Public comment regarding potential locations for Sound Transit’s new Operations and Maintenance Facility South begins TODAY – Tuesday, Feb. 19 – and continues through April 1.

This is an opportunity for the public to weigh in online and in person on sites for a new facility in South King County.

Sound Transit has identified six potential sites in South King County – including at the new Kent Dick’s Drive-In – for a new Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) to serve the expansion of congestion-free light rail service in the Puget Sound.

The public is invited to provide input on possible sites as part of the project’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) scoping process. Comments can be provided online, via email, by regular mail or at a public open house. Those attending an open house will hear information regarding the sites under consideration, the environmental process, and OMF requirements including size, configuration, and proximity to an operating light rail line.

The online open house is available starting today through April 1 at https://omfsouth.participate.online/. In-person open houses are taking place at the following dates and locations:

  • Tuesday March 12 6-8 p.m.
    Federal Way Performing Arts and Event Center, 31510 Pete Von Reichbauer Way South, Federal Way
  • Wednesday, March 20 6-8 p.m.
    Highline College, Building 8 – Mt. Olympus Room, 2400 South 240th Street, Des Moines

Comments may be sent via email to [email protected]. You may also send written comments to: Sound Transit, Environmental Planner, Hussein Rehmat, 401 S. Jackson Street, Seattle, WA 98104. All comments must be postmarked by April 1.

An Operations and Maintenance Facility 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.

The Sound Transit Board will consider public, stakeholder, Tribal, and agency input received during the public comment or scoping phase which closes April 1. After the close of the comment period and evaluation of comments, the Sound Transit Board is expected to decide in May which alternatives should be considered further as part of the preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS will take about to two years to complete, with additional opportunities for public and agency comment, and then the Board will select the site/location to build the OMF. It is anticipated that the new facility will be open in 2026.

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

Founder/Publisher/Editor. Three-time National Emmy Award winning Writer (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”), Director, Producer, Journalist and more...