HERBOLD: ST3 light rail to West Seattle cost estimate increases
Mon, 01/18/2021
District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold offered this update on the cost increases recently announced by Sound Transit regarding the extensions to West Seattle and Ballard
Sound Transit committees have received two recent briefings about cost increases for the West Seattle/Ballard light rail project.
January 7 Executive Committee
Last week the Sound Transit Board Executive Committee received estimated cost increases for the West Seattle/Ballard light rail project. Other projects included in the 2016 ballot measure have increases as well. The Sound Transit Board is engaging in a realignment process, scheduled to run through a decision point on program realignment in July, 2021. The page notes,
At its meeting today the Sound Transit Board Executive Committee received updates on the continuing toll that real estate and construction market conditions are exerting on the estimated cost of the next wave of Sound Transit expansions, including light rail extensions to West Seattle, Ballard and Tacoma Dome, and a new operations and maintenance facility.
Deputy Sound Transit CEO Kimberly Farley described how unrelenting pressures are continuing to drive up cost estimates to significantly higher levels.
The estimated cost increase for the light rail extensions to West Seattle and Ballard are more than 50 percent higher than the 2019 estimates. For the Tacoma Dome it’s up at least 10 percent. For the Operations and Maintenance Facility South the latest estimates for the multiple options under review predict an increase of 54 to 77 percent, with the latter being necessary to build on the Midway Landfill if that alternative is chose