Project update
Your input will help us place a new facility in the South Sound!
To have a congestion-free regional light rail system, Sound Transit needs a place to clean, store and maintain trains to support future extensions. We want your feedback on potential sites for our Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) South, scheduled to open by 2026. Your input during this public comment or “scoping” period will help the Sound Transit Board determine which sites to study in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)*.
The EIS process documents the OMF’s potential impacts to the natural and built environment and will take about two years to complete, including the opportunity for public, agency, and Tribal comment following the Draft EIS. View our Determination of Significance (DS), which is a formal announcement to initiate scoping and preparation of an EIS, and our Scoping Information Report, which provides an overview of the scoping process, the sites under consideration, and how to comment in further detail.
How to engage during the scoping period through April 1:
There are several ways to provide comments during this time:
- Comment online: https://OMFSouth.participate.online
- Attend an in-person open house to learn about potential OMF sites, hear a presentation, ask questions of Sound Transit staff and provide comments. Stop by any time during an open house from 6-8 p.m. A short overview presentation will be offered at 6:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, March 12 // Performing Arts and Events Center
31510 Pete von Reichbauer Way South, Federal Way- Wednesday, March 20 // Highline College
Building 8 - Mt. Olympus Room, 2400 S 240th St, Des Moines- Email: OMFSouthScoping@soundtransit.org
- Mail: Sound Transit, Environmental Planner Hussein Rehmat, 401 S. Jackson Street, Seattle, WA 98104
What is an Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF)?
An OMF is where trains go for cleaning, storage and maintenance that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Light rail can’t operate effectively without an additional OMF in South King County. Finding sites is challenging, as Sound Transit requires at least 30 relatively flat acres (for reference, 1 football field is 1.3 acres) that are near an operating light rail line, with specific site conditions often pushing the acreage requirement higher.
One OMF currently exists in Seattle, and another facility is under construction in Bellevue. To accommodate additional vehicles for the future 116-mile voter-approved regional light rail system, the system requires an additional OMF in the South Corridor and one in Sound Transit’s North Corridor.
What’s happening with the Tacoma Dome Link Extension (TDLE) project?
TDLE is an extension of the regional light rail system from the Federal Way Transit Center to the Tacoma Dome station area, scheduled to open in 2030. The project team is working hard to refine the next level of station and route alternatives in anticipation of an EIS scoping period. Stay tuned for more information this spring!
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