Sen. Murray helped keep Sound Transit light rail on track

Published 1:30 am Monday, October 31, 2022

U.S. Senate candidate Tiffany Smiley has it all wrong when she says Sen. Patty Murray hasn’t accomplished anything in 30 years. For one, Murray enabled the start of the light rail system in Puget Sound.

In 2001 Sound Transit had been identified for a $500 million federal grant to start light rail construction. At the same time, Sound Transit announced that the light rail project’s cost and schedule were severely underestimated. Sen. Murray used her clout as chair of the Senate Transportation Committee to put a hold on the grant (so it didn’t get reallocated to another property) while we righted the ship and underwent an exhaustive audit of the project by the the Federal Transit Administration. Under the leadership of the new Light Rail Director Ahmad Fazel, we installed reforms that are now the industry standard. When the audit was completed, the FTA concluded there was no waste, fraud or abuse and endorsed the reforms. The grant was released and we broke ground a few days later on the initial segment, which included an operations and maintenance facility in SODO and the first rail line to S. 272nd in Tukwila in 2009.

Completion of the initial segment led to:

Extension to the airport in 2012;

Extension to the University of Washington in 2016;

Extension to Northgate in 2021;

Current north construction to Lynnwood, then Everett;

Current south construction to Federal Way, then Tacoma; and

Current construction to Bellevue and Redmond

There would not be a discussion of route alignments in Everett but for Sen. Murray’s seniority and clout in the early days of light rail.

Has Murray accomplished anything? You bet! We will truly have a regional Puget Sound light rail system in coming years. Thanks again, Sen. Murray!

Joni Earl

Retired Sound Transit CEO

Mill Creek