Timeline and milestones

• Alternatives development
  • Environmental  scoping, when Sound Transit seeks public, agency and tribal input on alignment, station and OMF North alternatives
  • Identify and evaluate station, route and OMF alternatives
  • The Sound Transit Board identifies alternatives for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and will likely also identify a preferred alternative
• Draft EIS
  • Conceptual engineering
  • Prepare Draft EIS
  • Public review and comment on the Draft EIS
  • Sound Transit Board confirms/modifies preferred alternative for Final EIS
• Final EIS
  • Preliminary engineering
  • Prepare Final EIS
  • Sound Transit Board selects project to be built
  • Federal Record of Decision 

• Final station and route designs
• Procure and commission station and public art
• Obtain land use and construction permits
• Begin property acquisition/relocation

• Groundbreaking
• Construction updates and mitigation
• Safety education
• Testing and pre-operations

In August 2021, the Sound Transit Board concluded a realignment process to adjust some project plans and timelines due to financial constraints.

Under the Board’s realigned capital plan, Sound Transit is managing the Everett Link Extension toward a 2037 delivery target by working to close a project affordability gap most recently forecasted at $500 million. The agency is seeking to reduce or eliminate this gap by increasing funding and support at the local, state and national levels, and by reducing costs as the Board considers and adopts project alignment options with input from partners and the public.

If it is not possible to close the gap, the Board’s realigned capital plan identifies 2037 as the timeframe we can afford to open service to SW Everett Industrial Center and 2041 as the timeframe we can afford to open service to Everett Station, based on current revenue projections and cost estimates.

In order to prioritize reaching Everett as rapidly as possible, the realigned plan also pushes back investments in parking facilities at Mariner and Everett Stations to a 2046 target opening, with intent to emphasize other options for people to access the system, including connections to and from local bus routes.

The Everett Link Extension project also includes the Operations and Maintenance Facility North, a critical facility for system-wide service that will store, maintain and repair trains for the expanding light rail system. The Board’s adopted plan identifies 2034 as the timeframe we can afford to open the OMF North, based on current revenue projections and cost estimates.

We’ll track fiscal challenges very closely as we work with partner jurisdictions and stakeholders to advance this project. The project’s ultimate timeline will come into greater focus as we advance the environmental review process and project design including examining cost-saving options.