Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell wants to speed up the light rail expansion to Ballard and West Seattle.
Harrell, who is also a Sound Transit board member, announced an executive order on Thursday aimed at accelerating the long-awaited expansion of light rail to Ballard and West Seattle. The Sound Transit 3 (ST3) project, which voters approved, is the largest transit expansion in the nation right now, and Mayor Harrell wants to make sure it doesn’t take decades to complete.
“Sound Transit is a once-in-a-generation investment in our future, but we can’t wait generations for it to be completed,” Harrell said in a statement. “This order ensures the City is doing everything it can to speed up light rail delivery, transforming regional mobility and improving access to housing, jobs, and essential services.”
The executive order introduces several key strategies to cut through bureaucracy and push light rail construction forward. First, the Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects is expanding to take on Sound Transit coordination, led by Director Angela Brady.
Additionally, the City is working on legislation to simplify and speed up the permit process. This could include zoning changes, adopting ST3 projects into city plans, and facilitating property transactions.
To keep the project on track, the City is allocating $5.2 million in 2025 and $6.8 million in 2026 to hire up to 50 additional staff members to focus on design, permitting, construction, and station planning. The expanded office will also create a four-year plan to ensure safe, accessible stations with thoughtful design, improved access routes, safety measures, and equitable development around transit hubs.
For Ballardites who have been waiting for light rail to reach the neighborhood, this could mean a boost to the timeline. The Ballard Link Extension will add 7.7 miles of rail, including nine new stations, a second downtown transit tunnel, and a Salmon Bay crossing. The current timeline would have the Ballard extension completed in 2039.
Sound Transit Interim CEO Goran Sparrman praised the Mayor’s initiative, emphasizing that collaboration between Sound Transit and the City will ensure efficiency, cost savings, and accessible stations that integrate seamlessly with surrounding communities. Meanwhile, the West Seattle Link Extension will add 4.1 miles of light rail, connecting West Seattle to downtown via four new stations and a bridge over the Duwamish River. That project is expected to be finished by 2032, with an additional station at South Graham Street opening by 2031.
Ballard residents can expect to see more coordination between city agencies, a streamlined approval process, and tangible progress toward making light rail a reality. As Councilmember Dan Strauss put it, “We need to build our light rail faster, as it is key to making Seattle more connected, affordable, and climate resilient. Mayor Harrell’s executive order is an important step to cut red tape and deliver results.”
The preferred alternative, identified in March 2023, is for a tunnel under Salmon Bay just north of W Nickerson Street. The tunnel would continue east of 15th Ave NW to the Ballard Station, which would be in a tunnel east of 15th and south of NW Market St.
Photo: Sound Transit
Recent Comments