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3/27/2023
Sound Transit and the Seattle Department of Transportation have received a $2 million federal grant to improve safety along the Link light-rail corridor in Rainier Valley.
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the grant through the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) program, which will enable the agencies to plan, implement and evaluate new technologies to improve safety along Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, Sound Transit officials said in a press release.
The "Rainier Valley Safe" project will evaluate a series of technologies to improve community safety. One technology, based on real-time video analytics and using artificial intelligence, would broadcast real-time safety messages to bicyclists and pedestrians, connected vehicles, warning devices and advanced transportation controllers.
Meanwhile, Sound Transit's board late last week identified a preferred alternative for the light-rail route and station locations for the Ballard Link Extension. The proposed 7.1-mile extension would include nine new stations from downtown Seattle to Ballard, including a new rail-only tunnel through downtown Seattle.
A final decision on whether to pursue the project will not be made until after environmental review is completed and the final environmental impact statement is published, agency officials said in a press release.