East Link Final EIS documents
East Link is Sound Transit's voter-approved project to expand light rail from downtown Seattle to the Eastside with stations serving Mercer Island, south Bellevue, downtown Bellevue, Bel-Red, and Redmond's Overlake area. East Link will connect to the Link light rail system between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. Sound Transit is also conducting environmental review on a future extension to downtown Redmond.
Federal Transit Administration Record of Decision
The Record of Decision (ROD) culminates over five years of environmental review that Sound Transit undertook in cooperation with community members and local and regional governments. Sound Transit received more than 1,800 comments during the environmental review and held 28 open houses, hearings and workshops to gather community input. The ROD finalizes the alignment that the Sound Transit Board selected through this work, completing the required process under the National Environmental Policy Act.
FTA Record of Decision November 2011 (2.5 mb)
Attachments A and B: Map of Preferred Alternative and Alternatives Considered (3.6 mb)
Attachment C: Mitigation Measures (8.8 mb)
Attachment D Part 1: Comments and Responses (11 mb)
Attachment D Part 2: Additional Comments (13 mb)
Federal Highway Administration Record of Decision
The East Link project will utilize portions of I-90 in Seattle, Mercer Island and Bellevue and will cross over I-405 in Bellevue. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Record of Decision (ROD) allows FHWA to issue subsequent approvals throughout the future of the project on items such as conversion of highway lanes to high capacity transit, air space lease agreements and others.
FHWA Record of Decision November 2011 (5 mb)
Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
The Executive Summary, DVD or CD of the Final EIS documents are free. Paper copies of the Final EIS are available to review at local libraries - for the list of libraries, please view the Final EIS Executive Summary . Paper copies of the Final EIS and conceptual design drawings are available for purchase for $25 each; technical reports and appendices are $15 each. These documents are available at Sound Transit, Union Station, 401 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104. To request copies of any environmental document, please contact Elma Borbe at (206) 398-5445 or e-mail at elma.borbe@soundtransit.org.
East Link Final Environmental Impact Statement documents