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Community members learn more about the West Seattle/Ballard Link Extension project during a 2018 open house at Union Station where they gather around a man pointing out features on a large table-top map.
Media Caption
Community members learn more about the project during a 2018 open house at Union Station.

Review and share your thoughts on the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions Draft EIS

Comment period ends April 28

Publish Date

While light rail extensions to West Seattle and Ballard may be years away, important conversations about the routes and station locations are happening now, so make your voice heard!

On January 28 we officially published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions (WSBLE) project.

What is a Draft EIS you ask?  

It’s an environmental analysis that helps Sound Transit, Tribes, partner agencies and the public, better understand the potential impacts and benefits of the project. It was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the State Environmental Policy Act.

The Draft EIS:

  • Identifies alternatives under consideration
  • Describes the potential environmental impacts and benefits of each alternative
  • Proposes actions that will help mitigate impacts

We hope you will spend some time reviewing the document and then tell us what you think.

 

Community members explore maps of the potential station locations along the project corriddor.
Community members explore maps of the potential station locations along the project corridor.

There are lots of ways to get involved.

First, explore our online open house to read the Draft EIS document and take a tour of potential route and station alternatives across the entire project corridor, for both the West Seattle and Ballard Link extensions.

Your input is essential to this project. Don’t hesitate – the 90-day formal comment period ends April 28, 2022.

If you would like to participate in a public meeting, Sound Transit will host four online and one in-person*. These meetings provide an opportunity to get an update on the project, get answers to your technical questions, and register your formal comment:

  • Interbay/Ballard: March 15, 2022 | 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
  • *In-person at Union Station: March 17, 2022 | 12-7 p.m.
  • Downtown: March 22, 2022 | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
  • CID/SODO: March 24, 2022 | 5:30-7:30 p.m.
  • West Seattle/Delridge: March 30, 2022| 5:30-7:30 p.m.

*In-person events may transition to virtual, in accordance with public health recommendations. Please check wsblink.participate.online for the latest information.

 

And here are some other ways you can comment:

WSBLE Draft Environmental Impact Statement Comments 

c/o Lauren Swift

401 S. Jackson St.

Seattle, WA 98104

 

Visit the online open house at wsblink.participate.online to find out more ways you can engage, including tuning in to Community Advisory Groupmeetings happening monthly!

About the project

The West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions will provide fast, reliable light rail connections to dense residential and job centers throughout the region. In addition, a new downtown Seattle light rail tunnel will provide capacity for the entire regional system to operate efficiently. These two separate light rail extensions are part of the regional transit system expansion approved by voters in November 2016.

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