Painting an Underground Picture
If you live, work or play near one of the alignments we’re currently studying as part of the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions project, you might have seen crews performing a variety of fieldwork activities, such as geotechnical drilling, seismic testing, sampling soil and groundwater and measuring groundwater levels. This work is a critical component early in the project that helps inform planning, design and construction.
Over the past year, contractors working for Sound Transit have completed nearly 100 geotechnical borings throughout the project area. The data collected from these borings paints a picture of the underground conditions in the project corridor that our team uses to inform ongoing design and recommended construction methods.
Earlier this year, crews completed a geotechnical boring that included a pump test near the future expanded Westlake station area. During pump tests, crews drill a small well more than 250 feet below the surface and pump water 24 hours per day, collecting and analyzing data to better understand soil and groundwater conditions. Crews have moved on to their second pump test in downtown near the future Midtown station area. Work started earlier this month and is expected to be complete by the end of October.
Fieldwork data will inform the analyses in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS), anticipated to be released in the spring of next year for public review and comment. To learn more about what goes on in the field and hear directly from one of our contractors about their work, check out the Platform article below!
Preparing for the Draft EIS
The Draft EIS is a key milestone in the planning and environmental review phase of this project, as it will help us better understand the potential impacts to the natural, built and social environments. It is also a key public engagement opportunity where we invite agencies and the public to provide their input on the project.
We recognize that this year has been extremely challenging. We are living through the COVID-19 pandemic, a national reckoning of racial injustice and an unprecedented change in daily life. We are here to support the communities we work in and want to help prepare you to comment on the Draft EIS to the best of our ability.
Starting later this fall, we will share detailed updates on our website where you can learn more about the alternatives we’re studying, the environmental review process and new information on each station location, including maps that show potential station entrances and connections for people walking, rolling, biking and taking transit.
This will be an opportunity to get caught up on the project in advance of the publication of the Draft EIS and comment period in Spring 2021.
In the meantime, if you have any questions about the Draft EIS process and what to expect, contact an outreach specialist by calling (206) 903-7229 or email wsblink@soundtransit.org.