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Sound Transit votes down future Ballard light rail
West Seattle, Tacoma and Everett now have light rail extensions on the way, but Ballard didn't make the final cut.
SEATTLE - One Sound Transit board member says the Ballard Light Rail still has a chance despite the board voting in an overwhelming majority to not include the expansion into the upcoming transportation plan.
Dan Strauss is passionate about connecting Ballard to the rest of Seattle.
"I grew up in Ballard," he said.
No Ballard light rail… yet
The backstory:
Strauss is a Sound Transit board member and a Seattle City Council member. He worked to get the Ballard light rail included in the upcoming Sound Transit expansion. Which has an expected cost of nearly $200 billion, according to Sound Transit officials.
However, the board majority voted against funding the project.
"I’ve been doing environmental assessments and major projects my entire career. This amendment, if passed, puts at grave risk the entire ST3 package," said Board chair Dave Somers during the Sound Transit Board meeting on Thursday.
The board voted to expand the light rail into Tacoma, Everett and West Seattle; however, Ballard is not funded.
What's next:
"We’re not dead, yet, but we’re in a really bad place," said Strauss.
Strauss tells FOX 13 Seattle the Ballard expansion would cost around $7 to $9 billion. The board was able to pass the current plan without any deficit, Sound Transit officials told FOX 13 Seattle.
"There is a pathway to get construction funding to Ballard. They just haven’t done it yet," said Strauss.
He has proposed three different ways to keep the Ballard light rail project on the rails: utilizing 75-year bonds for the downtown tunnel (which would take legislature approval), changing the debt service limits, by incrementally changing how much debt Sound Transit can take on, and creating more efficiencies during construction.
Strauss tells FOX 13 Seattle there are a couple of years to figure out funding to still have Ballard included in the current plan.
"We now have a pathway forward to closing that funding gap," he said. "That’s why I don’t think the Ballard light rail is dead yet."
Left out of the Greater Seattle transportation system
Local perspective:
Neighbors in Ballard feel like they have been forgotten.
"I was really hoping for it to come, and when I found out they weren’t going to build it, I was like, ‘Why?,’" said Baruni Goel, who lives in Ballard.
In 2016, when voters approved the Sound Transit expansion, Ballard was included in the plan.
"I was really optimistic, and now, yeah, I’ve lost a little bit of faith," said Quincy Trigillo.
Strauss says Sound Transit needs to rebuild trust within the community.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter AJ Janavel.