Sound Transit plans meetings about light rail maintenance facility

Sessions in Kent, Federal Way

  • Monday, November 11, 2019 11:21am
  • News
Sound Transit’s Operations and Maintenance Facility in South Seattle. COURTESY PHOTO, Sound Transit

Sound Transit’s Operations and Maintenance Facility in South Seattle. COURTESY PHOTO, Sound Transit

Sound Transit will have several public drop-in sessions in Kent and Federal Way over the next few weeks about a new Operations and Maintenance Facility South for light rail vehicles and the Tacoma Dome Link Extension.

The sessions are designed for residents to learn about project updates and the environmental process.

The Sound Transit Board of Directors in the spring selected routes and station locations for environmental study to expand regional light rail with the Tacoma Dome Link extension. The board also selected three sites for environmental study to locate a new Operations and Maintenance Facility in South King County.

The following sites will be studied and a location selected next year for a maintenance facility scheduled to open in 2026.

• Midway Landfill, west of Interstate 5, which has been closed since the 1980s and is owned by Seattle Public Utilities. Estimated cost: $1.3 billion.

• South 336th Street near I-5, which is the location of the Christian Faith Center church and school in Federal Way. Estimated cost: $750 million.

• South 344th Street near I-5, which is an industrial area in Federal Way, includes several businesses: Garage Town, which offers private custom storage facility; an RV storage facility; and Ellenos Yogurt Factory. Estimated cost: $800 million.

The Operations and Maintenance Facility needs to be built to service and store more than 140 light rail vehicles, according to Sound Transit. The facility requires at least 30 acres and would employ an estimated 300.

Sound Transit will hold drop-in sessions at the following locations in Kent and Federal Way:

• Saturday, Nov. 16, Federal Way Library, 34200 First Way S., 10 a.m. to noon

• Tuesday, Nov. 19, Fred Meyer, 25250 Pacific Highway S., Kent, 8 to 10 a.m.

• Wednesday, Dec. 4, Federal Way Community Center, 876 S 333rd St., 5 to 7 p.m.

For those unable to attend a drop-in session, information on both projects will also be available online from Nov. 13 to Dec. 6 at southsoundlink.participate.online/.

Staff from the Tacoma Dome Link Extension and OMF South projects also will be attending two open houses for the Federal Way Link Extension.

• Wednesday, Nov. 13, Highline College, 2400 S. 240th St., Building 8, Des Moines, 6-8 p.m.

• Wednesday, Nov. 20, Federal Way Performing Arts Center, 31510 Pete Von Reichbauer Way S., 6-8 p.m.


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