The Sound Transit Board has approved a $1.9 billion 2018 budget that includes $1.6 billion in light rail expansions and $98.8 million in commuter rail, bus rapid transit and regional express expansions. With Sound Transit ridership now exceeding 161,000 each weekday, the budget also invests $317.5 million in transit operations.
The 2018 budget will feature — among many projects — design/build activities for the SR 520-to-Redmond Technology Center segment for East Link.
Specific highlights for capital investments in 2018 include:
$574.5 million to continue construction in all segments of the East Link Extension from downtown Seattle to downtown Bellevue and the Overlake Transit Center in Redmond.
$154.8 million to advance design and purchase right-of-way for the light rail extension from the Overlake Transit Center to downtown Redmond.
“This decision marks another milestone in the transformation of our mass transit system,” said Sound Transit Board Chair and Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers.
“By advancing one of the most ambitious public transit capital investment programs in the country, Sound Transit will launch an unprecedented level of project activity in 2018,” said Sound Transit Chief Executive Officer Peter Rogoff. “To achieve the aggressive timelines in the regional mass transit expansion plan, Sound Transit will mobilize staff in new ways, engage the public earlier, and streamline partnering work with impacted cities and communities to enhance project delivery.”
After voters approved the third phase of regional mass transit expansion last November, Sound Transit is aggressively moving forward with the extension of light rail northward, southward and eastward to form a 116-mile regional system by 2041. The expansion will include new stations opening every few years, starting with Seattle’s University District, Roosevelt and Northgate stations opening in 2021, 10 stations serving Mercer Island, Bellevue and Redmond’s Overlake area opening in 2023, and more stations serving Kent/Des Moines, Federal Way, Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood and Downtown Redmond by 2024.
A copy of the Adopted 2018 Budget and Adopted 2018 Transit Improvement Plan will be available at soundtransit.org.
