Story and photo by Larry Vogel
With the planned extension of Sound Transit’s Link Light Rail into Snohomish County, officials from the cities of Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds have been studying the local impacts of the various alternatives and coming up with recommendations to ensure the best possible outcome for residents and businesses in the project area.
On Friday, May 3 they gathered at Lynnwood City Hall to brief U.S. Congressman Rick Larsen (D-2nd District) — who represents Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Brier — on their findings.
The project is still in the planning stages, and Larsen heard about the pros and cons of a number of station location and routing alternatives. Among the issues discussed were whether to run track between Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood on the west or east side of Interstate 5, whether to have a second station in Mountlake Terrace near the 220th Street Southwest I-5 interchange (the first would be adjacent to the existing Mountlake Terrace transit center), and how to configure the Lynnwood Transit Center station.
City officials briefed Larsen on the potential impacts of the various alternatives on traffic patterns, environmentally sensitive areas, the local economy and more. He praised the city officials for their thoughtfulness and hard work, and for helping him gain a more complete understanding of the project alternatives and impacts.
Sound Transit plans to release the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) later this summer, which will line out in detail the impacts of the various routing and station alternatives. This will be followed by a comprehensive public comment period in preparation for the Final EIS.
In the meantime, the agency has released preliminary information giving an overview of the project and the alternatives to be included in the upcoming draft EIS.
Completion of the project is planned for 2023. More information is available at Sound Transit’s website.
This is a mistake that will mess up bus transportation that has worked so well in the part of Shoreline where the proposed route will be put. I am dreading that it will do the same thing that happened in the southend–force people onto the little choochoo with no other options.
I am really looking forward to Link coming to Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds. I wish Sound Transit could build it sooner and continue on farther North to Everett. It will be nice to have a reliable way to get around without getting stuck in traffic. I do wish it had more stations for better connections. I will use it often to visit friends and family in Seattle, to go to the U district, downtown, and stadiums for games and entertainment, to the airport, perhaps for work if my office is near it, etc…
Mr. Larsen and my congressman, Mr. McDermott, should be working to make sure the Federal Transit Administration funds this project without delay when it is submitted. Thankfully, I think they are.