Progress continues on the Kent/Des Moines light rail station despite previous setbacks. 

The Kent/Des Moines extension will be close enough for students at Highline to use in their commutes. The 7.8-mile extension will include stops at South 272nd Street and the Federal Way Transit Center. 

Passengers will be able to get from Des Moines to downtown Seattle in 42 minutes. At peak hours, a train will be at a stop every six to eight minutes. 

The concrete workers’ strike for higher wages ended in April of this year, with the union and sound transit working towards establishing long-term contracts. 

The strike caused deliveries to be halted, and more than 4,300 deliveries were missed. 

Sound Transit is no longer feeling the strike’s effects at the Kent/Des Moines station, however, they now face a new problem, according to Public Information Officer David Jackson.

“The overall project does face some schedule slippage due to the discovery of poor soils near 259th Pl S. and I-5 in Kent,” said Jackson. Nothing on it has been released yet, but Sound Transit says that it won’t cause much delay.

Sound Transit sought out input from the community for what to do with the four acres of land by the Kent/Des Moines station from May 10 to June 7 of 2021. They sent out a survey asking what the priorities of the lot’s development should be. Topics on the survey included affordable housing, businesses and services, community features, and public spaces.

The survey was highly inclusive, as it was made in six different languages and took into account those with visual impairments. In total, there were 925 responses. 

Responses to the survey highlight a need for the space to be “of the community” for it to be safe and walkable. There was also a strong interest in new long-term-affordable housing.

In May 2022, Sound Transit held a virtual forum with the community and developers. It went over the plans for the site and held a Q&A session.

The chief economic development officer from the City of Kent, Bill Ellis, highlighted the land by the station.

“[The land] is a really critical opportunity for investment, both in the community and regionally given the unique position of the station near Highline college, near the port of Seattle, near the credited valley. [It’s a] key place for the nucleus of a neighborhood within an already existing neighborhood here in Midway,” said Ellis.

These decisions aren’t just affecting the city, either. As officials from King County have shared how the transit can help the community at large.

“[King County is] interested in partnering with Sound Transit to incorporate resources of up to 10 million dollars for this offering for community and affordable housing outcomes,” said Kristin Pula from King County’s Housing, Homelessness, and Community Development Division. 

You can watch the virtual forum at: https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/creating-vibrant-stations/transit-oriented-development/kent-des-moines