USDOT to provide financing assistance for Sound Transit expansions

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) will expand financing assistance for Sound Transit expansion projects, the Seattle-based transit-rail agency announced yesterday.

The action will represent USDOT’s largest-ever package of loans for a single borrower in the history of the department’s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program. The package will total $3.84 billion for six projects. It includes a new TIFIA loan for the Downtown Redmond Link Extension, and refinancing of five previously approved loans under improved terms. 

"The major package of loans that USDOT has approved for Sound Transit demonstrates the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to public transit, job creation, equity and tackling climate change," said Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg in a press release.

The TIFIA loans allow Sound Transit to borrow money at rates significantly lower than otherwise available. In addition to the new loan for the Downtown Redmond Link Extension, the USDOT announced it will approve refinanced loans for the Northgate Link Extension, East Link Extension, Lynnwood Link Extension, Federal Way Link Extension and Link Operations and Management Facility East.