Issaquah council adopts light-rail planning guide to prepare for Sound Transit extension

Issaquah’s City Council unanimously approved a Light Rail Planning Guide on March 18 intended to help the city prepare for a Sound Transit extension to Central Issaquah. City staff and consultants described the guide as a playbook to inform station-area visioning, station siting decisions, parking and demand-management strategies, and coordination with regional partners.

Senior Transportation Planner Thomas Valdres and consultant Lacey Bell (Nelson Nygaard Associates) summarized the guide’s components: the “6 D’s” of transit-supportive land use (density, diversity, design, destination accessibility, distance to transit, and demand management); station-siting trade-offs (end-of-line planning and parking reservoirs versus distributed parking); safety and accessibility (ADA access and design for walking/rolling); and an engagement timeline that foresees a Q2 community survey, Q3 focus groups, and committee review through Q4. The presentation emphasized the value of preparing Issaquah’s local vision in advance of Sound Transit’s federal process to influence station location and partnership agreements.

Council members highlighted the guide’s role in building consensus and a stronger case in discussions with Sound Transit and urged attention to public-safety design elements, end-of-line considerations, and inclusive outreach to neighboring jurisdictions and potential transit users who work or visit Issaquah.

Next steps: staff will launch near-term outreach (community survey and focus groups), take engagement summaries to commissions and boards, and bring a draft vision statement and guiding principles to Committee of the Whole later in the year.