EVERETT — In the midst of approving a budget, Legislators from Snohomish County took the time Tuesday to send a message to Sound Transit.
The message: You got it wrong.
Last week, Sound Transit released its plans for the Lynnwood-to-Everett “Sound Transit 3” light rail route. The route makes a stop at Paine Field, the center of one of the region’s top employment centers.
But the planned extension into Everett wouldn’t be completed until 2041, well after side lines to Seattle’s residential neighborhoods of Ballard and West Seattle are built out. The letter said the time frame for serving Snohomish County’s major employer is simply unacceptable.
“Waiting until 2041 also delays the stated core priority of completing the light-rail spine in favor of adding segments that are not part of that spine — Ballard and West Seattle — and completing them before getting to Everett,” the letter reads.
It concludes: “We strongly urge you to do what’s best for the entire region and reprioritize the projects in ST3 to bring light rail to Everett and its manufacturing center substantially earlier than 2041.”
Sen. Steve Hobbs, a Lake Stevens Democrat, wrote the letter. As of Tuesday, he’d found at least 10 lawmakers from both parties in the county to co-sign it. The plan is to deliver it to Sound Transit later in the week.
It’s about fairness, Hobbs said, and the fact that the manufacturing center surrounding the Boeing plant in south Everett is a regional amenity.
“We would like our share and a little bit of attention to the fact that we do have Boeing, and Boeing doesn’t only serve workers in Snohomish County,” Hobbs said.
Boeing’s planned 777X wing-manufacturing plant, and the expected growth in employment, will only increase the area’s impact.
“If it stays stable, you still have all these people driving cars up and down I-5,” Hobbs said.
Sound Transit also released more details of the planned projects Tuesday. The 15.4-mile Lynnwood-to-Everett link is expected to cost up to $4.3 billion and include six stops, including the manufacturing center on Paine Field, a stop at Evergreen Way and Highway 526, and the northern terminus at Everett Station. A trip from Everett Station to the Lynnwood Transit Center is estimated to take 31 minutes.
Two additional stops, at Highway 99 and Airport Road, and along northern Evergreen Way south of 41st Street, are not included in the estimated project cost or travel times.
Snohomish County leaders are pleased the manufacturing center is included, but they still don’t think the timing of the project is fair.
They frequently cite the Regional Transit Authority, Sound Transit’s earlier incarnation, which in 1994 approved a motion that explicitly stated its plans for Everett: “In order to complete the planned connections to the four major centers, extension of light rail service to Everett shall be a first priority in Phase II.”
That first vote in 1995 failed. Sound Transit’s phased plan was the next iteration, and Everett got the Sounder commuter rail instead.
Sen. Kirk Pearson, a Monroe Republican, said that the early promise is reason enough to circle the wagons.
Pearson also signed the letter, even though he voted against the transportation bill in 2015 that gave Sound Transit the authority to raise taxes for ST3.
“They made it seem like they would get this at a much earlier date,” Pearson said. “Coming in 2041 — good Lord, I won’t be around then and I don’t think anybody here will. I don’t think that’s realistic.”
“We have to stand up for our county and our economic corridor, because we do matter here,” Pearson said.
The structuring of Sound Transit’s projects is based on the five subareas that comprise the agency’s taxing district.
Representatives of each subarea on Sound Transit’s board of directors bring to the table those projects they deem will have the highest public benefit, said Geoff Patrick, an agency spokesman. That is intended to create “subarea equity” throughout Sound Transit’s service area.
“What’s of highest benefit is a policy question” that the board sets, he said.
The second phase of Sound Transit’s expansion, which voters approved in 2008, also recognized the desire and intent to eventually reach Everett, he said.
“In the ST2 ballot measure virtually all the resources in North King County were allocated toward the northward extension of light rail to the county line and into Lynnwood,” Patrick said.
But Paul Roberts, an Everett City Councilman and a vice-chairman of Sound Transit’s board, said that the law doesn’t require funding on the basis of subarea equity, and that the board’s primary goal is to complete the spine of the regional network.
“We’re funding on the basis of a Balkanized system,” Roberts said.
Roberts emphasized that the ST3 plan is just a draft, and that the open comment period will be critical in order for the board to weigh the public’s opinion in creating the final ballot measure.
The comment period opened Tuesday and runs until April 29.
The three Snohomish County representatives on the 18-member Sound Transit board also emphasize the need to work with the other regions in crafting a proposal acceptable to everyone, even as they are unanimous in wanting to accelerate the schedule to bring light rail to Everett.
Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, who also sits on the board, said getting a better deal will be critical to getting voter support.
“It’s got to be sooner or I think it’s just not going to fly,” Somers said.
Roberts noted that Snohomish County voters, who make up 14 percent of the total in the Sound Transit district, have generally supported past ballot measures.
Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, who does not sit on the board, also sides with Roberts, Somers and Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling in seeking a better deal.
“We have played fair. We have tried to look at the big picture. We really need our peers across the region to have the same attitude,” Stephanson said.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
This story has been modified to correct two facts. Dave Somers is Snohomish County executive. And the expected time for a passenger to travel from Everett to Lynnwood on light rail is 31 minutes.
Public comment on Sound Transit 3
Sound Transit is seeking public input on the third phase of its plans, which include a light rail link to Everett by 2041. The comment period runs until April 29, and seven public meetings will be held around the region before that time period. The Everett meeting will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 25 at Everett Station. The last meeting will be held at 11:30 a.m. April 28 at Union Station in Seattle, immediately before the next Sound Transit board meeting.
More details are on the agency’s dedicated website for the project: Soundtransit3.org. There also is a link to an online survey on that page. Comments also can be submitted to soundtransit3@soundtransit.org or by mail to Sound Transit, 401 S Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104. For more information, call 206-903-7000.
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