Sound Transit officials are hoping the second time is the charm for Proposition 1, a transit ballot measure that went down to a stinging defeat at the polls last year.
The measure then combined transit services and road construction, which didn't fly for a number of reasons, according to Sound Transit spokesman Bruce Gray.
The agency heard from voters that the projects were too big, that cost breakdowns were too confusing and that it would take too long to complete everything, he said.
By contrast this year, Prop 1 projects will be up and running more quickly, the scope of the work is smaller "and it's transit only," Gray stressed.
Still, the work will not be cheap. Sound Transit estimates that the cost for all of the projects will be $22.8 billion, which includes $17.8 billion in construction costs, adjustments for inflation, and repaying all of the debt costs.
Bonds would be sold to finance the projects, and the money would be repaid with an additional half of 1 percent sales tax, which would be on top of an existing .4 percent Sound Move sales tax and a .3 percent vehicle-license tax.
Sound Transit officials estimate the new sales tax would cost an average resident in King County an extra $69 a year or $125 a year for a typical household.
Both the sales-tax costs and the construction costs have been up to debate. Furthermore, Sound Transit doesn't have a squeaky-clean track record; the initial Light Rail link between Seattle and Sea-Tac International Airport went over budget and missed its original deadline for completion. "We reset the schedule in 2001 for the initial section," Gray noted.
The segment to the airport is set to open next year, while the segment between downtown, Capitol Hill and the University District is scheduled for completion in 2016, according to Sound Transit estimates.
A Light Rail link from the U District to Northgate is scheduled for completion in 2020, as is one between downtown Seattle and Bellevue. And links reaching to Lynwood to the north and Redondo/Star Lake to the south are scheduled for completion by 2023.
In all, 36 more miles of Light Rail line will be paid for by Prop 1, but that won't be the only transportation improvement, according to Val Batey, another Sound Transit spokesperson.
An additional 100,000 hours of Bus Rapid Transit service will be added to the system beginning next year, she said. The express service will also be added to SR 520, Batey added. "That will continue with the new 520, as well."
Sounder Commuter Rail, which travels on Burlington Northern Santa Fe-owned railroad tracks, will also see a 65-percent increase in passenger capacity between Seattle and Lakewood, according to Sound Transit.
Sounder Rail between Tacoma and Everett has already seen a phenomenal growth rate in passengers of 28 percent in the first quarter this year, Batey said, adding that that ridership figure represents the most growth in the country.
The transportation improvements are being made on the routes with the highest demand, according to Gray. And based on Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) projects, the improvements will serve 70 percent of residents and 85 percent of businesses in the three-country region.
"PSRC has done a lot of work on where employment and population growth will be," Batey said. "So we have to do something to connect those dots."
Gray points to a connection between the Rainier Valley and I-90 as one reason more public transportation is needed in the region. Around 30,000 vehicles used the access ramps every day in 2006, he said. "So that's a lot of folks coming and going right there."
The same kind of traffic volume also holds true for SR-520, Gray said. "The need is there, and we only see that need growing."[[In-content Ad]]
