Sound Transit Board Advances West Seattle Link Into Final Design

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The Sound Transit Board of Directors voted Thursday to authorize a pair of contracts targeting the West Seattle Link Extension, fulfilling a promise to get that project moving quickly after a major update to the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) system plan last month. A mammoth $341 million contract with Jacobs Engineering is expected to be enough to get West Seattle Link into final design, and comes as Sound Transit has received its first permit approvals from the City of Seattle on the project.

A smaller, $48.7 million joint contract with Mott MacDonald and WSP (doing business as Connect Seattle Partners) will provide funding for continued project management on the West Seattle and Ballard Link projects. All told, West Seattle's approved budget increased by $406.8 million, with Ballard Link's budget jumping by $16.3 million.

"These are among the first steps we're taking following the adoption of our updated plan. They demonstrate our commitment to maintaining momentum, delivering on our original ST3 vision. We're moving forward with urgency," Sound Transit Board Chair Dave Somers said ahead of Thursday's vote.



As Sound Transit's next light rail project in the queue, West Seattle Link's status was at the heart of the May 28 board vote that pushed construction timelines on other key projects into the future and left others in limbo. Somers, in keeping the board on an abbreviated timeline take a vote in the face of a $34.5 billion shortfall through the mid-2040s, repeatedly pointed to a need to keep West Seattle Link moving or risk impacts to the only Sound Transit project that currently has federal approval.

https://www.theurbanist.org/sound-transit-board-advances-west-seattle-link-into-final-design/