Seattle leaders react to Sound Transit's cost-cutting ideas for light rail

The emails began flying the minute Sound Transit’s board meeting ended Wednesday. Elected leaders had just learned where the agency expects to cut light rail projects to fill a $35 billion hole.

And many of them had complaints.

Everywhere in Sound Transit’s region is facing some kind of potential cut.

Dan Strauss represents Ballard (and several other areas) on the Seattle City Council. The transit agency has proposed stopping light rail far short of that neighborhood.

“It’s completely unacceptable to cut Ballard from the Sound Transit plan at this time,” Strauss said on a phone call.

RELATED: ST3 cannot be delivered on time, so Sound Transit is considering light rail cuts

Strauss, who also sits on the Sound Transit board, said Seattle is already cutting one station in West Seattle, and another in South Lake Union to save money.

"Seattle's already giving up a lot," he said.

He also argued that the high cost estimates for the Ballard extension are misleading. That's because they include a new downtown tunnel, which is really a regional resource, not one for only Ballard. That tunnel's high cost puts a target on Ballard's back.

City Councilmember Dionne Foster decried the potential loss of the Graham Street infill station, centered in a diverse community where she says 40% of residents speak a language other than English at home.

"And it's a community where people rely heavily on transit," she told KUOW.

Foster said residents there have been fighting for a station for around 20 years ... seeing it promised, and then taken away again multiple times.

"I very much see this as Sound Transit putting forward a starting point," Foster said. "I don't see it as an end point."

Foster emphasized the need to build out the whole system promised to voters, including to West Seattle and Ballard.

RELATED: City planned to withhold West Seattle light rail environmental concerns from regulators, public

So if everyone's fighting to preserve projects on their turf, who's going to compromise? King County Executive Girmay Zahilay is trying to stay open to that.

In a news release after the meeting, Zahilay did not call for the preservation of existing projects.

“As the County Executive, I have to represent the entire region," he said over the phone. "And as one of the leaders on the Sound Transit board, I have to represent all of the system areas. And so, I didn't want to come out and give special favoritism to any one part of the region ... I want the process to play out, I want to hear from everyone, I want to assess all of the tradeoffs before saying this exact project or this exact thing needs to move forward.”

Sound Transit’s board is now considering its options, including ways to avoid some cuts by raising more money and simplifying the system design. Zahilay expects the board to reach some decisions in May 2026.