Leaders fume over Sound Transit’s 2041 Everett timeline

EVERETT — Waiting another quarter century for light rail in Everett is unacceptable to Snohomish County’s political and business leaders, who are pushing to accelerate the time frame.

The tug and pull for rail projects across a three-county region could make that a tough goal, though.

Sound Transit’s $50 billion regional light-rail expansion plan would reach the area around Paine Field and Boeing’s Everett plant — but not until 2041. The system would start serving West Seattle and the Tacoma Dome eight years earlier.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, whose district covers most of western Snohomish County, said Friday he wasn’t in a mood to mince words.

“There may be a lot of head-scratching from some folks. I’m not scratching my head. I’m banging it against the wall right now,” he said.

Sound Transit released the plan Thursday. Known as Sound Transit 3, or ST3, it also includes new rapid transit bus lines and other transit improvements.

The agency plans to kick off a monthlong comment period starting Tuesday. The feedback will help board members craft a measure for the November ballot. They need to finish drafting the project list and financial plans in June.

Anybody can weigh in using an online survey at soundtransit3.org. The agency also is scheduling a series of public meetings, including one in Everett.

To pay for the expansion, voters in Sound Transit’s service area would be asked to increase sales tax by 0.5 percent, car-tab fees by 0.8 percent and property taxes by 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That would cost the average taxpayer an estimated $200 more per year.

Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said he hopes the upcoming discussions will help shape a proposal that he can support. He’s not there yet.

“The time frame of 25 years would be a difficult and maybe impossible thing to sell to voters” here, he said.

Political realities could force compromise or cause disappointment.

A route to Paine Field likely would cost about $1 billion more than running the light-rail line straight up I-5 to Everett. That kind of trade-off could make for a faster construction schedule, Sound Transit spokesman Geoff Patrick said.

“If there’s interest in expediting it, the alternative could be an I-5 line with a bus rapid transit loop going out to Paine Field,” Patrick said. “That could be accomplished in 15 years or less.”

The Paine Field route has been a must-have for Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson and the three Sound Transit board members from Snohomish County. The big reason: jobs, more than 55,000 at Everett’s Boeing plant and the other businesses that have sprung up around the airport.

Current estimates from Sound Transit peg the Paine Field option at $4.3 billion. A route that follows I-5 all the way to Everett would cost an estimated $3.1 billion with the bus loop adding up to $300 million.

Some political realities also work against Everett. Snohomish County is the least-populous of the five subareas in the Sound Transit district, which includes the most urban and suburban parts of Snohomish, King and Pierce counties. Snohomish County generates less tax revenue. It has fewer voters and fewer representatives on the Sound Transit board.

Any ballot measure is unlikely to pass without satisfying voters from Seattle, the Eastside and Pierce County.

Snohomish County business interests make an argument that serving Everett, particularly via Paine Field and Boeing’s Everett plant, would benefit the entire region.

Unlike routes to the mostly residential areas of West Seattle and Ballard, a Snohomish County segment promises to relieve congestion on I-5, a major freight corridor.

The CEO and president of Economic Alliance Snohomish County is troubled by the idea of residential areas getting higher priority in the transit plans than the state’s biggest manufacturing center.

“2041 is simply too long to wait to complete the spine and connect Paine Field and downtown Everett to the regional system,” Patrick Pierce said in a prepared statement.

Snohomish County is forecast to add at least 200,000 people during the next two decades. About 758,000 people live here now.

ST3 is the first measure to identify Everett-area light rail projects for funding.

Even so, the area’s elected leaders have long talked of broken promises to voters as the light rail system takes so long to arrive.

They cite a motion the transit board approved in 1994 prioritizing the construction of light rail to Everett, after the system reaches Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma.

Snohomish County voters in 1996 approved the first funding for regional light rail, believing the system would one day reach Everett. Under the ST3 plan, a 30-year-old who voted to support the measure in two decades ago would be 75 before light-rail reaches Everett.

A Sound Transit spokesperson Friday pointed out that the agreements approved in the mid-1990s identify no specific light-rail projects for Everett.

That might be true, Larsen said, but Snohomish County voters can still feel slighted.

“Sound Transit was supposed to bring light rail to Everett long before this timeline,” he said. “They may argue that wasn’t a promise, but it certainly was an expectation.”

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.