West Seattle Link Extension Redesigned, Cutting Cost by Over $2 Billion
Sound Transit’s Board has adopted an updated System Plan for the West Seattle Link Extension that removes the planned Avalon Station and shifts more of the route into tunnel. According to the agency, eliminating Avalon Station reduces both project cost and community impacts, including the number of properties that would need to be acquired for construction, while keeping stations at SODO, Delridge, and Alaska Junction.
Sound Transit says the redesign identified more than $2 billion in cost savings for the extension, which includes a new light rail bridge carrying trains across the Duwamish Waterway between SODO and West Seattle. An updated project fact sheet was released in late September.
Why this matters for contractors: A major cost-saving redesign this far along typically means new procurement packages as design finalizes around the revised alignment. Tunnel-boring, bridge, and station-finish contractors working the Puget Sound transit market should watch for updated Sound Transit solicitations tied to the revised scope.
