(The following story by Larry Lange appeared on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer website on July 13.)
SEATTLE — A measure providing $128.8 million in financing for Sound Transit light rail programs advanced in the U.S. Senate this week — $100 million requested by President Bush for a 3.15-mile extension from downtown Seattle to UW and a final $28.8-million installment on a grant financing the initial section to Sea-Tac Airport.
The appropriations measure, pushed by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., now needs final approval by the full Senate and House, plus Bush’s signature, to be spent during the 2009 year, which starts Oct. 1. If approved, the measure would bring to $500 million the total paid for the 13.9-mile, $2.6 billion initial rail segment and make the first payment on what Sound Transit hopes will be a $750 million grant to help finance the UW extension.
The initial rail segment is scheduled to begin service to Tukwila in July 2009, with service to the airport scheduled for December of that year. If a grant is approved the agency hopes to begin building the $1.6 billion UW line late in 2009 and open it for service in 2016.