17 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

2/19/19

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

See the site options

 

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.

 

Learn more

 

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!

 

Stay connected

 

Watch for future project updates. Forward this to your friends, family, neighbors and people in your community! Encourage them to subscribe.

 

Request a briefing. If you are part of a business or community organization that would like to host a briefing, get in touch.

Reach out

 

 

 

Related:  ST - Tacoma Dome Link Extension aka TDLE

More pro

[KevinKorell]

Federal Way, WA Mirror, 5/10/19:

 

  Sound Transit committee removes Lowe’s/Dick’s site from consideration for light rail maintenance facility  

 

 

A Sound Transit Board committee recommended Thursday removal of the Lowe’s/Dick’s Drive-In site in Kent from consideration for a new light rail vehicle maintenance facility.

 

 

Read

[CNJRoss]

Sound Transit news release:

 

Sound Transit Board selects sites for further environmental study for Operations and Maintenance Facility South   Facility is needed to store, clean and maintain expanding light rail fleet

 

May 24, 2019

 

The Sound Transit Board yesterday selected sites to study for a new Operations and Maintenance Facility South (OMF) South located in South King County. The OMF South will serve Sound Transit's growing light rail fleet as the agency continues to expand congestion-free light rail across the region. 

 

"Commuters will enjoy three new light rail lines within the next five years and 116 miles over the next 22 years. This facility will be essential for Sound Transit to store and maintain more than140 of the additional light rail vehicles we need to move more people out of ever worsening gridlock," said Peter Rogoff, Sound Transit CEO. "We appreciate the outpouring of public engagement in picking the sites we will study."

 

Sound Transit narrowed down from twenty-four potential site options to identify six options for public input during a scoping process that began in February. Identifying site options was challenging because the project requires at least 30 relatively flat acres within a reasonable distance from the light rail extension to Federal Way that Sound Transit will open in 2024. The evaluation factors in narrowing the options included environmental impacts, operational cost, construction feasibility, property impacts and ability to connect to the light rail line. 

 

Based on public input and the recommendation of the Sound Transit Board's System Expansion Committee, the Board today selected the following sites to be studied in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for OMF South:

• Midway Landfill and Interstate 5 (I-5) – Site is located south of South 246th Street, west of and adjacent to I-5 and sits mostly on a former landfill site. Site includes approximately 0.1 to 0.3 mile of connecting tracks to the Federal Way Link Extension. 
• South 336th Street and I-5 – Site is located in the City of Federal Way, west of I-5 and south of South 336th Street. The site includes approximately 1.1 miles of track connecting to the Federal Way Link Extension project. The connecting tracks could potentially be along 1-5 or SR 99 and will serve as future Tacoma Dome Link Extension guideway. 
• South 344th Street and I-5 – Site in located in the City of Federal Way, west of I-5 and north of South 344th Street. The site includes approximately 1.3 miles of connecting tracks to the Federal Link Extension. The connecting tracks could potentially run along I-5 or SR 99 and will serve as future Tacoma Dome Link Extension guideway.

 

The following sites were not selected to be studied in the Draft EIS:

• South 240th Street and State Route (SR) 99 – Site is located to the east of SR 99, just south of South 240th Street in the City of Kent. Site includes approximately 0.5 mile of connecting track to the Federal Way Link Extension. 
• Midway Landfill and State Route (SR) 99 – Site is located south of South 246th Street and east of and adjacent to SR 99 and partly on a former landfill site. The site includes approximately 0.5 miles of connecting tracks to the Federal Way Link Extension. 
• South 316th Street and Military Road – Site is located east of I-5 in unincorporated King County. The site includes approximately 0.5 mile of connecting tracks to and from the site bridging over I-5 to the Federal Way Link Extension.

 

The Draft EIS will be prepared in compliance with the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and published in 2020. After considering the DEIS findings and weighing public, Tribal and agency comments on the Draft EIS, the Sound Transit Board is expected to identify a preferred alternative. Once the Final Environmental Impact Statement is published in 2021, the Board is expected to select the project to be built. Final design, construction and testing of the facility would take place from 2021 – 2026.  It is anticipated that the new facility will be open in 2026.

 

An Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) is where light rail trains go for cleaning, storage and maintenance. To keep its entire light rail system functioning, Sound Transit needs to strategically locate OMFs that operate 24 hours a day, year-round. Sound Transit currently operates one OMF in Seattle and has another facility under construction in Bellevue. In addition to studying potential locations for an Operations and Maintenance Facility in South King County, the agency will also require a new OMF in Sound Transit's North Corridor.

 

For more information on this project and to sign up for project updates visit us at www.soundtransit.org/omfs.

 

 

[CNJRoss]

Sound Transit OMF South Project update:

 

Board selects sites for further study

 

May 30, 2019

 

Last week, the Sound Transit Board of Directors selected sites to study in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the new Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) South. This action comes from an outpouring of public input, particularly over the last few months. A new map showing the sites is on the project website.

 

  What comes next?

A Draft EIS will be published in 2020, and a Final EIS will be published in 2021. The EIS process documents the OMF's potential impacts to the natural and built environment. Final design, construction, and testing of the facility is scheduled to take place from 2021 to 2026. It is anticipated that the new facility will be open in 2026.

 

What can I expect as a project neighbor?

If you are a resident, business or property owner near an identified OMF South site, we encourage you to sign up for project email updates or to contact the project team directly. The EIS will evaluate property impacts of potential sites in detail following further design work. An official decision by the Sound Transit Board about which site to select on OMF South will occur following the issue of the Final EIS in 2021.

 

What is an Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF)?

An OMF is where trains go for cleaning, storage and maintenance and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. As the regional light rail system expands, light rail can't operate efficiently in the South Sound without an additional OMF in South King County. Identifying viable 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 Sound and one in Sound Transit's North Corridor.

 

• See more project updates for Operations and Maintenance Facility South

 

[CNJRoss]

3/6/20

Upcoming fieldwork for the OMF South project

 

 

 

Project update

 

An example of fieldwork crew conducting geo-technical boring to collect soil samples at South Lake Union in Seattle.

 

Upcoming fieldwork for the OMF South project

 

Over the past few weeks, you have may have seen crews conducting land and water surveys in Kent and Federal Way. These teams are working to better understand conditions at and near the three sites we're considering for our new Operations and Maintenance Facility South. In the coming weeks, crews will begin collecting soil samples using geo-technical boring equipment to explore underground conditions at the potential sites.

 

This work is all part of environmental review currently being conducted to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project. The Draft EIS will analyze and document the three site alternatives and their potential impacts to the natural and built environment, as well as propose ways to mitigate unavoidable impacts. The Draft EIS will consider impacts on historic and cultural resources, residential properties, businesses, communities and the local economy.

 

Fieldwork will continue throughout the environmental review phase of the project and may include additional noise and vibration monitoring, wetland and stream surveys, cultural and historic resource surveys and more.

Depending on the type of work being done, you may see us dropping off a flyer or crews with safety vests directing you to sources for more information.

 

Dig into the details

 

What's ahead for the project in 2020?

Through the environmental process, we designate the sites we want to study as "alternatives." The Board identified our three potential OMF South site alternatives in spring 2020 to advance into the EIS, and since then, the project team has been confirming and refining the programming requirements, boundaries and layouts of each potential site to meet the regional light rail system's long-term needs. At the same time, we're advancing designs so we can adequately analyze these site alternatives in the Draft EIS.

 

We expect to publish the Draft EIS later this year. Following its formal public review and comment period, the Board will then identify a "preferred site alternative." We'll continue studying the preferred alternative and other site alternatives in the Final EIS. After we publish the Final EIS in 2021, the Board will select one site alternative to construct.

 

In the meantime, you can view all current project documents, including maps of each site alternative, on the project website.

 

What is the OMF South?

 

Sound Transit's new operations and maintenance facility in South King County will be essential for the Link light rail expansion Puget Sound voters approved in 2016. We need this facility to store and service our growing fleet of clean, quiet, efficient electric trains as regional light rail expands from Seattle to Tacoma.

Because safe rail operations are Sound Transit's top priority, we suspend service every night between 1-5 a.m. so staff can clean trains and inspect light rail tracks. That means an OMF operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Sound Transit currently operates a central light rail operations and maintenance facility in Seattle, and we're building another in Bellevue. As part of the ST3 Plan, we'll also build a fourth facility north of Seattle.

 

The OMF South will service more than 140 light rail vehicles, and we expect it to generate more than 450 living-wage jobs when it opens in 2026. The average wage at our existing OMF is just over $40 per hour.

 

Learn more

 

Expanding your transit choices

By 2024, we'll open more than 20 new Link light rail stations, launching new service to Northgate, Bellevue, Lynnwood, Federal Way, Redmond and the Hilltop neighborhood in Tacoma. We'll also introduce Stride bus rapid transit on I-405, SR 518, SR 522 and NE 145th and open new parking and access improvements at Sounder stations. While we build these projects, we're also advancing plans to expand Sounder South capacity and bring more light rail to Tacoma, Everett, West Seattle, Ballard, South Kirkland and Issaquah. Explore the progress we made in 2019 and discover the future of regional transit in your area.

 

See for yourself

 

More project info: soundtransit.org/omfs

 

 

 

 

[CNJRoss]

10/27/20

 

 

 

Project update

 

 

OMF South environmental review schedule

 

Our project team is currently working on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, as part of our environmental review process. The Draft EIS will analyze and document the three site alternatives' potential impacts to the natural and built environment, and propose ways to address unavoidable impacts. We’re also continuing with more conceptual design work, including potential changes to site configurations.

COVID-19 has impacted both Sound Transit’s finances and our ability to advance environmental review internally and with our planning partners. Consequently, the environmental schedule for Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) South has been affected as a result. We now anticipate publishing the OMF South Draft EIS in early 2021. Once published, the public will be able to review and formally comment on the Draft EIS during a public comment period.

Questions? Contact us!

 

The pandemic and our economy

 

The COVID-19 crisis is greatly reducing the revenues that Sound Transit relies on to expand our regional transit system. Through a process called realignment, the Sound Transit Board of Directors is working to determine whether plans and timelines for voter-approved projects, like OMF South, will need to change due to lower revenues. Learn more about Sound Transit’s response to COVID-19 related impacts by clicking the button below.

Learn more about Realignment

 

 

 

 

 

[CNJRoss]

2/26/21

 

 

 

 

Project update

 

 

What's an OMF?

Sound Transit's regional light rail system is expanding! To service and maintain additional light rail vehicles, we need to build a new facility in South King County: the Operations and Maintenance Facility South.

What does an OMF look like, sound like and mean for the neighborhood? Our project team at Sound Transit are here to answer some of these important questions about the OMF South.

Watch the video

 

 

OMF South Draft EIS comment period opens March 5

After almost two years of preparation, we're publishing our Draft Environmental Impact Statement on March 5, and we want your feedback. Be on the lookout for more information on the Draft EIS and how to comment coming to your inbox next week!

 

A Draft EIS is a major milestone in project planning. It documents the project's potential impacts and benefits to the natural and built environment for each of the three potential sites, and it also proposes mitigation measures.

 

Community input on the Draft EIS is crucial to helping the Sound Transit Board identify a preferred site alternative in summer/fall 2021. Following the Final EIS expected in 2022, the Board will make a final decision on the project to be built. Stay tuned!

 

As a note, Sound Transit Board decisions on realignment, influenced by the COVID-19 recession and increased cost estimates, may change project schedules. For more information, please visit soundtransit.org/realignment.

Questions? Contact us

 

[CNJRoss]

3/5/21

 

 

Project update

 

Comment by April 19 on South King County’s new light rail maintenance facility

 

Sound Transit is expanding our light rail train fleet in the coming years to support future Link extensions to Tacoma and throughout the region. To receive these new electric trains, we first need to build a new facility in South King County: the Operations and Maintenance Facility South. 

 

After almost two years of preparation, we’ve published the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which documents the project’s potential impacts and benefits to the natural and built environment for each of the three site alternatives. A Draft EIS also proposes potential mitigation measures to address adverse impacts. 

 

Now we need to hear from you! Visit our online open house to review the findings and share your comments.       

Visit our online open house to learn more

 

Other ways to comment

 

What do you think about the possible impacts, benefits and mitigation our analysis identified? Which of our three potential sites should the Sound Transit Board advance as the “preferred alternative?” Share your thoughts by April 19 through our online open house at omfsouth.participate.online, or:

• Attend one of our two online public meetings and hearings to make a verbal comment:
  • Wednesday, March 24, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. 
  • Tuesday, March 30,11 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

For more information about the meetings, please visit the online open house

• Share your comment via Email or voicemail: OMFSouthDEIS@soundtransit.org or 206-257-2135
• Share your comment via Mail: OMF South Project, c/o Hussein Rehmat, Sound Transit, 401 S. Jackson St. Seattle, WA 98104

 

What’s the OMF South?

 

The OMF South is where Link trains will go for cleaning, storage and care, and it will be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Once constructed, the project will create more than 470 high-skilled, living-wage jobs in South King County. At our existing OMF, the average employee wage is more than $40 per hour, or $80,000 per year.

 

In case you missed it, check out our recent video that goes behind the scenes at an OMF. 

Watch the video

 

What comes next?

 

Your comments on the Draft EIS will inform our next steps. We’ll compile a summary of all the comments we receive during the extended 45-day Draft EIS comment period. The Sound Transit Board will consider all feedback from the public, agencies and tribes as they work to identify a preferred alternative. 

 

After the Draft EIS public review and comment period, the Sound Transit Board will identify a site as a "preferred alternative" for the Final EIS, in late 2021. A preferred alternative is a statement of where the agency is leaning based on information available at the time. It's not a final decision.

 

Then we’ll prepare a Final EIS, which will include responses to all substantive comments received on the Draft EIS. We expect to publish the Final EIS in 2022, and then the Board will select the project to be built.

 

As a note, Sound Transit Board decisions on realignment, influenced by the COVID-19 recession and increased cost estimates, may change project schedules. For more information, please visit soundtransit.org/realignment.

Questions? Contact us!

 

Questions about your property?

 

We won’t make final decisions on affected properties and acquisitions until 2022, at the earliest, after the Final EIS and Sound Transit Board decision—on the project to be built. Until then our project outreach team is available to help with questions every step of the way. To set up a property owner briefing with members of the project team, you can:

• Visit omfsouthpropertyownerbriefings.as.me
• Leave a voicemail at 206-398-5453
• Email us at OMFSouth@soundtransit.org

 

•  

[CNJRoss]

8/19/21
 

 

 

 

Project update

 

Sound Transit Board realignment action

 

As a project stakeholder, you’ve heard about the Sound Transit Board’s ongoing work to advance our voter-approved projects in a challenging fiscal environment.

In early 2020, the Board launched a process called realignment to review options for addressing the significant affordability gap affecting our future transit expansion projects throughout the region that are not yet under construction. Most recently forecasted at $6.5 billion, this gap means that completing many of these projects on their original schedules is not affordable.

On Thursday, Aug. 5, the Board adopted a new flexible framework to support moving forward with projects as rapidly as possible. Learn more about the Board’s action in our Platform blog post.

 

Updated OMF South project timeline

 

The Board’s adopted plans identify 2029 as the initial target date for opening the OMF South.

 

Some projects in the planning phase, including the OMF South, have experienced non-financial delays in recent months. Many government and community project partners were forced to shift resources to addressing the human impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and were justifiably unable to review planning and environmental documents during that time.

 

When combined with our own delays, these delays in individual agencies and organizations had a compounding effect on some project schedules, including the OMF South’s. For this reason, 2029 would be the earliest possible date for opening this facility, even if projected financial impacts are eliminated.

 

Close collaboration with partners will be required to deliver the OMF South as rapidly as possible to support the opening of future light rail extensions.

 

Real estate, construction costs continue to surge

 

Due to rising construction expenses, projects currently in early planning and design are seeing cost estimate increases. In early 2021, Sound Transit commissioned independent experts to assess the agency’s cost estimates. Their review of major projects validated that the agency’s updated cost estimates are within an appropriate range for the current level of project design, approximately 10%.

 

As design advances, we’ll refine cost estimates for this and other projects in planning, drawing on recommendations from the independent reviewer. Sound Transit’s finance department, with the guidance of outside economists, will regularly update revenue and inflation projections, with the hope that recent improvements to economic and revenue forecasts continue.

 

Learn more about the realignment process and increased construction cost estimates at soundtransit.org/realignment.

 

We hope you’ll continue to participate in our work to move this important project forward.

Questions? Please feel free to reach out to the OMF South project at omfsouth@soundtransit.org or call 206-398-5453.

Thank you,

Curvie Hawkins
Project Director

 

[KevinKorell]

Kent, WA Reporter, 11/23/21:

 

 

    Sound Transit nears decision for light rail maintenance facility  

 

 

The Sound Transit Board next month will pick a preferred site in Kent or Federal Way for a new Operations and Maintenance Facility for light rail vehicles.

 

Update