Contract schedule
Commuter rail makes the best use of existing resources and infrastructure to bring reliable service to the high-growth urban corridor between Everett and Tacoma.
Named the Sounder, the system will use 81 miles of Burlington Northern tracks between Everett, Seattle and Tacoma. Stations in South Tacoma and Lakewood will be built about a year later.*
Although rail work is highly specialized, stations can be built by most general contractors. Each station project will be bid individually allowing smaller, local contractors a better opportunity to participate.
Stations will have many of the same basic features such as a concrete platform, shelter, ticket booth, parking lot and bus connection. But they won't all look the same - each one will be designed according to a local theme.
More information about the station projects will become available during environmental reviews now underway. Adolfson Associates, of Seattle, is due to complete its first environmental assessment of portions of the line, including station sites, by the end of 1997 or early 1998. Timely completion of the project depends on successful negotiations between Sound Transit and the various cities along the line. The agreements, expected to be signed by early 1998, will help define each jurisdiction's responsibilities.
According to a general outline, construction bids for stations would be announced by fall 1998. Construction would be finished by the fall of 1999 in time for the scheduled opening by New Year's Day in 2000.
Many of the stations will be part of a wider offering of transit amenities including bus depots and intercity rail transit. Sound Transit's "joint development program" will aim to establish transit and pedestrian-friendly improvements in areas surrounding the stations.
For updated information about individual projects, click on the cities in the map.
* Construction of three additional stations - Richmond Beach, Ballard and Georgetown - depends on availability of funds.