Pierce County never stood a chance against light rail measure

Residents of King and Snohomish counties want expanded light rail, and they are willing to make Pierce County pay for it.

The November ballot measure that allows for a larger Sound Transit light rail network throughout the three counties was soundly approved by 54 percent of the total population that voted on it. But that isn’t reflective of the vote in Pierce County.

As of Monday, 56 percent of returned ballots from Pierce County rejected the measure. It’s a rejection that gives a glimpse into the divide between Pierce County and its neighbors to the north.

The Sound Transit 3 measure will add 62 miles of light rail, completing a 116-mile system that will reach from Tacoma to Everett, over Lake Washington to eastside cities, and farther into Seattle’s neighborhoods. The $54 billion measure will cost the “typical adult” an additional $169 per year — or roughly $14 per month. In January, sales tax will go up half-a-percent, car tabs will more than triple, and property taxes will jump over $300 per year in the Sound Transit district.

Some residents of Pierce County, including those in Tacoma, won’t see a light rail connection to Seattle and Sea-Tac for well over a decade. That connection will first require the Federal Way Transit Center to get service before extending south.

Related: ST3 could cure Seattle’s transit envy, but will traffic improve?

That isn’t too unlike other areas, which won’t see light rail stations for years to come. Even Redmond, which approved the Sound Transit 3 measure by 59.6 percent, won’t get light rail until after 2020.

But the difference between an approval in Redmond and approval some areas of Pierce County could be summarized best by one person who spoke with Q13:

A lot of people probably felt like we were paying for stuff for Seattle.

And it may very well feel like that for some time.

However, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, who is vice chair of the Sound Transit board, told the Tacoma News Tribune during the campaign that she wanted Pierce County to finally see the benefits of light rail.

“I think this is a game changer for Tacoma and the South Sound,” she told the Tribune.

According to a data analysis by The Seattle Times, voters in Puyallup, and Auburn heavily opposed the ballot measure. It also received a significant number of “no” votes in some areas of Renton, Burien and Bellevue.

However, in Tacoma about 53 percent of voters approved ST3. In Seattle, ST3 received a nearly 70 percent approval rating.

King County Executive Dow Constantine, who is also the Sound Transit chairperson, told KIRO Radio as the measure was passing that he was confident in the outcome.

“We always knew that Pierce County would be a little bit of a problem as we’ve had some difficult votes there in the past but the strong, strong numbers from King County and also the positive result from Snohomish far more than offset that,” he said. “I am particularly grateful that my constituents in King County are approving this by more than a 58 and a half margin. They know full well that we can’t keep doing the same thing we’ve been doing and expect a different result. We have to build an alternative to sitting in traffic.”

Indeed, the numbers from King County were strong. Of the more than 700,000 ballots from the county that were counted, 434,678 were in support of the measure.

Election results

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