Link Light Rail begins southern expansion towards Federal Way

Sound Transit is moving up its plans to expand light rail south from Sea-Tac Airport by four years so the line will open at the same time as the line from downtown Seattle to the University District.

Sound Transit is breaking ground on the 1.6 mile extension from the airport to 200th Street in SeaTac.

The line is expected to open in 2016. The agency’s Kimberly Reason said they decided to move up the timeline on this small extension to match the U-District extension for strategic purposes. “It really is maximizing the ridership potential to open up those two stations at the same time,” she said.

This all-elevated rail line is simply a small step in getting light rail all the way to Federal Way, but Reason said it should get heavy use. “Once the station is open and the line matures we should see 5,400 average daily boardings,” Reason said.

One of the major complaints about the light rail system as a whole is that it comes with very little parking for riders, but this extension will be different. A 700-stall garage will be built, and 400 temporary spots will be opened around the line.

The cost of the project is $383 million.

Reason said this might be a small step, but it’s an important one as Sound Transit continues to build-out light rail service. “We hope to have 50 miles of Link Light Rail service from Lynnwood all the way down to Federal Way and then east to Redmond,” she said.

The Sound Transit Board voted Thursday night on that Eastside expansion. It approved the City of Bellevue’s plans for where the light rail will travel through the city, putting four years of bickering over designs and routes behind it.