Committee hears plan to add West Seattle Link Extension to Seattle transitway agreement

Seattle City Council's Transportation Committee on June 17, 2025, heard a briefing on two companion pieces of legislation — an ordinance to amend the city's transitway agreement and a resolution approving the West Seattle Link Extension alignment and stations — that would let the city begin permit review for the project.

The legislation matters because adding the West Seattle Link Extension to the transitway agreement and adopting the alignment are the local pieces required after the Sound Transit Board action and the Federal Transit Administration's record of decision; once the city completes these steps, permitting and more detailed design work can proceed.

Councilmember Rob Sacca, chair of the Transportation Committee, framed the item as both a project of regional benefit and one that requires strong local mitigation and oversight. "Let me be crystal clear as well. I support light rail expansion and the connectivity it will bring to District 1 and the rest of the city," Sacca said, while emphasizing that mitigation and engagement with affected residents and businesses must follow.

Council central staff and Sound Transit speakers described the two pieces of legislation as companion actions: the ordinance authorizes the Seattle Department of Transportation director to amend the transitway agreement to add the West Seattle Link Extension; the resolution would formally approve the project's alignment, station locations and maintenance-base locations as adopted by the Sound Transit Board. Calvin Chao, council central staff, and Sound Transit staff including Jason Hampton and others walked the committee through the project's scope, schedule and community engagement history.

Sound Transit described the project as roughly 4.1 miles of new light rail between SoDo and West Seattle's Alaska Junction with stations at SoDo, Delridge, Avalon and Alaska Junction and a connection to the regional operations-and-maintenance facility. "[The project] would reduce travel time from Alaska Junction to SoDo and downtown by half — taking a trip that currently takes about 30 minutes down to about 15 minutes," Jason Hampton, Sound Transit, said during the presentation.

Sound Transit and city staff told the committee the Federal Transit Administration issued a record of decision in April 2025 and the Sound Transit Board adopted the project in October 2024; the council action would be the local step that enables permit applications to be processed. Staff also emphasized that major changes to alignment or stations in the future would require follow‑up legislation.

Speakers and committee members discussed mitigation, displacement and schedule risk. Sound Transit said the final environmental review reduced estimated displacements from a high-end draft-EIS estimate to roughly 150 residential relocations and about 130 business impacts; during final design those numbers could change and Sound Transit expects to continue outreach and to provide relocation assistance consistent with federal, state and local law. Erin Goodman, executive director of the SoDo Business Improvement Area, urged "proactive and coordinated construction mitigation," telling the committee the construction phase poses an urgent threat to local businesses and freight movement.

Committee members pressed on delivery risks and mitigation: Sound Transit acknowledged systemwide cost pressures and an ongoing enterprise review to identify program-level responses; city staff said recent land-use code amendments and planned staffing/resource legislation are intended to shorten permit review timelines. Staff told the committee they expect to return with follow-up legislation this year on staffing and fiscal reserves to support permit processing and enforcement.

No final council vote on the ordinance or resolution took place at the June 17 committee meeting; presenters said committee and full-council consideration and votes are expected in July 2025. If the council adopts the ordinance and resolution, the city will be able to accept permit applications and begin the permit-review process.

The committee indicated continued focus on mitigation and on maintaining communication with community groups and business representatives as the project moves from preliminary engineering into final design and permitting.