. This means Sound Transit would directly help increase the number of affordable housing units in the project vicinity – serving as a true development agency, not just one that provides transit. Moreover, should Mayor Harrell be bolder in the One Seattle Plan regarding zoning in the neighborhood, there is opportunity for tremendous transit-oriented, affordable density on this combined parcel.

Boomgard-Zagrodnik said her family and neighbors were scheduled to meet this week with Sound Transit. Time is running out to influence the board’s upcoming decision – a recommendation is expected to be presented to the System Expansion Committee on October 10, and the full board’s vote is penciled in for just two weeks after that, on October 24. Meantime, the board’s next meeting is 1:30-4:30 pm this Thursday (September 26), with a presentation on the West Seattle Final EIS, as well as a public comment periood; the agenda explains how to participate.