April 28, 2017

Sound Transit hits the ‘go button' on $54B ST3

Sound Transit has unveiled its plans to kick off one of the nation's most ambitious public transit capital investment programs. By the end of the year, the agency said it will be planning, designing or building 24 train and bus projects in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties.

“Today we're pushing the ‘go' button on critical infrastructure expansions to serve the people of our region,” said Sound Transit board chair and Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, in a news release. “These projects will help keep commuters, freight, and our economy moving as our population grows and our congestion worsens. It's imperative we deliver the projects voters have approved with an eye towards saving money and being as efficient as possible.”

To meet the expedited timelines in the $53.8 billion Sound Transit 3 package, the agency says it will start projects sooner and collaborate with cities, and stakeholders earlier. It says the greatest potential for improvements is in the planning, environmental and permitting phases of projects.

Sound Transit also will focus on identifying preferred routes and station locations earlier, streamlining the number of alternatives studied, acquiring real estate sooner, and developing early permitting plans with other agencies.

One efficiency measure will be to co-locate staff for each project. Teams will include all disciplines, with a focus on integrating work functions across departments, eliminating hand-offs between phases.

Last week Sound Transit issued an RFQ for a consultant that later this year will support initial planning for light rail between West Seattle, downtown Seattle and Ballard.

This summer and fall, the agency will also seek bids to begin planning for the Federal Way-Tacoma light rail extension, bus rapid transit projects on Interstate 405 and state Route 522, and Sounder south line capital improvements.

By 2021, Sound Transit will complete light rail to the University District, Roosevelt and Northgate. In 2023 trains will reach Mercer Island, Bellevue, Overlake/Redmond, Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood.

Next up will be getting light rail to Federal Way and downtown Redmond in 2024. From there, expansions will focus on Tacoma, West Seattle, Ballard, Everett, South Kirkland and Issaquah.

The ST3 plan was developed by Sound Transit staff with help from local and national transit agencies, federal and state partners, and trade organizations. When it is done, the system will have 116 miles of light rail with more than 80 stations serving 16 cities — growing five times its current size and matching the scale of the largest systems in the country, according to Sound Transit.

Weekday system ridership is projected to grow from 147,000 today to up to 695,000 by 2040.