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Light Rail Extension
The City's Role with Light Rail
Although this is a Sound Transit project, the City of Redmond is working together with them to share information on construction, traffic impacts, and other issues that may affect our community or nearby homes, businesses, or properties during design and construction of light rail.
Timeline
Construction is underway at the Overlake Village and Redmond Technology (previously Overlake Transit Center) Stations. Both are scheduled to open in 2023.
Recent Activities
- The placement of girders for the aerial guideway will be completed in May 2019.
- The contractor continues to install the bridge deck, electrical and communications conduit, bridge railing, and rails for the trains.
- Both eastbound and westbound wall installation is complete between Overlake Village and Redmond Technology Station.
- Work is now progressing on the overhead wire pole foundations, underground communications duct bank, ballast, and track.
- Construction of the Redmond Technology Station is underway including the parking garage, the vertical circulation towers (stairs/elevators), the garage entrance ramp, the station platform and canopies.
- Construction of the Overlake Village Station bicycle and pedestrian bridge has started. The center pier in the middle of SR 520 and both bridge abutments are completed. The steel truss sections are expected to arrive the in summer of 2019 for installation over SR520. Expect nightly closures. Advance notice will be given.
Sound Transit is preparing to select a design-build team to finish design and construct the 3.4-mile light rail extension from Overlake to Downtown Redmond. The extension has two stations: one in Southeast Redmond in Marymoor Village, and one in Downtown adjacent to the Redmond Central Connector, at 166th. Both are scheduled to open in 2024.
Recent Activities
- In November 2018, Sound Transit issued a request for proposals to design-build teams for the final design and construction of this project. The final design and construction phase is expected to begin in late 2019.
- In October 2018, the Sound Transit Board updated the "project to be built" to locate the Downtown Redmond Station in the Redmond Central Connector (RCC) corridor at 166th Avenue NE and revising the profile of the rail in the RCC corridor from at-grade to elevated.
- In August 2018, Sound Transit completed environmental review for this project.
- The Sound Transit Board has authorized a series of property acquisitions for the Downtown extension. Additional authorizations will continue during 2019.
Development Agreement for Downtown Extension
Over the past two years of preliminary design, the City of Redmond and Sound Transit have engaged the community about big picture items like alignment and station locations, and also about preliminary station design and station access. With the preliminary design phase complete, Sound Transit and the City are preparing to enter into a development agreement that memorializes key project scope commitments and development standards.
What is a development agreement?
A development agreement is an agreement between the City and a property owner or developer. Development agreements usually identify the types and intensity of uses proposed and are typically requested by property owners to provide certainty and predictability with respect to required mitigation, infrastructure and applicable regulations that will apply to identified properties over a certain period of time.
What is the purpose of the development agreement with Sound Transit?
The proposed development agreement for the light rail extension to Downtown has four main purposes:
- It vests Sound Transit to development regulations in place at the time the agreement is executed, providing certainty to Sound Transit and the design-builder
- It provides for deviations from and modifications to certain development standards to facilitate an efficient permitting process and station design outcomes consistent with City interests
- It lists specific scope commitments that Sound Transit is making that benefit the Redmond community
- It lists City of Redmond "betterments," which are improvements that are not part of the Sound Transit project that the City will fund and Sound Transit will build in order to take advantage of Sound Transit's mobilization of construction resources to complete critical City projects in advance of light rail opening
Development Agreement Schedule (Subject to Change)
- April 16, 2019: City Council committee meeting on the development agreement
- May 7, 2019: City Council public hearing on the development agreement
- May 28, 2019: City Council study session on development agreement
- June 4, 2019: Continued City Council public hearing on the development agreement
- June 18, 2019: City Council action on the development agreement