Sonrise Community Church could lose its building on Airport Road if Sound Transit picks one light rail alignment over another. Members of the church showed up in force to make sure that doesn't happen.
Parishioners of the south Everett church packed Sound Transit's Oct. 13 open house at Mariner High School, urging the transit agency to choose the Air 2B alignment for the Everett Link Extension instead of Air 1A, the Everett Post first reported. The church, at 11625 Airport Road just west of Highway 99, sits directly in Air 1A's proposed path along the east side of Airport Road. Air 1A and Air 2B are Sound Transit's shorthand for two competing options for the Airport Road station area.
Air 2B would run on the west side of the street, sparing the church.
Multiple church members cited Sound Transit's own Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) during public testimony. The gap between the two options was stark. Air 1A could displace 17 homes and 27 businesses, affecting an estimated 140 employees. Air 2B could displace five homes and 23 businesses, affecting about 50 employees.
Air 1A would also convert 35 acres to transportation use compared to 22.7 acres under Air 2B, and would affect 3.6 acres of wetlands versus less than a tenth of an acre under Air 2B, according to testimony reported by the Everett Post.
The cost picture was less clear. One congregant told the hearing that Air 2B's estimated cost of $680 million to $700 million was lower than Air 1A's $690 million to $780 million. That speaker noted the ranges overlap, meaning savings are not guaranteed. Jim Dobbs, another Sonrise member, cited different figures, placing Air 1A at $690 million to $700 million and Air 2B at $680 million to $760 million.
Brittany Enoch spoke while holding her newborn daughter. She described the church's 40-year presence in the community and its role in her own recovery from addiction.
"When I found out I was pregnant and made the decision to get clean. They welcomed me with open arms. I was saved, married, and baptized in this church," Enoch said, according to the Everett Post.
No one spoke in favor of Air 1A at the hearing. Written comments supporting that alignment may have been submitted separately.
The SR 99/Airport Road station is a provisional stop not yet funded for construction, according to Sound Transit's project page. Sound Transit spokesperson Amy Enbysk told the Everett Herald the agency plans to acquire only the land needed for the guideway in the Airport Road area, not the full station footprint. The full property would be acquired only if the station receives funding later.
Sound Transit has adjusted alignments before. Lynnwood City Council member David Parshall, who sits on the Sound Transit board, told the Herald in September that a planned route near Alderwood Mall was changed to avoid a Lynnwood church after the agency worked with the community.
In a Sept. 16 email to the Herald, Sound Transit spokesperson Enbysk said the board would weigh public comments alongside DEIS data, budget constraints, equity and design factors before choosing a preferred alternative.
The public comment period closes Nov. 2. Comments can be submitted online at soundtransit.org/everettlink-deis, by phone at 425-243-6255, or by email at [email protected]. Sound Transit's board is expected to select a preferred alignment as early as January 2027.
