First Look at South King County’s Three New Light Rail Stations

Sound Transit gave reporters a sneak peek at its next system expansion project Tuesday, ahead of the official ribbon-cutting on Federal Way Link light rail extension on Saturday. The three new stations at Kent Des Moines, Star Lake, and Downtown Federal Way will bring light rail access to residents and visitors across a large swath of South King County.

Voters greenlit the project in 2008 as part of the ST2 ballot measure, but it was not fully funded until eight years later with the approval of Sound Transit 3. Federal Way Link will extend the 1 Line to 41 miles in length, making it the second longest light rail line in the U.S.

Federal Way will remain the southern terminus for the high capacity transit corridor until at least 2035, when the Tacoma Dome Link Extension connects riders further south into Washington’s third largest city.

The three elevated stations bring with them a big expansion of Sound Transit’s inventory of parking, with 500 new stalls at Kent Des Moines, more than 1,200 stalls at Star Lake, and 1,500 stalls at Federal Way Downtown. Next year, King County Metro will realign its buses throughout the area to better connect riders with the new stations, adding new options for transit riders in Burien, Kent, Normandy Park, SeaTac, Auburn, and further out.

Service on the extension starts at 11am Saturday, when train operators start letting on riders to head south of Angle Lake, giving them a 55-minute trip between Downtown Federal Way and Westlake Station in Downtown Seattle.

If you’re not jumping on that first train for the bragging rights, you can also join The Urbanist for a group ride down to Federal Way from Capitol Hill Station on Saturday morning — but either way, remember to join us at Mama Stortini’s Restaurant & Bar in Downtown Federal Way at 1pm.

Kent Des Moines Station

The northernmost of the three new stations is near Kent Des Moines Road. The biggest draw in the area is Highline College, a 5,000-student institution that has been advocating for a direct transit connection to its campus for many years. The college pushed hard for a station at its front door on the west side of State Route 99, to save students from having to traverse the unpleasant surface highway, but ultimately lost that fight after the cities of Des Moines, Kent, and Federal Way all advocated for a Link alignment that skirts Interstate 5 instead of 99.

Now opening a full block east of SR 99, Kent Des Moines Station features a fairly basic layout, with station entrances both north and south of the 236th Street path that connects to and from Highline College, and the frequent A Line bus that runs up and down SR 99. Unfortunately, the transit connections to the A Line remain less than ideal, and long walks to bus stops mean that riders won’t always make their connections.

Kent Des Moines Station is ultimately set to become somewhat of a bus hub, making those decisions matter in the long run. The new King County Metro Route 164 will provide 15-minute service into downtown Kent, bridging light rail and Sounder in a way that doesn’t currently exist.

The most striking feature at Kent Des Moines Station is the artwork on the glass at the platform level: a piece called “Cambium.” It was created by Houston-based RE:site Studio. The tree branches etched into the glass climb toward the center of the station, mimicking the arc of the escalators that bring riders up from street level.

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Star Lake Station

If Kent Des Moines is a bus transfer hub, Star Lake is more clearly a park-and-ride, with fewer direct bus connections planned and a large swath of open space next door, putting few things in walking distance.

Star Lake Station is a station that feels like it’s at ground level, with one end of the platform leading to a long ramp that leads to the plaza at the station’s front door, and more traditional escalators and elevators on the other end. The platform feels much more airy than the other two stations. But with no transit-oriented development planned here, this station will likely see light use.

The art at Star Lake, a piece called “Gather” created by Tory and Eroyn Franklin, features ceramic frit glass with images of local flora and edible plants. Down below at the plaza, “Pollination,” a piece by the same artists, consists of backlit images of pollen.

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Federal Way Downtown Station

Expected to draw many more riders than the two other stations, Federal Way Downtown station is the new extension’s main draw, bringing light rail service to the fifth largest city in King County. Not a place known for dense housing, Federal Way has been taking small incremental steps toward making the area around the forthcoming station more of a walkable district — but is definitely not there yet.

Riders alighting at the new end of the 1 Line will notice seas of parking lots, but also some big parcels primed for redevelopment. Sound Transit is currently advancing four large sites to become affordable housing, as part of its transit-oriented development program. Elsewhere, Federal Way has set the stage for what’s likely the biggest redevelopment project that the city has ever seen, though it may take many years to ultimately materialize.

As for art at Federal Way, riders will notice light being refracted through prisms all along the upper windows at the platform level. That’s a work called “Prismatic” by Catherine Widgery, which is intended to create a station area that is “illuminated, interactive and full of subtle color and reflection,” per the artist.

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Sound Transit projects that the Federal Way Extension will carry 18,000 to 23,000 daily passengers by 2028. That will add to booming light rail ridership, with the 1 Line averaging more than 110,000 daily riders since June.

Sound Transit 2 Line Testing Enters a New, More Visible Phase

Light rail riders will see out-of-service trains running between International District-Chinatown and Lynnwood as the next major milestone for testing on the full 2 Line.

The Urbanist