Sound Transit Interim CEO Goran Sparrman shared updates at a Transit Town Hall on Sept. 5 in Federal Way hosted by King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer.
The latest update for the opening of the Federal Way Link Light Rail Extension is spring 2026.
The area of the light rail just south of Federal Way will take almost a decade longer, with estimates of approximately 2035 for the Federal Way stop to connect with the already completed Tacoma stops.
An updated Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the South Federal Way Station of the Tacoma Dome Link Extension will be released later this year or in spring 2025. That portion of the light rail — connecting the planned Tacoma Dome stop to Federal Way and Seattle beyond that — was delayed.
“As currently planned, Link light rail will end at the Tacoma Dome; the existing T Line is different train technology, so a transfer would be required to continue into Tacoma,” according to David Jackson, Public Information Officer for Sound Transit.
As the interim CEO, Sparrman said he is undertaking a massive restructuring of the internal processes at Sound Transit. Many of these changes are based on six key recommendations from a technical advisory group.
One key change has been to form a cabinet structure with the heads of each department, encouraging them to work together to solve problems instead of having a “lack of personal ownership, lack of personal responsibility,” as Sparrman described the previous structure.
This issue of responsibility is a challenge in such a massive organization involving so many different literal moving parts.
For example, Link Light Rail is operated by King County, Sounder is maintained by Amtrak but is ran by BNSF, both under contract with Sound Transit. The STRIDE program is currently looking for an operator, and the ST Express buses are run under three separate agreements with King County Metro, Community Transit and Pierce Transit.
Sparrman said he is working on streamlining the coordination between all of these organizations and individuals to improve everything from safety to subcontractor payments.
A fatal stabbing this year highlighted the need to increase safety precautions. Comparatively with other transit systems in other cities, the light rail is safe, Sparrman said. But incidents like this can change public perception and are an opportunity to work more closely with local law enforcement and even more strategically deploy Sound Transit’s 550 security officers, he said.
Another internal issue Sparrman is looking to solve are the long pauses in construction that happen when “making a difficult decision on the design side, that can be a three months delay on the construction side.” Sparrman explained that “then a contract has an issue, and that takes three weeks. We actually need to make those decisions the same day. So all these cultural changes, organizational changes, are intended to address these issues.”
One audience member said he has experienced the cost of these delays firsthand.
Jesse Cherian is the president/CEO of ST Fabrication, a sub-contractor with the general contractors hired by Sound Transit to build their light rail stations. His firm builds the structural steel of the columns for Sound Transit projects.
Cherian said that the contracts from Sound Transit have doubled and tripled the size of his company over the years. While he’s grateful for the work and for the opportunity, the partnership has come with a lot of challenges, including one that took him to court.
“Whenever there’s a change, there’s additional costs for us. Then when we submit those costs, those change orders, many times they languish for years. And so we will have already spent the money for the labor, spent the money for the materials…and we’re waiting for years to get paid,” Cherian said to the Mirror, expanding on his comments to Sparrman during the town hall.
Sparrman responded to Cherian’s comments by saying this is exactly the type of issue he is trying to fix, adding that “firms like you should not be held hostage.”
Other audience members spoke to their concerns about the impacts of Sound Transit construction in Federal Way, whether that is their new Operations Maintenance Facility South or the light rail stations themselves.
Kabal Gill, owner of East India Grill, said that his business has been seriously impacted and that he has heard nothing from Sound Transit this whole time.
Federal Way resident Jackie Anderson asked whether she and other homeowners who live near the site for Sound Transit’s new Operations and Maintenance Facility South would get the opportunity to share their input on mitigation plans for light and noise from the 24 hour facility.
Sparrman said that they would get that chance. He also reassured Anderson that he recently visited the Bellevue location, which will have the same type of operations and design, and that all of the work was done inside a building.
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Corrections:
A previous version of this article stated that Sounder is operated by Amtrak. Sounder is actually maintained by Amtrak but is ran by BNSF, both under contract with Sound Transit.
A previous version of this article stated that ST Express is operated by Community Transit, which subcontracts with King and Pierce counties and more. ST Express is actually run under three separate agreements with King County Metro, Community Transit and Pierce Transit.
Sound Transit interim CEO Goran Sparrman speaks to a crowd on Sept. 5 at the Sound Transit Town Hall hosted by Pete Von Reichbauer at KO-AM TV station in Federal Way. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror
