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.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

In June 2016, the Sound Transit Board voted to go to the ballot with the ST3 plan, including light rail to West Seattle by 2030. At the time, the WS extension was bundled with the Ballard extension, and the cost of both was estimated to total $7.1 billion.

Eight years later, that’s the new high-end estimate for West Seattle light rail alone (Ballard is proceeding on a different track).

Revised cost estimates arrive as the board is on the verge of finalizing a route and station locations for the West Seattle extension. The Final Environmental Impact Statement is out, and the board’s Executive Committee was told today that a project recommendation is expected to emerge from the System Expansion Committee in just three weeks. But will it resemble the “preferred alternative” that’s been studied, given the new potential price tag?

ST’s new deputy CEO for megaproject delivery, Terri Mestas, spoke calmly about the “cost evolution” as she and West Seattle project leader Jason Hampton presented their update at the committee meeting. Mestas listed a wide variety of factors for the higher estimate, from the methodology used in estimating to the higher cost of materials such as concrete to “market conditions” such as a “limited labor and contractor pool.”

In addition, “process delays” and “pandemic impacts” figured into it too, Mestas said.

This was a briefing, not a prelude to a vote, so the committee members’ discussion was limited to some early takes. The committee’s chair, King County Executive Dow Constantine – observing that he’s the only board member who lives in West Seattle – said he’s “disappointed” by the new estimate. But, he stressed, it’s “important not to be paralyzed or overwhelmed” by the number, to get the project “designed and shovel-ready,” while moving ahead “in financially prudent ways.” He said he’s drafting a motion for next week’s full board meeting to “inform” their forthcoming financial decisions. Constantine opened his remarks with a defense of West Seattle light rail – which he led the fight to get into the ST3 ballot measure in 2016 – saying the peninsula needs “redundancy,” and citing a recent (unattributed) poll as showing that 72 percent of peninsula residents want light rail.

Committee member Claudia Balducci, a King County Councilmember from the eastside, invoked a modified version of the Serenity Prayer in her comments, saying it’s important to “understand what we can and can’t change … let’s get to work on what we can influence.”

Committee member Bruce Dammeier, Pierce County Executive, called the estimate “very concerning … we should all be concerned about the impact on the rest of the system … there may be some very difficult decisions ahead of us.” He also urged that the focus stay on “delivering ridership” rather than “the nicest stations” and other discretionary elements.

Speaking of ridership, West Seattle project leader Hampton recapped those projections during his part of the briefing, which was meant to hit key points of the Final EIS, not just the cost estimates:

Hampton noted that the high-end Junction estimate is what they’d expect to see there if the Avalon station is dropped – which remains a possibility – and that the Delridge ridership would in large part be people transferring from buses. He also briefly recapped the routing/station-location alternatives studied for the Final EIS; you can see those pages in the full slide deck.

Two routing-specific comments were heard from community members at the start of the meeting. First, a business owner at Jefferson Square – currently expected to be demolished for construction of the Junction station – said a coalition had come together around proposing that the location be moved a short distance east to the Bank of America site instead. Next, a property owner in the Avalon area, Beth Boomgard-Zagrodnik, said the DEL6A option makes more sense than the currently “preferred” DEL6B. She was followed by John Niles of Smarter Transit – whose Sound Transit-skeptic group held a West Seattle event two months ago – saying the WS project’s metrics are “unsustainable.” The numbers are “screaming ‘do not build’,” he contended. Marilyn Kennell, whose home is in the project’s potential path, said terms of the original 2016 vote allowed for reconsideration, and repeated calls for a West Seattle town hall – “We need a conversation.” And two other West Seattleites, Kim Schwarzkopf and Lucy Barefoot, urged that the project simply not be built.

Earlier in the meeting, there was a glimmer of hope on the financial front, when interim CEO Goran Sparrman (whose time in that role has just been extended into next year) talked about “reforms” he said had been recommended by ST’s Technical Advisory Group. He said they hope to apply some of them to the West Seattle project “as part of a suite of cost-control measures.”

So here’s the timeline they’re working on for decisionmaking – a routing/station-location recommendation on October 10, a board vote as soon as October 24:

But, as clarified in response to a question from Dammeier during committee members’ discussion, voting on “the project to be built” isn’t the same thing as allocating money for it – that would happen about two years later, Constantine and Mestas clarified. How much money will be needed – that depends on those “difficult” decisions in the weeks ahead. In the big picture, here’s the expected timeline for design and construction:

In ST3, West Seattle light rail was projected for a 2030 launch; in 2020, that was pushed to 2031; it moved to 2032 one year later, when ST “realigned” its multi-project schedule because of dramatically increasing costs.

REMINDER: Though the Final EIS has been available since last week, its official publication date is tomorrow (Friday, September 20), and ST plans a series of informational meetings starting next Wednesday:

When: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Where: Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW, West Seattle
Spanish, Vietnamese, and Somali interpretation will be provided.

When: Tuesday, Oct. 1, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Where: Alki Masonic Center, 4736 40th Ave SW, West Seattle
Spanish and Vietnamese interpretation will be provided.

When: Wednesday, Oct. 2, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Where: Gallery B612, 1915 First Ave. S, SODO

As happened in 2022 with the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Sound Transit has published the Final EIS for West Seattle light rail ahead of its official release date (September 20). We’ve been watching the ST site for the likelihood this would happen (as explained in 2022, “early” publication relates to the Federal Register); thanks to Joe for the tip that it happened since our last check early today. We haven’t started reading it but are publishing links for those ready to dive right in. You can start here – that page has links to more than 50 chapters and appenndices. If you want to skip right to the key points, you can start with the 44-page Executive Summary, find that here. This is all a prelude to the Sound Transit Board making its final decision on routing and station locations; the date for that is not yet set.

ADDED 1:30 PM: If you’re interested in seeing more renderings (the one we featured atop this story was from the Executive Summary), tipster Joe reminds us that the 268-page Visual and Technical Aesthetics section is where you’ll find them – go here and scroll ahead to page 73 (titled Attachment N.2A: Key Observation Point Analysis). You’ll find dozens of images, such as this one showing what the light-rail line’s new dedicated bridge might look like:

More to come. Meantime, we also should remind you that ST has announced in-person informational sessions for September 25 and October 1 in West Seattle, October 2 in SODO – details here.

Earlier this week, we noted in this light-rail-related story that a Sound Transit meeting was penciled into the Alki Masonic Lodge calendar for October 1, observing that was perhaps a hint at the timeline for the long-awaited Final Environmental Impact Statement release. Now it’s official – the Final EIS will be out on September 20, and ST has three information sessions planned, including October 1 at the Masonic Center. Here’s the full announcement from ST:

We are excited to share that the West Seattle Link Extension (WSLE) Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be published on Sept. 20, 2024! We appreciate the years of engagement with the community that have gotten us to this point.

The Final EIS includes updates based on continued design and comments received on the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions (WSBLE) Draft EIS and responds to substantive public, agency, and Tribal comments (project-wide comments and comments specific to WSLE) submitted during the WSBLE Draft EIS comment period. The Final EIS will be available online on Sept. 20.

In the weeks following publication of the Final EIS, the Sound Transit Board will consider action to select the project to be built, based on years of technical analysis and community feedback, bringing us one step closer to providing fast, reliable new light rail connections to residential and job centers in the SODO, Delridge, and West Seattle neighborhoods. We will share more about Board meetings in future email updates. In the meantime, we will be hosting drop-in events to share information about the project and answer your questions. You can visit the drop-in sessions at any time to review materials and talk with staff.

When: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Where: Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW, West Seattle
Spanish, Vietnamese, and Somali interpretation will be provided.

When: Tuesday, Oct. 1, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Where: Alki Masonic Center, 4736 40th Ave SW, West Seattle
Spanish and Vietnamese interpretation will be provided.

When: Wednesday, Oct. 2, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Where: Gallery B612, 1915 First Ave. S, SODO

The first ST Board meeting after the release will be 1:30 pm September 26 (board members regularly meet on fourth Thursdays); the agenda will be published here. The Draft EIS was published in January 2022.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

One notable achievement of Tuesday night’s Transit Town Hall: A few of the local business owners facing likely relocation because of light rail got a very public chance to put Sound Transit reps on the spot.

That happened during the live Q&A comprising almost half the two-hour event. As shown in our first report Tuesday night, the event – presented by the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and 34th District Democrats – began with an ST recap of project planning, from 2016’s ST3 vote to the current status, awaiting the Final Environmental Impact Statement “in the late third quarter,” which will be followed by a final vote on routing/station locations.

Then it was time for Q&A – both pre-submitted and asked live. We’ll start with the latter. First, video of the in-person Q&A:

The most pointed exchanges were with business owners facing relocation, including Erin Rubin of Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) and nonprofit Mode Music and Performing Arts, which serve hundreds of students.

(WSB photo: Mode’s Erin Rubin, with moderator Jordan Crawley)

Rubin recounted waiting for a promised reply from ST real-property director Faith Roland – one of the panelists – that never came, and made a request that she’s made to ST before: Why can’t she get an evaluation from ST now rather than having to wait for the official vote on the Delridge station location that will almost certainly displace her business? Starting the resource-providing conversation now, she said, would “make us feel more secure.”

Read More

We counted about 60 people at the peak of tonight’s “Transit Town Hall” with four Sound Transit reps answering West Seattle light-rail questions in a forum organized by the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and 34th District Democrats. We’re presenting our coverage in two reports, as the meeting served multiple purposes. First, Sound Transit made some news by offering an updated, narrower window estimating when the next milestone in the planning process, the Final Environmental Impact Statement, will arrive: “Toward the end of the third quarter,” said ST’s Leda Chahim. That suggests it’s about two months away. The FEIS is a necessary precursor to the Sound Transit Board finalizing a route and station locations. Meantime, the ST reps at the Town Hall began with a half-hour presentation recapping how the project got to its current point and what’s next – here’s our video:

The presentation was followed by moderator Jordan Crawley – active with both presenting organizations and with a business that may have to relocate, Alki Beach Academy – asking pre-submitted questions, and then opening the floor to attendees’ questions. We’ll cover all that in our second report tomorrow. But before we wrap up this short first report, we’re noting three rumors that were debunked during the Q&A period:

1) Will the early years of WS Link require a two- or three-seat for bus-to-light rail riders to get downtown? No, said Metro’s Chris Arkills, declaring that the West Seattle bus routes will NOT be restructured until the Ballard extension is complete too (currently projected for 2039, seven years after West Seattle), which will enable West Seattle light-rail riders to get downtown without transferring.

2) Will light-rail construction affect the West Seattle Bridge? One attendee asked this, saying he’d heard a rumor that the bridge could be closed for eight years by the project. Absolutely not, said the ST contingent; the project will build a separate light-rail-only bridge.

3) The same attendee said he’d also “heard” that Nucor is moving and if so, why isn’t light rail being routed through that site? The ST reps said that’s a false rumor too, that Nucor’s told them it’s staying put,

The most pointed moments of the Q&A came toward the end, when several owners of businesses likely to have to move confronted the ST reps about inadequate interaction regarding questions and requests, despite ST talking a good game about working with businesses. What they said, and how ST replied, will be part of our second report tomorrow. As for what’s next, besides the ST process continuing, Chamber board chair Lindsay Wolpa wrapped up the meeting by promising that her organization would coordinate more conversations about various aspects of the project.

(Sound Transit project map)

Two weeks ago, two local organizations – the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and 34th District Democrats – announced a Transit Town Hall for questions and answers about the Sound Transit light-rail project, as decision time draws near. Tomorrow’s the night – Tuesday (July 23), 7 pm, at the Center for Active Living (4217 SW Oregon). You can send a question in advance by using this form. That same form includes a short survey you’re invited to answer even if you don’t have a question. Meantime, next major step in the project is the release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement – no date yet but expected within the next few months.

4:55 PM: The Rally for Relocation is happening now, in support of businesses that are expected to have to move because they’re in the path of West Seattle light rail’s likely routing and station locations. Their message is not anti-light rail, but rather, they want better relocation compensation, and they want to ensure customers will keep coming even as all this results in a few years of uncertainty. They’re marching back and forth along Delridge, from Ounces to the Andover corner, intermittently – chanting “SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS” – with a rally/speeches planned at Ounces around 6 pm.

ADDED: We asked two of the business owners, Laurel Trujillo of Ounces and Jordan Crawley of Alki Beach Academy, about the message they hoped the demonstration would convey:

Crawley is also a member of the 34th District Democrats‘ board and is moderating the “Transit Town Hall” they’re co-presenting with the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce on July 23.

Three notes about West Seattle’s planned light-rail extension:

MORE SOIL SAMPLING: Sound Transit continues work in various neighborhoods, and Debora sent that photo after the latest notice for geotechnical work on the south side of SW Genesee east of 35th SW, potentially lasting through the middle of next week.

RALLY FOR RELOCATION: Reminder that tomorrow is the day businesses in the project path are hoping to rally community support for better relocation compensation, as first announced last month. All this will be happening in the 3800 block of Delridge Way SW – home to Ounces, Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor), Mode Music and Performing Arts, and The Skylark, 4 pm to 7 pm Thursday. We mentioned it when it was first announced; here’s the reminder from organizers:

West Seattle Businesses and community members will rally together in support of the 60+ West Seattle Businesses that face relocation as a result of light rail extension to West Seattle.

A Rally for Relocation will take place on Thursday, July 11th from 4-7 pm at Ounces Taproom & Beer Garden in West Seattle. From 4:30-6 pm, supporters will walk on Delridge Way SW in front of the North Delridge Businesses Facing Relocation (from Skylark Cafe to Delridge Deli Mart, just off the ramp to the West Seattle Bridge), followed by a rally and community gathering at Ounces.

The rally aims to raise community awareness and advocate for adequate relocation support for affected businesses, ensuring their survival if the West Seattle light rail project is approved this summer.

Businesses and residents will urge the Sound Transit Board: Preserve West Seattle’s character and economy. Ensure local businesses have the resources to relocate and thrive alongside the new light rail.

The rally stems from a petition at displacedbylightrail.com, initiated by local businesses to highlight their precarious situation. With nearly 2,000 signatures and growing, it underscores concerns about insufficient relocation funding from Sound Transit. Many affected businesses fear closure without adequate financial support and assistance.

MEDIA BRIEFING: Organizers of the Rally for Relocation reiterate that they’re not trying to stop light rail. However, a different group that is – at least temporarily – plans a West Seattle media briefing earlier in the day. At 10:30 am at Jefferson Square, the organization Smarter Transit says it will discuss its demands for ST accountability:

-Present key data showing ST3 work will not solve our region’s transportation issues nor alleviate greenhouse gas emissions.
-Ask the Legislature to require Sound Transit to create a post-pandemic plan to increase ridership, decrease single car drivers and lower greenhouse gases.
-Discuss their petition local residents may sign demanding accountability and pausing ST3 planning until the agency shows voters transit alternatives that achieve less congestion, lower emissions and promote greater cost efficiency with taxpayer dollars.
-Promote passing legislation to make the ST Board directly elected by district via publicly funded campaigns to end the cost overruns and lack of oversight.

This group is not exclusively focused on West Seattle; its roots go back to the ’00s.

Sometime in the next few months, Sound Transit is expected to release the Final Environmental Impact Report on West Seattle light rail, followed by a board vote on routing and station locations. With that looming, the 34th District Democrats and West Seattle Chamber of Commerce have just announced a “Transit Town Hall” for 7 pm Tuesday, July 23:

Presented by the 34th District Democrats and the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, this forum with Sound Transit staff intends to educate West Seattle residents about the proposed Link extension project ahead of the vote to identify the project to be built.

As it stands, the project would include three light rail stations: Delridge (at Delridge and Andover), Avalon (at 35th and Avalon), and West Seattle Junction (at Alaska and 41st). The presentation and forum will provide background about ST3, review of the project plan and timeline, detail the alternatives proposed and the possible alignments, discuss the financial cost and community impacts, provide an overview of the entitlements for displaced residents and businesses, and end on a call to action.

The event will conclude with a question-and-answer segment. If you would like to submit your questions ahead of time, you may do so on this form. Pre-submitted questions will be asked at the beginning of the segment by our moderator.

Even if you don’t have a question, follow the form link to reply to a short survey. The venue is the Center for Active Living (ex-Senior Center), 4217 SW Oregon.

(Across from potential Delridge station location)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Today’s West Seattle light-rail “route walk” organized by Rethink the Link wasn’t a rally or protest.

What we heard and saw, walking along, was more like a collection of conversations. The three-dozen-plus participants included not just the light-rail skeptics of Rethink the Link and curious residents but also light-rail supporters, including at least one member of the Transportation Choices Coalition, and an advocate who toted this sign throughout the hour-and-a-half event:

Other transit advocates, including writers for the Seattle Transit Blog, were there too. So there were many perspectives in play as participants talked one-on-one along most of the round-trip mile-long walk from West Seattle Health Club to the middle of the low bridge and back, between multiple stops along a potential path for the train. At those stops, whoever was in earshot heard from RTL’s Alan McMurray, a route-area resident described as someone who walks to work in SODO and is therefore quite familiar with the route: “For the last four years, as I walk, I wonder how they’re going to do it.” The group gathered in the parking lot of the health club, whose management has expressed concern about a potential path that could take out its pool.

From there, walkers headed over Longfellow Creek via the SW Yancy footbridge – where environmental concerns were noted – then to Andover and into the office park that’s in a potential Delridge-station footprint, home to Alki Beach Academy and other businesses, alongside the Nucor steel plant, and looked upslope at the back of Delridge-fronting businesses also facing displacement – Ounces, The Skylark, Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) and Mode Music and Performing Arts. Here’s the station rendering that’s been most recently shown:

Walking toward the low bridge, participants’ attention was directed toward Pigeon Point, along which the high bridge already runs, with West Seattle light rail requiring an additional new bridge to cross the Duwamish River.

The new bridge is expected to be at least as tall as the existing bridge, McMurray noted. How that’ll be built has yet to be finalized, but it’s expected to require some digging into Pigeon Point – “some kind of major cut” –
where herons nest. One took wing as walkers looked on, while birds’ coexistence with human-built infrastructure was on display too, as peregrine falcons’ nesting boxes on the underside of the high bridge were pointed out.

After trooping back along the path on the east side of Delridge, the group stopped for another perspective of the Skylark/Mode business building, when a person standing along the road shouted, “We don’t need no damn light rail!” A few participants responded “hear, hear”; he then said cheerfully, “OK, I’m done.”

Wrapping up shortly thereafter, McMurray explained the intent of the walk was “just meant to give you an idea of what it’s going to take” to build the West Seattle Link Extension through that area. A participant asked, “What can we do?” McMurray noted that the Final Environmental Impact Statement – precursor to a final vote on a route – is expected to be published this summer, and then there’s a “30-day window” before that final action can be taken. That’s the time to “be heard … make sure they hear you,” he said. Someone else pointed out that comments can be sent to Sound Transit now, too. (Contact info is on the project website.)

Whatever your view, McMurray concluded, “There is this common ground we all agree on – better transit.”

1:30 PM: “All opinions are welcome.” That declaration is part of the invitation on the flyer for Rethink the Link‘s “route walk” of the proposed Delridge light-rail station vicinity (and beyond) on Sunday. They’re looking ahead to a community forum requested by King County Executive and Sound Transit Board of Directors chair Dow Constantine (we checked with ST this week and there’s no date set for that yet). They’ll be gathering at the West Seattle Health Club (28th/Andover) at 10 am Sunday (June 9). The map is on the group’s website in case you can’t join the walk or prefer to explore on your own. The group in general contends there are better alternatives for moving more West Seattleites across the Duwamish River, such as improving existing transit service. The Sound Transit Board is on a track to finalize a light rail route later this year, but first the agency has to release the Final Environmental Impact Statement, expected in the next few months. This is the second major public “route walk” that Rethink the Link has offered since it formed last year.

3:04 PM: This afternoon, Sound Transit sent its email list a note reiterating what we noted above – no date yet for the West Seattle light-rail final EIS to be published. From that email:

… We expect to publish the Final EIS later this year, which will include responses to comments received on the Draft EIS. While we’re getting close, we do not have a date set for publication yet. We will share more information about specific timing for the availability of the Final EIS when we can.

After the Final EIS is published, the Sound Transit Board will select the project to be built. Their decision will consider the years of technical study and public engagement since 2018. In the past, we gathered your feedback through station planning and neighborhood forum events, scoping and Draft EIS comment periods, community briefings, and one-on-one meetings. Following the Board’s decision and the Record of Decision by the Federal Transit Administration, the project will move into the design phase.

What is the design phase? The design phase will focus on advancing detailed design of the guideway and stations and preparing for construction. This includes refining what the facilities will look like, how the stations fit within neighborhoods, and how people will move through the station. We look forward to engaging with you as the design advances. …

1:42 PM: Two weeks ago, we reported on West Seattle Health Club‘s request for member support in opposing a possible light-rail route that would among other things take out their pool, which in turn followed County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda‘s plea to the Sound Transit Board to consider alternatives that would spare area businesses. Today, WSHC has sent a followup with word that the concerns are gaining traction. Thanks to those who forwarded us the email, which tells members, in part:

… Your support has made a difference. The Executive’s office has responded positively to our request, and questions are being raised about modifying route options. The original plan to finalize this location in June has been delayed. A summary of all the public comments they received on the gym/pool was read out loud into the record at yesterday’s Sound Transit Board meeting and the turnout was impressive. Executive Dow Constantine has requested that Sound Transit host a community forum. We will keep you updated as we learn more.

Our petition will remain available at the front desk and online at https://chng.it/VH4L96c6Dn . Additionally, we invite you to join members of our community for a “Walk the Route” event on Sunday, June 9th at 10 am, starting in our parking lot and ending at the West Seattle lower bridge. …

The next step before the ST Board can finalize the West Seattle routing will be the release of the final Environmental Impact Statement; for months, ST has said only that it’s expected to be out “midyear” (we’re checking on whether they’ve refined that timeline yet). Environmental studies are continuing (as noted here last week).

2:44 PM: ST spokesperson Rachelle Cunningham says “summer” is the only current timeline for the final EIS. She also says that since Executive Constantine just made the community-forum request yesterday, there’s nothing official on that yet, but we might hear more next week.

Sound Transit is still working on its final Environmental Impact Statement for West Seattle light rail – that’s the next major milestone before final routing decisions. Environmental studies have included drilling for samples at various sites around the area, and two more rounds have been announced. Sound Transit sent us the notices:

*”As soon as” May 20 (next Monday), 41st SW south of Edmunds (here’s the notice with details)

*”As soon as May 29, 41st SW (here’s the notice with details) north of Edmunds

No date yet for the final EIS to go public – ST has most recently said “midyear.”

It’s been a month since we first reported on County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda standing before the Sound Transit Board and asking them to put West Seattle light rail on a Delridge route that could bypass and potentially save local businesses. Those local businesses also have been taking their case to the board, while making contingency plans; we talked with Erin Rubin of Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) and Mode Music and Performing Arts in this report. Now another business in the project’s path, West Seattle Health Club, is asking its members for support. Several readers have forwarded us this message sent to WSHC members by club management today:

We have been informed of the recent decision by Sound Transit to alter its initial plan for the West Seattle Light Rail. Rather than running it around the West Seattle Health Club, the preferred route would require placing a pillar through our pool. We have been working diligently, alongside local businesses and King County Councilmember, Teresa Mosqueda, to ensure that our concerns are heard by the Sound Transit board. Specifically, we have requested a refinement of the plan to place the pillar 20 feet west of the club or over the top. The board has acknowledged our request, and a final decision will be made in June.

We are advocating for a change in the decision, which, while not immediately impacting the gym, would, over time, have significant ramifications. The removal of the West Seattle Health Club would not only result in the loss of a gym but also the displacement of a community. We believe that the decision-makers on the board may not fully appreciate the gym’s value to our community. Some of you have been members since the early 2000s when the gym was known as Allstar Fitness. You have shown remarkable loyalty and dedication to the club and its community, even during challenging times of poor management and financial struggles. We are aware that you have expressed concerns about the proposed changes because you do not wish to lose a community staple that has become so important to you. Some of you have made lifelong friends at the West Seattle Health Club, formerly known as Allstar Fitness, and have been members for over two decades. We are not merely a gym. We are an all-inclusive community that provides a sense of belonging and support. While there may be several other gym options in the area, none can match the feeling of walking through the doors of the West Seattle Health Club.

We support Sound Transit’s efforts to bring the Light Rail to the West Seattle community. However, the removal of our gym will have a profound impact, not only on our community of over 6200 members but also on over 100 employees who travel to West Seattle and support the businesses in the area. We implore you to support us in our efforts to communicate to the Sound Transit board that placing a pillar through the pool of the West Seattle Health Club is not merely a matter of relocating another business. It would have far-reaching consequences.

If you wish to voice your opinion, please contact Cali Knight at CKnight@kingcounty.gov and Shannon Braddock at Shannon.Braddock@kingcounty.gov.

Shannon Braddock, a West Seattleite, is deputy county executive for County Executive Dow Constantine, also a West Seattleite, who is on the Sound Transit Board. Calli Knight is also on the executive’s staff, as infrastructure initiatives director. The board has not yet made a decision about final routing but is expected to vote in the second half of this year, after the final Environmental Impact Statement is released (no date for that yet beyond “midyear”).

The Sound Transit System Expansion Committee‘s monthly meeting just wrapped up. The only formal mention of the West Seattle Link Extension was this brief update toward the end of the meeting:

While presenting that slide, ST’s Don Billen mentioned another possible stretch in the timeline, saying – without elaboration – that the time between the Final EIS and the Record of Decision (which follows the board’s final vote on the exact routing and station locations) might be “longer than we’re used to.” They’re also waiting for final federal signoff on the plan recently approved to start the process of “early acquisition” of some properties in North Delridge and SODO.

At the start of the meeting, during open public comment, the only person to speak about West Seattle light rail was King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda. She pleaded with the board members to consider slight “refinements” in the Delridge station location and route that she said could save money and businesses. Along Yancy, for example, a short distance west of the Delridge station, she said a 20-foot shift in pillar locations could prevent some demolition. Same for moving the station location about 100 feet. “Use surface streets and parking lots” rather than going over existing businesses on which a thriving community – including her family, North Delridge residents – relies. She told the board that, to be clear, she and the businesses are all very much in favor of light rail – “we WANT light rail” – they just think that “refinements” could make it more of a win-win. (Added: Here’s everything she told, and wanted to tell, the board members, in PDF.)

Meantime, two of the businesses in the current path of the station location, Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) and The Skylark, both have sent open letters to their mailing lists in the past 18 hours, asking for community help. We’re working on a separate followup about that.