[UPDATE 2: ST’s links now fixed, providing access to the very good ST2 projects page.]
[UPDATE: The link is still busted, but here’s the project list. On page A-13 there’s the S. King projects that will be traded off vs. Highline Community College.]
The biggest casualty from Sound Transit’s collapsing revenue projection was South King County, as sales tax receipts fell much more quickly there than elsewhere, crushing reserves that were smaller than some other subareas. Other corridors are suffering a little delay, but in the South there is very real talk about not building light rail as far as planned. The details would be hashed out by a $2.5m study, the first phase of which is now complete.
As Deputy CEO Celia Kupersmith reports in the most recent CEO corner:
The first phase of that study found that:
- Not all South Corridor projects are affordable by 2023.
- If Link extends from Sea-Tac Airport only to South 200th Street, (instead of South 272nd) all the other non-light rail projects are affordable in the 2023 timeframe.
- Extending Link from the Airport to Highline Community College is affordable by 2023 if a few other projects are postponed beyond 2023.
- The southernmost extension of Link all the way to South 272nd Street remains unaffordable by 2023.
- The entire ST2 re-aligned program in Pierce County remains affordable by 2023.
The Board took no action on Thursday. Decisions on final design and construction are not needed for a year or more…
Recall that the three new South Link stops were to be S. 200th St., Highline Community College, and S. 272nd St. The first is basically a done deal, the second is in question, and the third now appears out of reach.
I’d link to some maps and the “other projects” in South King, but since the redesign the ST2 projects webpage is badly broken. But mainly, it’s improvements to Sounder stations, like extended platforms and a complete Tukwila station.