advertisement

---

This week, Sound Transit officials plan to begin the next phase of planning for extending and improving light-rail and mass transit options from Northgate to Lynnwood, Wash., as approved by voters as part of the Sound Transit 2 (ST2) expansion plan.

The agency will host meetings this week and next to solicit public opinions on issues to be examined as part of environmental impact studies, Sound Transit officials said in a prepared statement.

To be completed by 2023, the North Corridor Transit Project would connect to, and build on, the Link light-rail line that opened for service between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport in 2009. Construction is under way on a light-rail extension to the University of Washington, which is scheduled to open in 2016, followed by service to Northgate targeted in 2021.

The 2008 regional vote on the ST2 measure approved 36 new miles of service to the north, south and east to create a light-rail system that would stretch more than 50 miles.

Sound Transit completed an alternatives analysis earlier this year, and now is conducting an “environmental scoping” process to determine what should be studied in the upcoming draft Environmental Impact Statement, agency officials said.