Sound Transit’s expansion plans balloon by up to $35 billion

Sound Transit revealed Thursday that its long-term costs are expected to soar by 20% to 25% as the agency deals with runaway construction inflation and modernization projects to make train service more dependable.

Dual scissor blades of rising costs and falling tax revenues will force the agency to confront painful decisions, such as whether to shorten future lines, drop some stations, or make existing two- to five-year delays to open new stations even longer.

Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine said this spring that “everything is on the table,” and he hopes a fresh look will improve future transit. These new numbers only add to the pressure and drama.

“I’ve been encouraging people to think blue sky, and that means questions we thought were asked and answers can be reopened,” Constantine said in a news briefing. “We’re not going to be weighed down by the assumptions of the past.”

In dollar figures, that means the 30-year financial plan to spend $150.5 billion could grow by another $22 billion to $30 billion by the projected completion of the system in 2046, not counting debt payments into the 2060s or beyond. Another $5 billion is needed to make service more reliable — bringing the total to roughly $185 billion.