LYNNWOOD — If you’ve been reading and hearing about the future Sound Transit light rail expansion from Lynnwood to Everett but don’t know the details of the $12 billion taxpayer funded plan to specifically locate the 16 miles of train track weaving through the densest parts of Snohomish County, tonight is your last chance to explore it in person during an open house and public hearing in Lynnwood.
Sound Transit officials will be on-hand to answer questions, show detailed illustrations of maps, and explain the choices that have gone into the current Draft Environmental Impact Statement that will serve as the document to inform the final light rail track alignment selected by the 18 Sound Transit Board Members in February 2027. The Sound Transit Board is made up of 10 elected officials in King County, four from Pierce County, three from Snohomish County–Executive, Dave Somers, Everett Mayor, Cassie Franklin and Lynnwood City Councilmember, Dave Parshall–plus the current Washington State Secretary of Transportation .
Tonight’s Sound Transit Everett Link Extension (EVLE) open house is from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Lynnwood Neighborhood Center, 19509 64th Ave. West. It’s the final in-person opportunity for the public to review details on the proposed light rail extension from Lynnwood to Everett and submit comments on the Draft EIS. The public comment period for the Draft EIS closes on November 2, 2026. After November 2, those public comments will be presented to the 18 Sound Transit Board Members to consider the final light rail path from the existing Lynnwood station north to one of two locations in downtown Everett.
Different options for the light rail track alignment could knock out homes, apartments, businesses, churches, medical facilities or other buildings so the impacts of future displacement are dependent on who speaks up about the proposed pathway for where the transit system and its necessary support facilities, like the Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF), are ultimately located to complete planned construction by 2037 to Paine Field and 2041 to downtown Everett.
Sound Transit previously held two in-person open houses and public hearings on the EVLE Draft EIS at Mariner High School on October 13 and at the Carl Gipson Center in Everett on October 15. If you want to read the Executive Summary of the Draft EIS, click here. If you want to see 225-page Draft EIS for the Everett light rail expansion, click here.
If you want to register your public comment on the EVLE Draft EIS, these are the ways to voice your preferences by November 2:
- Online via Sound Transit’s website
- Calling Sound Transit, 425-243-6255
Email: [email protected] - Snail Mail: Everett Link Extension
Attn: Galeeb Kachra
Sound Transit, 401 S Jackson St Seattle, WA 98104