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As a project stakeholder, you’ve heard about the Sound Transit Board’s ongoing work to advance our voter-approved projects in a challenging fiscal environment.
In early 2020, the Board launched a process called realignment to review options for addressing the significant affordability gap affecting our future transit expansion projects throughout the region that are not yet under construction. Most recently forecasted at $6.5 billion, this gap means that completing many of these projects on their original schedules is not affordable.
On Thursday, Aug. 5, the Board adopted a new flexible framework to support moving forward with projects as rapidly as possible. Learn more about the Board’s action in our Platform blog post.
Updated OMF South project timeline
The Board’s adopted plans identify 2029 as the initial target date for opening the OMF South.
Some projects in the planning phase, including the OMF South, have experienced non-financial delays in recent months. Many government and community project partners were forced to shift resources to addressing the human impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and were justifiably unable to review planning and environmental documents during that time.
When combined with our own delays, these delays in individual agencies and organizations had a compounding effect on some project schedules, including the OMF South’s. For this reason, 2029 would be the earliest possible date for opening this facility, even if projected financial impacts are eliminated.
Close collaboration with partners will be required to deliver the OMF South as rapidly as possible to support the opening of future light rail extensions.
Real estate, construction costs continue to surge
Due to rising construction expenses, projects currently in early planning and design are seeing cost estimate increases. In early 2021, Sound Transit commissioned independent experts to assess the agency’s cost estimates. Their review of major projects validated that the agency’s updated cost estimates are within an appropriate range for the current level of project design, approximately 10%.
As design advances, we’ll refine cost estimates for this and other projects in planning, drawing on recommendations from the independent reviewer. Sound Transit’s finance department, with the guidance of outside economists, will regularly update revenue and inflation projections, with the hope that recent improvements to economic and revenue forecasts continue.
Learn more about the realignment process and increased construction cost estimates at soundtransit.org/realignment.
We hope you’ll continue to participate in our work to move this important project forward.
Questions? Please feel free to reach out to the OMF South project at omfsouth@soundtransit.org or call 206-398-5453.
Thank you,
Curvie Hawkins
Project Director
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