Crucial Ballard Link Deadline Pushed Back Yet Again by Feds

Sound Transit’s Ballard Link Extension project faces yet another delay as the Federal Transit Administration holds up approval of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), now pushed to summer instead of May. The 7.7-mile light rail project, approved by voters in 2016, is also under threat of being truncated or phased—potentially stopping at Seattle Center or Smith Cove rather than reaching Ballard—as Sound Transit grapples with a $34.5 billion budget shortfall through 2046.