Sound Transit is expected to announce a new opening date Friday for its long-delayed Cross-Lake Line, after finding approximately $60 million to cover final costs on a project now more than five years behind schedule and tens of millions over budget.
The Cross-Lake Line, part of the agency’s East Link project, has become a focal point in a broader debate over Sound Transit’s financial management and expansion plans. At a sparsely attended board meeting, members identified roughly $60 million that could be redirected to pay off remaining contractor payments and third-party consultant costs.
Board member Claudia Balducci downplayed the sum, calling it “couch cushion money” in the context of the overall project, but acknowledged it remains necessary to complete the work. Critics see the situation differently. “It’s hundreds of millions of dollars beyond the original budget,” said Charles Prestrud of the Washington Policy Center, a former state transportation planner who has sharply criticized Sound Transit’s performance. “The project has not gone according to plan.”
The Cross-Lake Line delays are colliding with a larger financial question: how Sound Transit should address a projected $35 billion shortfall tied to its Sound Transit 3 program. Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine is backing Senate Bill 6148, which would allow the agency to issue 75-year bonds to manage debt. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from transportation analysts and former city officials.
“What happens with 75-year bonds is that, just like if you have a 30-year mortgage instead of a 15-year mortgage, you end up paying much more in interest and debt service over the life of the bond,” Prestrud said. He warned that higher debt payments could crowd out funding for future system expansion or maintenance. “Those funds would not be available for other things. It’s really kind of a big budget band-aid for Sound Transit.”
Former Seattle Department of Transportation director Scott Kubly called issuing bonds with such long maturities “bad financial policy” and a tool that “should be a last resort.” He argued Sound Transit would pay 2.5 to 3 times more interest, creating “very expensive debt.”
Prestrud and other critics say the agency should complete its ongoing reassessment of the voter-approved ST3 plan before pursuing new bonding authority. Sound Transit has labeled its internal review the Enterprise Initiative, with proposals for potential cuts expected in the second quarter of this year. The argument is that Sound Transit should identify what it can actually build within existing resources before locking in decades of additional debt.
The Cross-Lake Line was previously promised to open by the end of May, already more than five years late. An updated start date will be announced Friday. For riders who voted for ST3 in 2016, the delays raise questions about whether the system they were promised will ever materialize on the timeline they approved.
