Should the light rail station under construction along Pacific Highway South in Kent be called Midway, Highline, Highline College or Kent-Des Moines?
Sound Transit wants final public input before the Sound Transit Board plans to pick a name in May. The new station and parking garage is going up just east of Pacific Highway South and Highline College, south of Kent Des Moines Road and about midway between Seattle and Tacoma.
“One of the crucial final steps in the process is to complete the public engagement by vetting the shortlist of names with you and asking for your comments on the potential names,” according to an April 12 Sound Transit project update.
Comments will be captured and become part of the official decision criteria for choosing final station names, according to the agency.
Sound Transit’s Station Naming Policy was updated in 2021 to ensure stations and facility names have continued relevancy, allow for future system expansion, and most importantly help reduce rider confusion and help them find their way within the system.
The policy calls for:
• An emphasis on geography – city, neighborhood, landmark, or a combination of those
• Reducing the length and character counts of station names
• Avoiding redundancy or confusion with existing facilities
The station naming process began in 2019, with engagement by Sound Transit with key stakeholders, the cities and the public.
Federal Way Link Extension will open three new stations serving Kent, Des Moines and Federal Way in 2024 with the 7.8-mile extension from Angle Lake Station in SeaTac.
The agency selected Star Lake as the only potential name for the new station under construction in Kent near South 272nd Street, just west of Interstate 5.
For the Federal Way station, the options are Downtown Federal Way or Federal Way Downtown.
The final names will include “Station,” such as Star Lake Station.
How to participate
Call, email or mail your comments by Tuesday, April 19.
Leave a voicemail at 206-398-5465. Email fwle@soundtransit.org or send mail to Sound Transit Community Engagement, c/o Kurt Workman, 2505 S. 320th St, Suite 500, Federal Way, WA 98003
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