Link light rail

The Sound Transit Board of Directors revealed today its CEO pick is King County Executive Dow Constantine, who has served on the board for 16 years. Constantine has been a controversial candidate, with some observers seeing a seasoned executive who helped build the agency and others a borderline case of nepotism.

A decades-long planned Link infill station in North Tukwila is set to move into environmental review with a single alternative recommended by Sound Transit staff. The recommended alternative forsakes a long standing objective to connect with Sounder and leaves the station relatively isolated.

As Sound Transit builds the largest light rail expansion in the country, splitting the system into urban and suburban lines could unlock its full potential and queue up logical extensions.

Following an early planning process for the Graham Street infill station, Sound Transit has formally selected a particular location and design approach for the future Rainier Valley station.

The Sound Transit Executive Committee approved a secret "Candidate C" as its CEO pick today. It's unclear if that candidate is King County Executive Dow Constantine or another finalist. The committee will seek to negotiate an employment contract and formally approve the hire at the agency's full board meeting on March 27.

The 30 to 60 days of additional review isn't unique to Sound Transit's light rail project, CEO Goran Sparrman said, but will nonetheless likely alarm many transit advocates and threaten the project's schedule.

Praised for delivering Seattle's massive waterfront revamp, the Office of the Waterfront has faced criticism for being shadowy and unaccountable. Now it will become a one-stop-shop for Sound Transit permitting.

Weekend service disruptions continue Sunday, February 23 on the Link 1 Line. Sound Transit will suspend light rail service between Capitol Hill and SoDo stations to facilitate maintenance and construction work, and offer replacement bus bridge service.