A light rail link extension, supported by the 2008 voter-approved Sound Transit 2 funding package, is destined to reach the Kent/Des Moines station by 2023 from the South 200th Street Angle Lake Station in SeaTac (opening in 2016) — but what route it will take to get there is undecided.

At a public hearing at the Federal Way Community Center on Wednesday, residents and community business members had the opportunity to comment on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Federal Way Link Extension, which includes four route alternatives under consideration by the Sound Transit board of directors.

These four alignments comprise one along Highway 99; one along Interstate 5; a Highway 99 to I-5 alternative and an I-5 to Highway 99 alternative.

Cathal Ridge, the Federal Way Link Extension project manager, said more than 21 station options were also analyzed across the four routes.

Jack Bermingham, president of Highline College in Des Moines, expressed his interest in the Highway 99 route, which includes a Kent/Des Moines Highline College campus station option.

“First and foremost, light rail needs to be about moving people,” Bermingham said. “Highline College is a destination. Employees and students come to the college. Seventeen thousand different people come to the college over the course of the year. Having the station either at the north end or south end, ideally on the west side of 99, meets the needs of our people.”

Bermingham said colleges like Highline provide equity and access for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The president said not placing the station at the college would be a disservice to the equity and access benefit.

Meanwhile, fast-food industry leader McDonald’s made its voice heard. Three people managing the South 320th Street and 23rd Avenue South McDonald’s made public comment indicating the proposed I-5 alternative route would unfairly displace the business, affecting hundreds of employees who work and train at the restaurant.

John Jackson, director of operations at the McDonald’s, said this particular location is very unique compared to other McDonald’s sites. Jackson said the restaurant serves as a regional training hub and employee orientation center.

The Federal Way City Council held a special meeting on Tuesday, when they heard from Sound Transit representatives explaining the various route alternatives. Public comment on the alternatives was also taken.

“My recommendation to the council is for an I-5 alignment with a station location that comes to our downtown,” Mayor Jim Ferrell told the Mirror in a phone interview. “I’m making this recommendation based on quite a number of factors that include cost and displacement of businesses and homes and the overall impact on Federal Way, but the final decision on the wording of the resolution will be the council’s and that is why public input is so important.”

Ferrell said his recommendation stems from the city’s $100 million infrastructure improvements along Highway 99 over the past decade.

“(That investment) would be disrupted if those tracks went down 99,” Ferrell added. “The cost would be at least $200 to $300 million more than an I-5 alignment.”

According to the draft Environmental Impact Statement, the Highway 99 alternative would displace 104 business units, compared to 29 under the I-5 alignment. Projected cost for the Highway 99 and I-5 alternatives would be $1.77 billion and $1.42 billion, respectively.

The council plans to adopt a resolution stating their preferred alternative route as early as May 19.

The public comment period on the draft impact statement is through May 26. After collecting comments, the Sound Transit board plans to select a preferred alternative earlier this summer. Following this selection, a final impact statement will be prepared and published in mid-2016. The board will make their final selection of an alternative route and stations in late 2016.

Ridge, the project manager, said ST2 funding authorized construction of the extension to the South 272nd station in Federal Way. Because of the deep recession, however, projected ST2 tax revenues were reduced by 28.5 percent or $4.9 billion.

“South King County was hardest hit at a projected percentage loss of 38.5 percent or $1 billion,” said Sound Transit spokeswoman Kimberly Reason.

This significant loss in funding meant ST2 would only be able to fund construction of the extension from the Angle Lake station to the Kent/Des Moines station by 2023, which equates to approximately 2.5 miles.

To make up for the deficit, Sound Transit is asking the state Legislature for more funding authority in order to authorize placement of a new $15 billion bond package on the ballot in late 2016. A third bond measure would ultimately bring the extension to South 272nd. The end goal, Ridge said, is to eventually bring the extension to the Federal Way Transit Center and then past that to Tacoma.

Ridge said the public comment period is an important piece to carrying out the project.

“We’ve been very motivated to be more graphical, more interactive and to reach out to everyone in the corridor,” he said. “Very often we find (it’s best to connect) with more recent arrivals to the area through forums they’re familiar with.”

These include churches and a variety of social service providers. Ridge said they’re willing to do outreach with any group willing to listen and learn about the project and provide comment.

“It’s a complex project, and there are a lot of alternatives and lots of tradeoffs,” Ridge said.

Because of the project’s complexity, Sound Transit is ensuring all voices are heard. This means providing translators at public hearings that include Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, Spanish and Somali.

The public is encouraged to visit federalwaylink.org to learn more about the Federal Way Link Extension project, watch an interactive video that explains the alternative routes, submit comments or read the draft impact statement.