soundtransit3.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nBoard members proposed a number of significant new projects and refinements that would be constructed as the region\u2019s population grows by nearly a million residents by 2040. Seattle\u2019s light rail extension to Ballard would be completely grade separated on 15th Avenue. A new light rail line between Issaquah and Bellevue would extend further to reach south Kirkland. Expanded Sounder commuter rail capital investments in South King County and Pierce County would increase system capacity, enhance service, and extend the line to Tillicum and DuPont.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Changes would expand early projects slated for completion within the first eight years, including improvements to Bus Rapid Transit on I-405 between Lynnwood and Burien with added facilities in Kirkland and Renton. A new station at 130th Street in Seattle would move from provisional to fully funded status.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Sound Transit Board is scheduled to vote on proposed updated projects and timelines at a special meeting June 2. The Board is scheduled to adopt completed language of the plan on June 23 to meet election submission deadlines.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The improved timelines and added projects are primarily enabled by refinements including adjusting the financing plan for the ST3 measure to modestly increase the issuance of bonds, improving the region\u2019s financial capacity by approximately 8 percent or $4 billion.\u00a0 The $54 billion in investments would be funded through new voter-approved sales, MVET and property taxes. The improved timelines and added projects would not change the measure\u2019s estimated additional $200 annual or $17 monthly costs for a typical adult in the Sound Transit District.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The two major factors influencing project timelines are the time it takes to generate sufficient revenues through taxes, bonding and grants; and the time it takes to plan and build projects, including intensive work with local jurisdictions and other partners. Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff today updated the Board on options the agency will pursue to reduce the time required to plan, permit and construct major projects, with emphasis on working with local jurisdictions to speed up project development.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe actions this week by the Snohomish, Everett and Lynnwood councils pledging to work with Sound Transit to speed up the process is precisely the kind of partnership we need to get commuters out of traffic sooner,\u201d Rogoff said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Over the course of the public input period on the ST3 Draft Plan that wrapped up earlier this month, Sound Transit heard strong continuing support for mass transit extensions. An online survey generated nearly 35,000 responses and more than 1,200 people attended seven open houses held across the region. The agency received a total of 2,320 written comments from individuals and more than 90 letters from jurisdictions and organizations. By far the most frequent theme was interest in completing projects more quickly.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In a phone survey that Sound Transit conducted last month, 65 percent of respondents stated they strongly (30 percent) or somewhat (36 percent) supported the ST3 draft package in a question that described the associated tax increases. Following a question describing the plan\u2019s previously proposed project timelines, 59 percent of respondents strongly (24 percent) or somewhat (35 percent) supported the draft package. The soundtransit3.org website includes a presentation summarizing the public input and phone survey.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Proposed ST3 timelines for light rail extensions<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<\/p>\nEverett via the Southwest Everett Industrial Center would open 5 years sooner, in 2036<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Downtown Redmond would open 4 years sooner, in 2024, only one year following the completion of the voter-approved East Link light rail extension<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Federal Way would open 4 years sooner, in 2024<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tacoma would open 3 years sooner, in 2030<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
West Seattle would open 3 years sooner, in 2030<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Seattle\u2019s Ballard extension would open 3 years sooner, in 2035<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Tacoma Link extension to Tacoma Community College would open 2 years sooner in 2039<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
New light rail stations at Seattle\u2019s Graham Street and Tukwila\u2019s Boeing Access Road would open 5 years sooner, in 2031<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sound Transit Board members on Thursday outlined proposed changes to the Sound Transit 3 Draft Plan, with emphasis on completing light rail extensions sooner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":19367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-19366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19366"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19366"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=19366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}