Kent could see a new downtown parking garage for Sounder train riders and the expansion of light rail to South 272nd Street under a Sound Transit proposal.
The projects are part of the candidates for the ST3 ballot measure the agency’s board plans to send to voters in November in an effort expand mass transit throughout the regional system between Tacoma and Everett with an estimated population growth of one million over the next 25 years.
The Sound Transit Board will narrow the list by March with a draft proposal and figure out by June how much to ask voters to approve increased taxes and fees to fund the projects.
“To meet the mobility challenges of our rapidly growing region it is our job to work out the right level of investment and mix of projects for the public to consider,” said Sound Transit Board Chair and King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a media release. “The decisions we make over the coming year will shape our region for generations to come.”
The board at a recent workshop discussed proposals to put before voters, including a 15-year measure that could generate up to $15 billion through new taxes and fees the Legislature in 2015 authorized Sound Transit to seek approval from voters. Those measures are:
• Property tax of up to 25 cents for each $1,000 of assessed valuation ($75 annually for a $300,000 house). A property tax was identified as a way to establish a more progressive revenue source for regional transit investments that reduces reliance on the sales tax.
• Sales tax of up to an additional 0.5 percent (50 cents on a $100 purchase).
• Motor vehicle excise tax (MVET) of up to 0.8 percent of vehicle value ($80 annually on a $10,000 vehicle).
Commuter trains are the primary way some Kent residents benefit directly from Sound Transit. An average of 1,131 riders board the train each weekday at Kent Station, according to Sound Transit documents.
Sounder trains travel weekday mornings and afternoons between Lakewood and Seattle with stops in South Tacoma, Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner, Auburn, Kent and Tukwila. Sounder also serves select major weekend events such as Mariners and Seahawks games. Adult fares are between $2.75 and $5.25 depending on how far you travel.
The ST3 candidate projects include building a 450-stall parking garage in downtown Kent; expansion of station platforms to handle eight or 10 train cars rather than the current seven; and possibly increase operations to all day and on weekends.
Sound Transit already has the funds to expand light rail from SeaTac to Kent by 2023, with a station planned for east of Pacific Highway South near 30th Avenue South. Construction is expected to start in 2019.
The new proposal would extend the tracks another two miles along the west side of I-5 to South 272nd Street in Kent as well as to Tacoma. The agency also would build a 1,240-stall parking garage at the Star Lake site at South 272nd Street.
The extension of light rail to Star Lake, the building of the Kent Station parking garage and the expansion of station platforms to handle more rail cars each were part of Sound Transit 15-year funding package (ST2) approved by voters in 2008. But that $17 billion package ran out of money to cover the Kent projects.
For more information about the proposed ST3 projects, go to soundtransit3.org.
Kent proposed ST3 projects:
Light rail:
• Extend tracks from Kent to Star Lake (South 272nd Street)
• 2-mile route would go along the west side of I-5 in a mixed elevated and at-grade guideway
• Parking garage at Star Lake Station with about 1,240 stalls
• Cost $513-$545 million
Sounder commuter train:
• New Kent Station parking garage with 450 stalls
• Cost $36-$39 million
• Expand train platforms at Kent Staton and other stops
• Could handle eight cars rather than current seven
• Cost $98-$105 million
• Expansion to 10 cars would cost about $133 million
• Operate beyond current weekday peak mornings and afternoons
• Potential all-day service, i.e., every 30, 60 of 120 minutes
• Add weekend service, possibly every 90 minutes from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
• Cost to be determined after more analysis
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