Ballard Link Extension project updates
Get the latest on the project in your inbox.
Visit our detailed online open house to learn more and stay current with the Ballard Link Extension project progress.
Overview
The Ballard Link Extension (BLE) will connect Chinatown-International District and downtown Seattle with the Interbay and Ballard neighborhoods. It will also add a new light rail tunnel in downtown Seattle to operate the system efficiently. Voters approved this project in November 2016 as part of the Sound Transit 3 vote. The project is currently in the planning phase.
Ballard Link Extension
Adds 7.7 miles of light rail service from downtown Seattle to the Ballard neighborhood. This extension includes a new downtown Seattle light rail tunnel.
Includes nine new stations from Chinatown-International District to Ballard.
Will improve transit service frequency, reliability, and capacity.
Facilitates redevelopment near stations, focusing on equitable transit-oriented development.
Start of service is scheduled for 2039.
Current project status
The Ballard Link Extension is currently in the environmental review phase. We’ve been collecting your feedback since 2017 to identify potential alignments and inform our study of a range of alternatives for the Ballard Link Extension (BLE). In coordination with the Federal Transit administration (FTA), we recently concluded the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping process and comment period, which ended on Dec. 9, 2024. The comment period was intended to collect feedback on the Purpose and Need, alternatives, and potential topics to be studied in the BLE National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Supplemental Draft EIS for the project. These studies are anticipated to be published in 2025.
The Draft EIS comment period, anticipated in 2025, will seek feedback on potential environmental impacts and benefits of each alternative proposed actions that will help mitigate impacts. We will carry forward public feedback and comments collected from the start of the project as part of the ongoing environmental review phase.
As a reminder, after the publication of the West Seattle Ballard Link Extensions (WSBLE) Draft EIS and a 90-day comment period in 2022, the Sound Transit Board directed Further Studies of BLE alternatives. These Further Studies led to Board actions in March and July 2023 that added new alternatives and modified the preferred alternatives for the BLE. Given the additional environmental review needed for these project refinements, Sound Transit and the FTA determined that the West Seattle Link Extension and BLE projects would advance on two separate environmental review timelines.
Where can I learn more as a project neighbor?
Visit the project’s Online Open House to learn more. If you have any questions or you would like to set up a meeting to learn more, contact the project team at ballardlink@soundtransit.org.
The Sound Transit Board will make a final decision on routes, stations, and the project to be built after we publish the BLE Final EIS. We expect to publish the Final EIS in 2026.