Sound Transit officials on Thursday outlined how they plan to address a projected $34.5 billion funding shortfall over the next two decades.
The funding gap could significantly reshape the future of light-rail expansion promised to voters across Puget Sound.
The proposed resolution came during a Sound Transit Board executive committee meeting, where Board Chair Dave Somers shared the latest update of the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) system plan. The proposal aligns future Link light-rail extensions with available funding, forcing difficult decisions about which projects will move forward, be scaled back or delayed.
“The $34.5 billion gap is real and it has required some very hard choices,” Somers said in his opening remakrs. “There is no version of this plan that doesn’t involve trade-offs and I don’t pretend otherwise, but I want to be clear. Nothing in this proposal represents a decision to permanently defer or eliminate what voters approved.”
The resolution categorizes projects into three groups: fully funded through completion, partially funded through planning or design, and deferred until additional funding becomes available. Communities across the region have been awaiting clarity on whether long-promised rail service would be affected.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
Among the projects deemed affordable within the resolution Somers presented are several major expansions. These include the West Seattle Link extension and Tacoma Dome Link, Everett Link (phases 1 and 2), and an initial segment of the Ballard Link to Seattle Center.
Other fully funded projects include the T Line extension to Tacoma Community College, now slated for completion in 2043, and the South Kirkland-to-Issaquah Link, expected to open in 2050. Operations and maintenance facilities in the north and south, as well as a Sounder maintenance base, are also included.
“Overall it’s positive that the Eastside line is still fully funded in the plan,” said Issaquah Mayor Mark Mullet. “As long as they push out design money now we’re super confident we can lower the cost of this line substantially, probably at least cut it in half.”
Several projects will move forward only through design or partial funding. These include the Ballard Link extension through final design, infill stations at Boeing Access Road and Graham Street, additional Sounder South trips, and planning work for future ST4 expansions.
However, some of the most ambitious projects, including the full Ballard Link extension from Seattle Center to Market Street, are not currently affordable.
“We were promised 2035 at one point, 2037, then 2039. it just felt like they kept kicking the can down the road for various reasons,” said Sam Jain, a member of Save Ballard Rail. “It’s not like they are going to give our taxes back. We can’t count on that so at that point we need the rail system that we were promised.”
The Ballard project’s cost has surged from about $11.2 billion to more than $22 billion, driven in part by the need for a second downtown transit tunnel. Officials said building the full extension as currently designed would require borrowing levels that could delay projects in other areas for decades.
Other unfunded construction elements include additional Sounder service, the extension to DuPont, and completion of certain infill stations.
A separate list of projects has been fully deferred unless outside funding is secured. These include parking facilities in Tacoma and Everett, Stride and park-and-ride expansions, corridor improvements and several Sounder access upgrades.
The agency’s financial challenges stem largely from construction inflation, increasing project costs and lower-than-expected revenue. More than half of Sound Transit’s funding comes from local taxes, including vehicle tabs, property and sales taxes, while federal grants provide additional support.
Taxpayers and transit advocates said the agency should deliver the system voters approved. Advocacy groups have formed around specific projects, urging Sound Transit to maintain its original commitments.
Voters approved the ST3 measure in 2016 with more than 54% support. It was intended to fund 62 new miles of light rail to Ballard, West Seattle, Everett and Tacoma. A new line connecting south Kirkland, Bellevue and Issaquah was also part of that initial commitment.
Now, financial realities are requiring Sound Transit to scale back or delay portions of that vision. Even with the changes, Sound Transit leaders say they are not canceling the ST3 plan, but instead delaying or phasing projects to eventually deliver the full system if more funding becomes available. Despite the current funding challenges, the board states it still intends to deliver the full ST3 system over time if additional funding becomes available.
Teresa Mosqueda, a Sound Transit Board member and King County councilmember, said she is hearing a “yes, and” response from Sound Transit leadership, meaning yes they hear the concerns about building out and they know additional financing tools are needed.
“The debt capacity needs to be tapped into, our bonding authority needs to be expanded by the state Legislature, rental car taxes are on the list, in addition to additional funding strategies,” Mosqueda said. “I am hearing them say, ‘Yes we want to do all of these things and we know we need additional financing tools.’ That is very different from saying anything is being cut or eliminated or deferred indefinitely.”
State lawmakers may consider legislation next session to help close the funding gap, and agency officials say additional cost savings could emerge during design.
Sound Transit has already identified between $11 billion and $13 billion in savings, but officials said more reductions will be needed.
No timeline has been made public for communities awaiting service, and uncertainty remains across the region.
The Sound Transit Board is expected to vote on the proposed resolution May 28.
