Sound Transit CEO Is "Absolutely Determined" To Get Light Rail To Ballard, Despite Looking At Plans To Cut The Station

Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine told The Burner he and the board of Sound Transit are “committed” to delivering light rail to Ballard despite considering alternatives that stop short of the vision voters approved in 2016. But don’t hold your breath — Sound Transit does not have a specific plan or timeline for how to get trains to Ballard. Advocates are still sending letters to the board to make sure they follow through.

Earlier this month, Sound Transit reviewed three “illustrative approaches” to save money on the Ballard expansion as the agency grapples with 30 to 40 billion dollar shortfall.

But to call any of these conceptions a “Ballard expansion” would be too generous — none of them make it past the ship canal. While these three approaches were intended as “starting points” rather than solutions, the very thought of abandoning Ballard caused immediate outcry.

Council Member Dan Strauss — who might as well be Ballard’s mascot at this point — stood up for his rail-ravenous constituents in a press release earlier this month.

“Sound Transit needs a plan to get to Ballard. Anything short of that is unacceptable,” Strauss said. “The Ballard Link Extension is projected to serve the most riders of any project in Sound Transit history and would do so at one of the lowest costs per rider gained of any expansion. Sound Transit needs to sharpen their pencils, do the analysis, and bring us a plan that gets to Ballard to keep the promise made to voters.”

Constantine re-affirmed that he and the board are “absolutely determined” to get the light rail to Ballard, specifically Market Street, as originally planned.

“We’re going to do it,” He told The Burner. “It is a challenge because it is a very big, very expensive project with a lot of complexity.”

Asked when transit riders could expect service to Ballard (once slated for 2035 and then later delayed to 2039) he didn't offer a date.

“I do not have a timeline for that, but there will be a timeline for that," Constantine said.

That may be the clearest summary yet of where the Ballard project stands: Sound Transit still says it is coming, but cannot yet say with certainty when, how, or with what money.

Sound Transit, mired in financial woes, has a few paths to Ballard. Sound Transit could find cost-savings in other areas, wait for the State legislature to give them greater bonding authority, or go to the voters to approve a new levy to help bail them out.