Sound Transit launched a public survey on April 3 asking residents across the three-county taxing district how to close a $34.5 billion funding shortfall — one that puts Ballard and West Seattle light rail extensions approved by voters in 2016 at risk of indefinite deferral or cancellation.

The Three Approaches

Staff presented three approaches at a March 18 board retreat in Tacoma. Each closes roughly the full gap through a different mix of truncations and cancellations.

Approach 1 builds West Seattle to Alaska Junction and cancels the Issaquah-Kirkland Eastside extension entirely. Approach 2 — formally named “Build Issaquah, Cancel West Seattle” — cancels the West Seattle extension altogether while preserving the Eastside line. Approach 3 truncates every major project: Ballard to Seattle Center, West Seattle to a stub at Delridge, and Tacoma Dome Link to Fife rather than the Dome itself.

All three scenarios shorten Ballard Link before it reaches its voter-approved terminus. The cost growth explains why: the Ballard extension was originally estimated at $11.9 billion and is now projected at $20.1 to $22.6 billion. West Seattle Link grew from $4.2 billion to $7.0 to $7.9 billion. Ballard carries the strongest ridership case for preservation — 90,000 to 173,000 projected daily riders, highest of any ST3 project and more than triple the 2 Line’s opening figures.

Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine told an overflow crowd at a West Seattle forum on April 1: “We will get to West Seattle.” The board has signaled it expects to mix elements from all three approaches rather than adopt any single scenario wholesale.

Voices and What’s Next

Seattle Councilmember Dan Strauss, whose Ballard district supported ST3 at nearly 90 percent in 2016, called the Ballard extension “the most riders of any project in Sound Transit history” and said any plan short of full Ballard service is “unacceptable.” Mayor Katie Wilson said she expects “shovels in the ground this year” on West Seattle. A Save Ballard Rail march across the Ballard Bridge is scheduled for April 19.

Sound Transit has not publicly addressed whether it can legally truncate voter-approved ST3 projects without a new ballot measure. In the agency’s own terminology, “defer” means a project is nominally retained in the program but receives no allocated funding until a new source materializes — in practice, an indefinite pause.

Survey responses will be synthesized for the Sound Transit Board before its May 28 meeting. An updated ST3 system plan is expected in June 2026.