A drawing of the planned Lynnwood Link Light Rail station. (Sound Transit)

A drawing of the planned Lynnwood Link Light Rail station. (Sound Transit)

Sound Transit lobbies Congress to keep Lynnwood line funded

President Trump wants to cut a $1.17 billion grant. Bipartisans in Congress could preserve it.

As federal lawmakers negotiated the final content of an omnibus spending bill late Monday, the leader of Sound Transit kept close tabs to see if a critical source of funding to extend light rail to Lynnwood would make the cut.

Chief Executive Officer Peter Rogoff said he was “tentatively hopeful” Congress would sustain a grant program — from which the regional transit authority is seeking $1.17 billion to complete its Lynnwood Link Extension by 2024 — in spite of President Donald Trump’s desire to eliminate it.

The Trump budget released in February sought to limit Federal Transit Administration capital investment grants to projects with signed agreements in place. That jeopardized funding for projects such as Sound Transit’s extensions to Lynnwood and Federal Way, which lack such accords.

But the capital investment grant program enjoys backing among Republican and Democratic lawmakers who face a Friday deadline to pass a bill to keep government agencies funded through Sept. 30, which is the end of the federal fiscal year. Release of a proposed spending bill was not expected until late Monday or early Tuesday.

On Monday, Rogoff, who was in Washington, D.C., to meet with congressional leaders, sounded confident the deal getting hammered out by Republican budget writers in the House and Senate would keep the transit funding.

“We thank Congress for reversing these cuts and implore the administration to get on board and recognize the wisdom of these investments,” Rogoff told reporters at a morning press conference of leaders of public transportation systems from across the country.

U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina, whose district includes parts of east Snohomish and King counties, is among the many lawmakers waiting to read how negotiators handle this issue.

“I hope appropriators ignore President Trump’s ill-conceived budget, which would gut transportation and infrastructure grants for important Sound Transit projects that improve our local communities throughout our region,” she said. “This is an area where there is broad, bipartisan agreement. We need federal investments in rebuilding our nation’s crumbling infrastructure and we need them now.”

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, said federal investment is crucial to helping the Puget Sound Region build a transit network that can ease congestion and “enable people and products to move more efficiently.”

“You can’t have big league economy with little league infrastructure,” he said in a statement. “Washington state alone needs over $190 billion in infrastructure investments. Addressing these critical needs will require robust federal funding. In this way, the President’s phantom infrastructure plan and proposed Fiscal Year 2019 budget struck out.”

In 2018, when Trump similarly sought to curb the grant program, Congress pushed back. It passed a spending bill containing $100 million for the Lynnwood Link. Sound Transit, however, cannot access those dollars until it secures an agreement with the transit administration for the entire $1.17 billion grant.

Rogoff said he hoped to get an agreement in place by this summer, presuming the program is preserved.

It will be a continuing challenge “to pierce through their reticence to get an agreement signed,” he said. “That signature gives us certainty.”

Community Transit also was keeping close watch Monday because a component of the program known as Small Starts has been a valued source of funds for development of the Swift bus rapid transit service.

“We’re not confident of anything right now,” agency spokesman Martin Munguia said Monday afternoon.

In a previous budget cycle, the transit agency was allotted $42 million for its Swift Green Line through the Small Starts program. They’d like to be able to get additional dollars for future expansion including a planned Orange Line to hook up with the Lynnwood Link extension.

“We are relying on the continuation of this CIG (capital investment grant) program to build out the future of our Swift network,” Munguia said.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@herald net.com. Twitter: @dospueblos.

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.