Snohomish County leaders say they are committed to making sure their part of the light rail extension gets finished — even if it means some other planned regional connections might get put on hold.
Sound Transit is facing a $34.5 billion budget shortfall and a lot of tough choices. At a board meeting in March, agency staff presented three ideas for how to close the funding gap. One proposal would see the planned Everett connection cut short. Staff also floated ideas to shorten planned connections to Ballard, West Seattle, Tacoma or Issaquah.
Sound Transit stressed that the proposals were merely “illustrative” starting points for discussion. But local leaders in those areas have reacted with reacted with alarm. The regional light rail expansion plan was approved by voters in 2016.
At a crowded town hall hosted by the nonprofit Transportation Choices Coalition on Tuesday, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, a Sound Transit board member, told constituents that the connection to Everett needs to be prioritized.
“It is the spine from Everett to Tacoma that is actually going to connect this region,” Franklin said.
Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, who is chair of the Sound Transit Board, said he is planning to present a plan to the Sound Transit Board that will ensure the Everett connection is completed.
“The citizens of Snohomish County have been paying for a system for a long, long time, and it’s time for them to get a light rail,” Somers said, to loud applause.
Somers didn’t go into specifics about his plan, but he suggested that it may have to come at the expense of the planned light rail connections in Seattle.
“We will keep those projects alive in planning, but they will not be authorized for moving forward, because we can’t afford them right now,” Somers said.
Sound Transit attributes its massive budget shortfall to inflation, labor shortages, tariffs, supply chain issues and rising property costs.
Franklin said that estimated construction costs for the Ballard connection have nearly doubled, with rising Seattle property costs a significant factor. Estimated costs to finish the Everett segment, however, have only increased by around 5-10%, Franklin said.
If light rail projects need to be delayed, “it should be the areas that have those significant cost overruns, such as Ballard and West Seattle, as opposed to other areas of the system,” Franklin said.
Seattle routes could be finished with other funding sources, such as a local levy in King County, Somers said.
Ballard residents have lobbied against delaying or cutting their light rail connection. Seattle Councilmember Dan Strauss, who represents the neighborhood, called the idea “completely unacceptable,” in a recent newsletter.
Somers acknowledged that his plan will require buy-in from other Sound Transit Board members who represent places like Ballard.
“It is important that we work together with the rest of the board members to say ‘We’re not writing you off. We’re not pushing you off the edge of the table. We’re going to find a way in the future, but not right now. Our priority is finishing the spine,’” Somers said.
The success of Somers' plan may ultimately come down to politics. The Sound Transit Board has 18 seats. Snohomish County has three seats, while Pierce County — the south end of the spine — has five. Somers said he believes Pierce and Snohomish board members have a mutual interest in completing the spine.
“That’s eight votes out of 18, so there’s 10 votes that are outside our control,” Somers said. “It’s important as we move forward that we recognize we’re all in this together.”
Overall, Somers said he believes finishing the spine has “more momentum and support on the board now than it's ever had.”
Sandra Fann, Sound Transit’s Central Corridor project director, told the crowd on Tuesday that Sound Transit is continuing to look for other cost-saving measures so the agency can deliver as much of the regional light rail expansion as possible. She shared a list of cost-saving ideas that included increasing debt capacity, local bonding, third-party funding and parking pricing deployment.
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