Graham Street Station Set to Be Resurrected at Pivotal Sound Transit Meeting

Sound Transit's planned Graham Street 1 Line infill station in the Rainier Valley has a clear path to being fully funded and built, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay jointly announced Wednesday. Release of a proposed amendment that could make it happen came hours before a scheduled vote at the Sound Transit board Thursday that will overhaul the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) plan.

The agency faces a $34.5 billion budget shortfall across the entire agency through 2046. In response, Sound Transit Board Chair Dave Somers' "Affordable ST3" proposal is set to delay several major transit projects by years and throwing others into limbo without clear construction timelines attached. Graham Street had among the projects set to be thrown in deferral limbo.

Currently estimated as a $214 million project, Graham Street fills in a 1.5-mile gap between Columbia City and Othello 1 Line stations in a neighborhood where a significant portion of residents are transit-dependent. Initially considered as a station location in Sound Transit's first ballot measure, 1996's Sound Move, the project was ultimately not funded until voters approved the ST3 ballot measure in 2016, pledging a delivery date of 2031.

Light rail construction in the early 2000s significantly disrupted the area around MLK Way and Graham Street, without the commensurate benefit of direct station access afterward.



https://www.theurbanist.org/graham-street-station-set-to-be-resurrected-at-pivotal-sound-transit-meeting/