After the Sound Transit board passed a revised ST3 system plan two weeks ago, including a commitment to build West Seattle light rail as planned – minus the Avalon station – the agency said “a flurry of activity” would follow. Today brought evidence of that – the board’s Executive Committee voted this afternoon in favor […]

(WSB photo: Councilmember Dan Strauss with Council President Joy Hollingsworth at this morning’s Q&A) Also in attendance at today’s informal periodic city councilmember Q&A session with reporters (earlier coverage here) was Councilmember Dan Strauss, who is the lone Seattle councilmember also on the Sound Transit Board. After the board vote a week and a half […]

By Erica C. Barnett Sound Transit is recommending a “pilot” project that would add fare gates to as many as…

The post No More Laissez-Fare: Pilot Program Will Install Fare Gates at Up to 14 Stations appeared first on PubliCola.

By Erica C. Barnett The Sound Transit board voted to approve a new “affordable” light rail plan on Thursday afternoon…

The post Sound Transit Sacrifices Light Rail to Ballard, Moves Long-Deferred Graham Station Forward, in Latest “Realignment” Plan appeared first on PubliCola.

By Tracy Record West Seattle Blog editor Just concluded, after almost six hours, a marathon Sound Transit Board meeting centered on revising the ST3 plan. Biggest headline for our area: West Seattle light rail, minus the Avalon station, moves forward, remaining on the “what’s affordable” list. There was little discussion or mention of West Seattle […]

After two Executive Committee meetings this month looking at a proposed revised plan, the full Sound Transit Board is scheduled to consider ST3’s future tomorrow afternoon, almost 10 years after voters passed the original plan. As previously reported, the revised plan as discussed so far would proceed with West Seattle light rail, running between SODO […]

Editor’s Note: This story has been crossposted from King County Metro’s blog. Thanks to the support of Seattleites, SDOT will fund 50% of Trailhead Direct’s 2026 operating costs for routes connecting Seattle to five popular hiking destinations along the I-90 corridor, through the Seattle Transit Measure (STM). Trailhead Direct, King County’s transit-to-trails service, returns for […]

The Sound Transit Board‘s Executive Committee didn’t vote this afternoon on an ST revision after all, but the push is still on for a full board vote two weeks from today. The board’s chair, Snohomish County executive Dave Somers, said a vote wouldn’t be appropriate because too many amendments had either been, or were expected […]

Tomorrow (Thursday, May 14) is another pivotal day for Sound Transit decisionmaking regarding West Seattle light rail (and other projects). The ST Board’s Executive Committee is having a special meeting one week after it was presented with a proposal to revise the ST3 plan, given its huge financial shortfall. The list of what would proceed […]

With major decisionmaking just months or maybe even weeks away, Sound Transit has just launched a survey asking for your priorities regarding what to do next as it tries to close a $34 billion shortfall while keeping promises. Here’s how its announcement explains the survey’s goals: Sound Transit is working to reduce the impact of […]

(WSB photos and video) By Tracy Record West Seattle Blog editor The atmosphere was relentlessly upbeat at tonight’s overflow-crowd West Seattle light-rail forum, organized by King County Councilmember, Sound Transit Board member, and North Delridge resident Teresa Mosqueda as a sequel to the one she presented last November. Last time, the beef was that there […]

Since County Councilmember and Sound Transit Board member Teresa Mosqueda announced three and a half weeks ago that she was organizing another West Seattle light-rail forum, much has happened: The highest-profile development was the board retreat, with staff presenting three ideas for “approaches” the board could take to craft an affordable plan (WSB coverage here). […]

By Tracy Record West Seattle Blog editor The newest proposal for Sound Transit light rail to West Seattle – dropping the Avalon station, which shifts the tunnel portal eastward – would dramatically cut the number of properties ST would have to acquire. That was a headline from the “roundtable discussion” that took almost an hour […]

Sound Transit Board members spent much of today in an all-day “retreat” meeting in Tacoma (open to the public in perso but not streamed). But now that it’s over, the Seattle City Councilmember who’s on the board is sounding the alarm about new proposals for cost-cutting options. We’ve already told you about the increasing likelihood […]

Blog stats: 400 words | 2-minute read Getting between Seattle and the Eastside is about to get much easier thanks to Sound Transit’s new Crosslake Connection. On Saturday, March 28, the Link light rail’s 2 Line will begin service between Seattle and Bellevue, Redmond and more, including opening two new light rail stations at Judkins Park and Mercer Island. While we do not operate the Link light…

This Thursday morning during the twice-monthly meeting of the City Council committee chaired by District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka, two North Delridge business owners are scheduled to participate in a roundtable discussion about strategies for dealing with light-rail-related displacement. The roundtable discussion is on the agenda for the 9:30 am Thursday (March 19) meeting of […]

2:07 PM: In a presentation prepared for today’s Sound Transit Board System Extension Committee – meeting right now – ST staff says they can get the West Seattle Link Extension light-rail price tag down as low as $4.9 billion. The proposal would include three major components – first, dropping the Avalon station: Then the Delridge […]

Though the Sound Transit Board is still weeks/months away from decisions about revising West Seattle light rail to get the projected cost closer to the available funding, a new city survey about station-area planning is out today. The survey only asks about Delridge and Junction station areas, a further reminder that the Avalon station is […]

Just out of the inbox … the announcement of another West Seattle light-rail forum, on April 1st. The invitation comes from County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, currently the only West Seattleite on the Sound Transit Board. I’m pleased to invite you to join me on April 1st at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center for a spring West […]

38 minutes into that video of today’s Seattle City Council briefing meeting – their weekly meeting to both get briefings and offer individual updates – you’ll see a guest appearance by Sound Transit reps offering updates on Seattle projects: West Seattle Link Extension (due in 2032), Ballard Link Expansion (due in 2039), and the South […]

By Tracy Record West Seattle Blog editor This afternoon’s Sound Transit Board System Expansion Committee meeting had two items of note for those watching the West Seattle Link Extension plan, still on record as pointed toward a 2032 launch. The question is, what will the plan look like once the staff and board are finished […]