School district, Sound Transit want same property

LYNNWOOD — A potential tug of war between Sound Transit and the Edmonds School District over a piece of property is scheduled to be discussed at public meetings in the coming week.

Sound Transit is studying a 20-acre area for a possible train storage yard as part of the agency’s plans to extend light rail to Lynnwood by 2023.

The Edmonds School District owns most of the property being studied, along 52nd Avenue W. near I-5, and plans to use the land for a new administration building and bus barn.

The meetings have been scheduled for Saturday morning and Tuesday evening to update the public. The city will host the meetings and Sound Transit staff are expected to attend.

Light rail is scheduled to be extended to Bellevue also by 2023, and Sound Transit will need a place to store 80 more trains on either the northern or eastern route. About 100 cars currently spend their off hours in a rail yard in Seattle’s Sodo district.

The current estimated cost is about $250 million, regardless of location.

Neighbors of the Lynnwood site have been fighting the idea, citing potential noise, bright lights and even concerns about crime.

Most of the property in question is vacant. Cedar Valley Community School was located there for years. The buildings were torn down in 2001 and the school was relocated.

The school district’s plan was approved by the Lynnwood City Council several years ago, Lynnwood community development director Paul Krauss said.

Last fall, the city asked Sound Transit to remove the Lynnwood site for consideration for the maintenance and storage yard. Sound Transit did not comply.

“That site has a number of serious flaws, the most significant of which it’s across the street from hundreds of single family homes,” Krauss said.

Sound Transit spokesman Bruce Gray said the agency didn’t remove the site because it was in the middle of an environmental study that’s looking at all four sites, including the three in Bellevue. That draft study is expected to continue for several more months, he said.

The school district’s plans are being considered in the study as a factor, Gray said.

“All those factors we have to take into account as we get further along in this process,” he said.

If it turns out that Sound Transit wants the property, it’s unclear how the decision will be made between the agency’s plans and those of the school district.

“It’s way too early for me to speculate how that would work,” Gray said.

The meetings also will address three possible rail alignments from I-5 to the Lynnwood park-and-ride lot, also in the area of 52nd Avenue W. An environmental study on those plans is scheduled to be released within a few weeks.

Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.

Meetings

Two meetings regarding Sound Transit’s future rail plans in Lynnwood are scheduled for Saturday and Tuesday. Light rail alignments and a possible rail storage yard are the topics. The first meeting is scheduled for 10 to 11:45 a.m. Saturday at Cedar Valley Grange Hall, 20526 52nd Ave. W, Lynnwood. The second is from 7 to 8:45 p.m. Tuesday at Meadowdale High School Great Hall, 6002 168th St. SW.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

The Washington State University Snohomish County Extension building at McCollum Park is located in an area Snohomish County is considering for the location of the Farm and Food Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Year-round indoor farmers market inches closer to reality near Mill Creek

The Snohomish County Farm and Food Center received $5 million in federal funding. The county hopes to begin building in 2026.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.