Sound Transit outlines Stride BRT changes at Burien Transit Center; construction expected summer 2026

Sound Transit officials presented detailed plans to the Burien City Council on June 1 for the Stride Bus Rapid Transit S1 line, which will run from Burien to Bellevue and includes reconstruction of the western platform at Burien Transit Center and a new center bus-only lane to SR 518.

"We're here to talk about the Stride Bus Rapid Transit program and specifically what's coming here to Burien," said Katie Drool of Sound Transit's government relations team. She said the S1 line is fully funded and on schedule and that the agency recently broke ground on a dedicated operations and maintenance facility.

Senior project manager Joey Alchick said the Burien work includes a reconstructed western platform with passenger amenities, off-board fare payment, real-time signage, bicycle accommodations and CCTV. The project will also build a center-only bus lane eastbound to SR 518 to improve bus speed and reliability. "The center bus-only lane is going to be a full pavement restoration to accommodate for the bus weights themselves," Alchick said.

Craig Karas, Sound Transit's senior project manager for bus operation technology, described the transit signal priority system that lets buses request extended greens or truncated reds at intersections to reduce delays.

Construction in Burien is slated to begin in summer 2026, with Burien-specific work expected to wrap in 2027 and the S1 line opening in phases through 2028 and 2029, Sound Transit said. Johansen Construction Company is expected to perform the below-ground civil scope; a second contractor will handle above-ground work.

Council members pressed the agency on likely impacts. Joey Alchick said access to the parking garage should remain possible during construction and that Sound Transit and its contractors are coordinating closely with city public works and WSDOT on traffic management plans. Alchick said outreach will include door-to-door notices, flyers, emails and translated materials; councilmembers requested clear multilingual notification for affected neighbors and businesses.

The presentation also described planned electric buses with inductive charging at stops and other regional design elements, including consistent shelter pylons and art glass by the original transit-center artist. Sound Transit staff said Metro service will continue at Burien until Stride service begins.

The city offered no formal action on the presentation; councilmembers thanked the presenters and asked staff to keep the council and public updated as the project moves toward contracting and construction.