EVERETT — As Sound Transit prepares to showcase its light-rail expansion plans Monday at Everett Station, the area’s business and political leaders have launched a campaign to speed up the timeline.
The three Sound Transit Board members from Snohomish County floated an alternative proposal last week that aims to get Link trains to Everett in 2033. That’s eight years sooner than the 2041 target that Sound Transit unveiled in March.
Also last week, Economic Alliance Snohomish County launched an initiative called Light Rail to Everett to support that goal.
The group is encouraging people to attend a meeting with Sound Transit staff in Everett from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday to share thoughts about the ballot measure that would approve light-rail expansion, which is known as Sound Transit 3, or ST3 for short.
“We really think that ST3 is in the best interest of Snohomish County and its residents if we can get the right package put together,” said Patrick Pierce, the president and CEO of Economic Alliance.
To political and business leaders around here, getting the right package means choosing a route that serves the Paine Field area — and getting it built in under a quarter century.
Sound Transit as early as 1994 prioritized Everett as part of a spine for a future light-rail system. The idea was to connect Seattle with Tacoma and Everett on the north-south axis, and Seattle with Bellevue and Redmond to the east.
Voters passed the first funding package in 1996. In 2008, they authorized further expansion to the north, south and east through the ST2 measure. Sound Transit is on pace to have light rail serving the Lynnwood Transit Center in 2023.
Now, the Sound Transit Board is drafting the third major round of expansion — ST3 — for the November ballot. Board members expect to finalize the proposal in June.
The initial ST3 plan, released March 24, would build light rail to 128th Street in south Everett in 2036 and to Everett Station five years later.
In 2033, it would reach Tacoma, which was a top priority in the agency’s original vision for the light-rail spine, and West Seattle, which was not. Other destinations include Ballard in 2038 and Issaquah in 2041.
The draft ST3 proposal also would create rapid-transit bus lines, similar to Community Transit’s Swift bus, on I-405 and Highway 522.
The $50 billion ST3 package would cost an average taxpayer about $200 more per year through a hike in property tax, sales tax and car-tab fees.“(We want) to make sure we get light rail to Everett in a time frame that we think voters will support,” Pierce said.
To underscore the regional importance of the Everett rail line, Economic Alliance cites the more than 50,000 people employed in the area of Paine Field and Boeing’s Everett plant, making it the largest manufacturing center in the state. They also cite U.S. Census Bureau figures showing that 153,000 people travel from Snohomish County to King County daily for work; more than 53,000 cross the county line for work daily in the opposite direction.
Furthermore, they stress that Snohomish County is the fastest-growing of the three counties in Sound Transit’s taxing district, with expected population growth of 200,000 people over the next 20 years.
The alternative plan from Snohomish County leaders hopes to shave eight years and hundreds of millions of dollars off the $4 billion-plus price tag for the route to Everett.
Going straight up I-5 would save time and money, but would bypass Paine Field and the surrounding industrial area. Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, County Executive Dave Somers and others are adamant that the route needs to go there.
Both the original plan and alternative proposal from Snohomish County’s political leaders would reach the Paine Field area by departing from I-5 at 128th Street in south Everett.
The more recent plan hopes to cut costs and the construction schedule by continuing to Everett via Highway 526 and I-5, rather than along Evergreen Way. The process of acquiring land for the route is likely to be cheaper and simpler on the freeway corridors because Sound Transit would be negotiating mostly with the Washington State Department of Transportation. Following the freeways also would impact fewer businesses and could allow for less-expensive tracks at grade level, rather than pricier elevated tracks.
The newer proposal would include seven stations: Alderwood mall, the Ash Way Park-and-Ride, I-5 at 128th Street, Highway 99 at Airport Road, Paine Field, Highway 526 at Evergreen Way, and Everett Station. In the plan from Sound Transit staff, the Airport Road station would be optional. That plan also includes an optional stop on Evergreen Way closer to downtown Everett.
Sound Transit staff are crunching numbers to see how the alternative proposal stacks up.
“We’re analyzing how it’ll affect the cost and the time line,” said Geoff Patrick, a spokesman for the agency.
Sound Transit hosted public meetings last week in Ballard and Tacoma. After Monday’s meeting in Everett, additional meetings are scheduled this week in West Seattle, Redmond, Federal Way and downtown Seattle.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
If you go
Sound Transit has been hosting meetings about the draft ST3 ballot measure throughout its three-county service area. A meeting at Everett Station, 3201 Smith Ave., is set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, with a presentation at 6 p.m.
The agency will be collecting feedback about the Sound Transit 3 proposal online through April 29 at www.soundtransit3.org. People can also respond by email, soundtransit3@soundtransit.org, and regular mail, Sound Transit, 401 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104, or by phone, 206-903-7000.
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