Sound Transit has released route maps for the $11.6 billion Everett Link Extension, a 16-mile light rail line through Everett. Residents have until Nov. 2 to comment on station locations and the preferred alignment.

The maps, part of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released Sept. 18, show a preferred route using elevated guideways at 196th St. SW in Lynnwood, 164th St. SW and Evergreen Way in south and central Everett. Those raised sections avoid gated road crossings that would block traffic, according to the Everett Post.

Two of three scheduled in-person public meetings will be held in Everett:

  • Tuesday, Oct. 13, 5:30–8:30 p.m., Mariner High School, 200 120th St. SW
  • Thursday, Oct. 15, 5:30–8:30 p.m., Carl Gipson Center, 3025 Lombard Ave.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 21, 5:30–8:30 p.m., Lynnwood Neighborhood Center, 19509 64th Ave. W, Lynnwood
  • Tuesday, Oct. 6, 5:30–7:30 p.m., virtual via Zoom

The project would add six funded stations between Lynnwood and downtown Everett. A seventh station at SR 99/Airport Road is funded only through environmental review. Parking facilities at Mariner and Everett Station have been deferred until Sound Transit identifies additional money.

The extension is split into two construction phases. Phase 1, from Lynnwood to the SW Everett Industrial Center, carries a $6.1 billion price tag with a target opening in 2037. Phase 2, from SR 526/Evergreen to Everett Station, is projected at $3.4 billion with service targeted for 2041.

A separate $2.1 billion operations and maintenance facility is scheduled to open in 2034, before passenger service begins. That facility will require 80 to 100 acres and is expected to support more than 450 jobs in Snohomish County, according to the Everett Herald.

Once running, trains would travel from Everett to Lynnwood City Center in 33 minutes and to downtown Seattle in 60 minutes, according to Sound Transit's project page. Peak-hour service would run every four to six minutes.

Station placement carries real stakes for Everett neighborhoods. One proposed location for the SR 526/Evergreen station in the Casino Road area could displace about two dozen businesses in Casino Square, according to a Sept. 10 Sound Transit System Expansion Committee presentation. A proposed Mariner station location could displace a Safeway grocery store, Lynnwood City Councilmember and Sound Transit Board member David Parshall told the Herald.

"We've got to be financially responsible going forward and be good stewards of the people's money," Parshall told the Herald on Sept. 17, referring to Sound Transit's earlier decision to delay other regional projects due to rising costs. "That was a tough process that we don't want to find ourselves in again."

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, who also sits on the Sound Transit Board, said in an email to the Herald on Sept. 17 that the Casino Road neighborhoods include established small businesses and residents who should benefit from light rail, not be harmed by it. She urged residents to review the alternatives and submit comments.

Manan Garg, Sound Transit's executive director overseeing the Everett extension, told the System Expansion Committee on Sept. 10 that staff plan to use public comment data to recommend final station locations in December 2026. The full board is then expected to vote on a preferred alignment in early 2027. A Final EIS would follow in late 2027 or early 2028, along with a federal Record of Decision from the Federal Transit Administration.

Sound Transit faces an estimated $34.5 billion budget deficit through 2046 across its voter-approved Sound Transit 3 program. Light rail extensions in West Seattle and Ballard have already been scaled back.

Snohomish County is separately developing a Light Rail Community zone covering roughly 983 acres within a half-mile of the future Ash Way, Mariner and SR 99/Airport Road stations. The Snohomish County Council is expected to review those zoning code amendments in late 2026.

Written comments on the DEIS can be emailed to [email protected] or left by voicemail at 425-243-6255. The comment period closes Nov. 2.