Sound Transit’s Lynnwood extension $500M over budget, 6 months late
Aug 24, 2017, 3:53 PM
(KIRO Radio file photo)
(KIRO Radio file photo)
Sound Transit’s Lynnwood extension will be $500 million over budget and six months late, according to The Seattle Times.
The agency said the $2.4 billion estimate has changed to $2.9 billion, according to information The Times obtained at Thursday’s board meeting. Chalk it up to rising labor, material, and land costs.
The line from Northgate to Lynnwood is now expected to be completed in mid-2024.
“It’s certainly a disappointment to everyone,” Rogoff said at the board meeting, according to The Times. “What is not in question is whether we will get to Everett, get to Redmond and to Federal Way, or Tacoma, to Ballard and West Seattle.”
Voters approved the extension in 2008 as part of the Sound Transit 2 package. The station at Northgate is well underway, along with land acquisitions through Shoreline. Just nine months ago, voters approved the Sound Transit 3 package to reach Everett and build several other extensions.
The Times reports the University of Washington Station built for $141 million in 2016 would now require $248 million, according to the construction company. The agency predicted a 25 percent increase in land costs, but that number is closer 44 percent.
Newly approved ST3 grants the agency the ability to use that voter approved funding for the Northgate-Lynnwood line approved in ST2, according to the Times. Sound Transit can absorb the increases, but spending now means fewer dollars in the future for the Everett expansion.
Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest
