Following repeated urging from Senator Murray, the Federal Transit Administration will provide a multi-million dollar down payment from the Capital Investment Grant to extend the Federal Way Link light rail
Award follows a March hearing during which Senator Murray pushed Transportation Secretary Chao to expedite funding for the project
A senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray has successfully fought against budget cuts, secured increased investments in the Capital Investment Grant program
Senator Murray: CIG grant “…a win for our environment and for families, students and workers throughout Puget Sound—and I’m thrilled to see these major investments flow to infrastructure priorities in Washington state
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) announced that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will invest significant new federal funds in a critical project to extend the Federal Way Link light rail system. The $100 million grant, awarded through the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program, comes on the heels of FTA’s approval earlier this year for the Federal Way Link extension project to move on to the next phase of completion, and sets the project on the path to a full funding grant agreement for the project—an estimated $790 million—before the end of the year. Senator Murray, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has long championed the Federal Way Link extension project and has worked to strengthen federal support for the project, recently questioning Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao at a committee hearing about the status of the department’s efforts to approve and invest in the expansion. The Federal Way Link Light Rail extension will extend light rail service from Angle Lake station in SeaTac south to Federal Way, and is on track to be completed by 2024.
“Reducing congestion on the busy I-5 corridor and strengthening public transit options in King County is a win for our environment and for families, students and workers throughout Puget Sound—and I’m thrilled to see these major investments flow to infrastructure priorities in Washington state,” said Senator Murray. “While this ‘down payment’ is a positive sign that the federal government will be at the table to help our local leaders see this critical project through, we must all continue working to ensure the final funding agreement gets over the finish line—and I intend to keep doing my part as a voice for our state in the Senate to ensure that happens.”
Background
The Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program is the primary federal grant program to support transit investments in rapid rail, light rail, bus rapid transit, commuter rail, and ferries. A champion for efforts to strengthen federal support for Washington state transportation and infrastructure priorities, Senator Murray helped secure a historic $2.644 billion for the CIG program in the FY19 federal spending bill to support ongoing and new transit projects in Washington state and throughout the nation, including the Federal Way Link extension project. Previously, Senator Murray successfully fought back attempts by President Trump and his administration to reduce funding for the CIG program, and pushed the Department of Transportation to move forward with the final funding grant agreement for Sound Transit’s Lynnwood Link light rail extension project in Snohomish County, which was executed in December 2018 and cemented a $1.2 billion commitment from the federal government to help fund the light rail expansion. Additionally, during a March hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, Senator Murray questioned Secretary Chao about the status of the Federal Way Link extension application and urged the Department to follow through on its commitment to allocate funds to the project.
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