Sound Transit Update:

Sounder

South King County Mobility Coalition

5/9/2019

2

What we’ll cover today

• System expansion

• Kent & Auburn Stations

• Sounder capacity expansion

System expansion

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More people, more cars

Population growth = traffic delays

Freeway delays each yearAlmost 200,000 new

neighbors added since 2015

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Meeting growing demand

Average weekday ridership

2010

75,508

2018

160,000

2040

PR

OJE

CT

ED

700,000

550,000

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South King County

Federal Way Link Extension

Tacoma Dome Link Extension –

Federal Way to

South Federal Way

S Boeing Access Rd light rail

infill station

I-405 BRT – Burien to Tukwila

Sounder station parking and

access improvements; track

and platform upgrades

A

B

C

D

E

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About Sounder South

• Service between Seattle (King

Street Station) and Lakewood

• Thirteen daily round trips

(8 to Lakewood)

• Special event trains

• Steady ridership growth – over

16,000 daily trips in 2018

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Steady ridership growth

Kent & Auburn Stations:

Parking & access

improvements

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Overview

• New parking garages and

pedestrian, bike, and bus

improvements

• Approved by voters in ST2

• 2017 Alternatives Analyses

• ST Board identified preferred

garage locations

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Kent garage concept

• Approximately 530 stalls

• 3 levels, 2 entrances

• Realigned Railroad Avenue N

• Environmental study to be

released in mid 2019

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Kent: Potential Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Bus Improvements

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Auburn garage concept

• Site located at 1st and A

Streets NW

• Approximately 535 parking

spaces for commuters

• Environmental study to be

released in fall

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Auburn: Potential

Pedestrian,

Bicycle, and Bus

Improvements

Next Steps: Kent & Auburn

Now: Complete early engineering and environmental review

• Open Houses – Fall 2019

• Sound Transit Board actions – Fall 2019

Next: Design

• Permitting, property acquisition, hire construction firm

• Approved by voters in 2016

• Add capacity to meet growing ridership demand

Sounder capacity expansion

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Overview

• Expanded platforms to

accommodate up to 10-car trains.

• Potential track and signal upgrades

for possible additional trips.

• Access improvements for

pedestrians, bicyclists, buses and

cars.

Platform extension

Track improvements Station access

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Planning

• First step: Strategic Development & Implementation Plan

• Define the program and schedule

• Analyze existing service

• Model service scenarios

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Things to consider about expansion

• BNSF owns tracks from Tacoma to

Seattle; new train trips costly

• Freight traffic concentrated outside of

peak commute period

• Midday train storage is limited

• King Street Station tracks and center

platform are constrained

• Restrictions on crew hours

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Things to consider: Ridership demand

Average weekday boardings, January 2019

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Southbound

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Northbound

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Public Outreach & Next Steps

• Two rounds of outreach

• July/August: share service scenarios

and learn community priorities

• Fall: share draft Strategic Plan

• Online & in-person engagement

• Sound Transit Board adopts Strategic

Plan – first quarter 2020

• Planning for first round of projects

begins - 2020

Questions?

soundtransit.org