Transit advocates are marching from Ballard to Smith Cove, drawing attention to plans to jettison this section of promised light rail.
Three weeks ago, my enthusiasm for Sound Transit was at an all-time high. Seattle had a proudly transit-focused mayor. And at long last, the Crosslake Connection was opening, the first passenger light rail across a floating bridge – right on the heels of Federal Way light rail opening earlier than expected.
Then I saw the news.
Sound Transit was considering indefinitely delaying the Ballard extension. The core Seattle neighborhood where it can take me 80 minutes to bus home from a Mariners game, where I’m happy if I only pay $100 for my airport Uber, and where, to my friends in Capitol Hill, I’m farther away than Tukwila or Bellevue? My immediate reaction matched that of our district’s city councilmember, Dan Strauss: “unacceptable.”
Ballard is the only one of Seattle’s seven regional centers not connected to light rail today, and Ballard Link is expected to be by far the highest ridership line added in the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) measure. It will not be cheap, but waiting will only make it more expensive. Why defer such a critical project?
As I learned more, the explanation felt depressingly simple: because Ballard has not been demanding it loudly enough. West Seattle organized, and now has a shovel-ready proposal that saves billions. Issaquah urbanists packed rallies and made the long trip to downtown Seattle for Sound Transit meetings. As for Ballard? The same two people at every Sound Transit meeting, and only 10 Ballard Link comments submitted in Q4 2025. The ridership numbers may be on our side, but in politics, numbers without a voice are silent.
In response, local urbanists united to launch Save Ballard Rail, a grassroots effort to preserve Ballard Link and other promised ST3 projects. For our first event, we are marching to Save Ballard Rail on April 19th, and the immediate support has been incredible. Complete strangers have told me they heard about the march from social media, 51 of 54 businesses we approached gladly accepted our flyers, and our signs are popping up across the neighborhood.
The wave of eagerness raised a question: why was Ballard quiet for so long? After all, Ballard voted ~90% for ST3, so the public support is nothing new.
I stumbled upon my answer while canvassing at the Ballard Farmers Market. An older local saw my sign and scoffed, “Never gonna happen! Look at you, you’re probably too young to even remember when we were supposed to get a monorail.”
His comment highlighted a history of failure. Ballard has spent decades enduring broken rail promises, such as the Seattle Monorail Project, which featured a line to Ballard, spent over $100 million in eight years, and dissolved in 2005 with nothing to show for it.
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With that history, it is easy to understand the skepticism of longtime Ballardites. Each new delay for Ballard Link fits a long pattern that County Councilmember Claudia Balducci has recognized, where voters approve ambitious transit plans, only to see them gradually scaled back.
I am too young to remember those past failures. I moved to Seattle in 2020, after ST3 was approved, and I live in a Ballard home built through upzoning in anticipation of promised rail connectivity. I did not experience the lost hope of past failures, and I refuse to be weighed down by them. If anything, that makes me more determined to ensure this is the promise that finally gets kept. As the enthusiasm for our march shows, I am far from alone.
Ballard voted overwhelmingly for ST3, and has willingly paid for it. In return, we expect that Sound Transit will deliver on their promises.
The budget challenges are real, but they are solvable. The real question is political: will Sound Transit feel enough pressure to solve them?
We voted for our rail, we paid for it, and now we need to show up for it. Join us on April 19th, starting at 1pm at Gemenskap Park in Ballard, as we make ourselves undeniable.
We must stop Sound Transit from repeating the mistakes of the past. Now is the time to Save Ballard Rail.
Doug Trumm
Scott Kubly
