Senator Murray Celebrates Grand Opening of Lynnwood Light Rail After Securing Nearly $2 Billion in Federal Support

“What a great crowd we’ve got, and I have no doubt, that as this station picks up steam—and picks up passengers—it will see many bigger crowds. Crowds of people heading to work in the city, heading to the airport to catch a flight, heading to school at UW, maybe even heading to catch the game tomorrow at Husky Stadium! Or—just people heading home to their family after a long day—perhaps just a short bus ride, or bike ride, or—even walk!—away from the station.

And as I think about that future I have to say: Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together?

Especially a plan like this—one that has been a long time coming, but that is going to be so very worth the wait. As a champion of this project at every step—believe me, it has taken a lot of pushing, prodding, and fighting to bring home the federal resources to make this happen.

But I will always fight for Washington state and for public transit! First it was the previous administration, threatening transit funding and transportation projects across the country.

I remember pressing the Department of Transportation in hearings, letters, phone calls, and just about every way I could to save the Lynnwood Link extension from the chopping block and to get a signed full funding grant agreement in the first place.

In fact, even a year before we had that agreement, the first funding we ever provided for the Lynnwood Link—$100 million in May 2017—came from funding I secured for Capital Investment Grants in our Fiscal Year 2017 funding bill. And then there was the extra help I secured when projects like Lynnwood were facing supply chains issues, reduced ridership, and other challenges as a result of the COVID pandemic.

More recently, I had to fight off extreme cuts to Capital Investment Grants funding that would have stalled this project in its tracks—literally—and left Washington state families in the lurch. If those cuts had won out, we’d be dealing with a delay right now—instead of celebrating an opening. But as Senate Appropriations Chair, when we went to negotiate, I put my foot down for the Capital Investment Grants funding and told my colleagues on the other side, ‘You will not cut this public transit funding—not on my watch.’

I always bring Washington state into the negotiating room with me, and I will go to bat for public transportation—and projects like this—again and again: from every one of our funding bills to our bipartisan infrastructure law. And I am proud to say I have brought back nearly $2 billion in federal grants and loans for the Lynnwood extension to make this project possible, and I will make sure the federal government completes its commitments, and the sooner the better!

But it’s great that today we are really seeing that investment pay off.

And let’s be clear—these four stops, are just the start! Because the reality is, we are celebrating more than new light rail service for Lynnwood, Shoreline, and Mountlake Terrace. We are also opening the door to a new future for these communities—one that folks have been planning for, for a long time. And when I talk about plans coming together, this is not just about the new light rail stops!

We are building, and plugging families into, a robust and reliable public transportation system! This is not just one project—it is part of a vision ALL OF US are making a reality TOGETHER.

It is the new pedestrian walkway I saw when I visited the Shoreline construction site earlier this year—which will make sure that station is safe and accessible to folks on foot and bike. It is the ten thousand apartments that are built or being built along the extension—that will help bring down the cost of housing. It is the Swift Orange Line which started up earlier this year that connects this station to even more families and commuters. It is the Sound Transit East Link we kicked off this year—another branch of the growing network Lynnwood will be connecting to soon! And it is the many other public transit projects underway at this very moment.

We are not just building public transit. We are not just connecting bus stops, and light rail stops, and lines on a map—we are connecting growing small businesses with new workers, new customers, and new opportunities. We are connecting our communities and families to each other. And we are making communities more walkable, affordable—and livable.

I am so grateful to everyone who has worked with me over many years to get this new line up and running along with so many other worthwhile projects. I am so excited to see what’s next for this community.”

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