Trains on the 7.8-mile light rail extension from Angle Lake in SeaTac to Federal Way will serve three stations along the route in Kent/Des Moines, at South 272nd Street, and the Federal Way Transit Center.
SoundTransitSpecialSelection
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Trains on the 7.8-mile light rail extension from Angle Lake in SeaTac to Federal Way will serve three stations along the route in Kent/Des Moines, at South 272nd Street, and the Federal Way Transit Center.
SoundTransitSpecialSelection
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) moved Sound Transit's Federal Way Link Extension forward in its rigorous funding process, granting the project approval to advance to the engineering phase — a necessary step toward securing a critical grant. The project has also earned a "Medium-High" rating by the FTA in its annual review of transit projects seeking the highly competitive grants.
In the coming months, Sound Transit will continue intensive work to advance its federal grant application, working closely with the FTA and the region's congressional delegation.
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The FTA's Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program is the federal government's primary financial resource for supporting transit capital projects that are locally planned, implemented, and operated. With FTA's approval of the project into Engineering, FTA locked in the CIG funding amount at $790 million, the level requested by Sound Transit.
The CIG program requires that projects seeking funding complete a series of steps over several years to be eligible. The FTA approved the Federal Way Link Extension to enter project development in 2016. Following this latest step, Sound Transit will work with the FTA to demonstrate its readiness and capacity to achieve the project's scheduled 2024 completion.
The Sound Transit Board established the scope, schedule, and baseline budget of $2.45 billion for this project in 2018. Under new guidelines announced last year, the FTA is requiring additional contingency funding for all CIG projects. Under these new guidelines, Sound Transit is seeking 25% funding of the total federal project estimate of $3.1 billion. This estimate includes funding to purchase 20 additional Link vehicles.
Trains on the 7.8-mile light rail extension from Angle Lake in SeaTac to Federal Way will serve three stations along the route in Kent/Des Moines, at South 272nd Street, and the Federal Way Transit Center. Demolition and utility relocation work is scheduled to begin this fall, with major construction activities beginning in 2020.
By 2021, Sound Transit will expand light rail to the U District, Roosevelt, and Northgate. In 2023 trains will reach Mercer Island, Bellevue, and the Overlake area. In addition to completing the Federal Way Link Extension, 2024 will bring the opening of further extensions to Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood, and Downtown Redmond. From there, continuing expansions will focus on Tacoma, West Seattle, Ballard, Everett, South Kirkland, Issaquah, and Tacoma Community College, forming a 116-mile regional system by 2041.
Amtrak will open grant applications March 23 for community projects near the Frederick Douglass Tunnel alignment in Baltimore as part of a $50 million investment tied to the B&P Tunnel Replacement Program.
The Denmark Station $2.3 million construction investment project includes a new 280-foot concrete boarding platform, built eight inches above the top of rail, for improved accessibility for passengers with disabilities and families with small children and much more.
Caltrain and its partners have implemented safety improvements at specific locations in response to known risk conditions, operational needs, and available funding since the agency’s founding.
On a recent episode of METROspectives, METRO Magazine’s Executive Editor Alex Roman sat down with Ana-Maria Tomlinson, Director of Strategic & Cross-Sector Programs at the CSA Group, to explore a bold initiative aimed at addressing those challenges: the development of a National Code for Transit and Passenger Rail Systems in Canada.
Competitive FTA grants will support accessibility upgrades, family-friendly improvements, and cost-efficient capital projects at some of the nation’s oldest and busiest transit hubs.
The 3.92-mile addition will soon take riders west beyond its current Wilshire and Western station in Koreatown, continuing under Wilshire Boulevard through neighborhoods and communities including Hancock Park, Windsor Square, the Fairfax District, and Carthay Circle into Beverly Hills.
Under the plan, all long-distance routes will transition to a universal single-level fleet, replacing today’s mix of bi-level and single-level equipment.
