Feds offer grants to light rail extension, Seattle’s streetcar
Feb 9, 2016, 11:31 PM | Updated: May 6, 2016, 11:32 pm
Included in President Obama’s 2017 budget is a portion of a potential $1.1 billion grant for the Sound Transit Lynnwood Link light rail extension and another $75 million for Seattle’s Center City Connector Streetcar Project.
The steetcar project would link the South Lake Union streetcar and newly opened First Hill line.
“Seattle thanks President Obama and our Congressional delegation for the incredible support so far for downtown transit,” Mayor Ed Murray said on Tuesday. “We look forward to working with our supporters in Congress to change how downtown residents, workers and visitors move around the urban core.”
The Federal Transit Administration approved moving forward with work on the light rail extension between Northgate and Lynnwood, and offered $125 million toward the $1.1 billion grant that Sound Transit is seeking through the FTA New Starts program. The new line is expected to open in 2023 with a ridership up to 74,000 people each weekday by 2035.
“Thanks to President Obama including funding in his transportation package for Lynnwood Link, we are an important step closer to offering a 28-minute ride from Lynnwood to downtown Seattle, regardless of traffic or weather,” said Sound Transit Chair and King County Executive Dow Constantine.
The agency will ask voters to extend the line to Everett as part of its Sound Transit 3 vote this November.
The FTA also wants to give $43 million toward Community Transit’s Swift 2 bus-rapid transit line connecting Bothell, Mill Creek, Everett’s McCollum Park and Paine Field, according to The Seattle Times.
President Obama’s budget proposal is subject to approval from Congress.
