 The new University District Light Rail Station. Photo: Sound Transit
Beginning tomorrow, Sound Transit light rail service expands north 4.3 miles, adding three new stations at University District, Roosevelt and Northgate. Across the region over the next three years Sound Transit will open 25 more stations and add 36 more miles of light rail. It will almost triple the size of the system from its current 22 miles of light rail to 62 and from 22 stations to 50.
 Beginning tomorrow, Route 255 will be extended to serve stops on NE Campus Pkwy and service levels will be restored to pre-pandemic levels. Photo: Metro Transit
Tomorrow’s Northgate Link Extension opening coincides with plans by King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit to restructure service around the Northgate Link Extension, as well as restore most bus hours and routes that were suspended or reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Metro alone is bringing back 36 suspended bus routes and restoring service on a total of 48 routes across King County. The restored routes and trips will span both all-day and peak routes. In all, Metro is changing 116 of 194 bus routes, which will restore its bus service to about 90% of pre-pandemic levels and deliver nearly 11,400 bus trips each weekday. In the coming year, Metro plans to restore additional routes and trips in its spring and fall 2022 service changes.
Learn more about what the fall 2021 service changes means to your bus trip here:
Reducing flooding in Kirkland
 A new project will help reduce flooding in Kirkland where NE 116th Street passes under I-405
Because the climate crisis creates more extreme weather, we need to build new solutions to help our communities adapt to events like flooding. In Kirkland, during big rain events, the interchange where NE 116th Street passes under I-405 is known to flood, requiring it to be closed to traffic. The City of Kirkland is working to lessen this flooding by installing infiltration wells within the North Rose Hill neighborhood. These infiltration wells will capture, clean, slow down and drain stormwater runoff and introduce it back into the ground during storms to lessen flooding and improve the quality of the water in Forbes Creek.
The project was recently awarded a $353,375 Flood Reduction Grant from the King County Flood Control District, a special purpose district created by the King County Council in 2007 to provide funding and policy oversight for flood risk reduction capital projects and programs. This grant provides the final piece of funding for the project and design, permitting and construction will soon be underway. “This project will improve the health and water quality in Forbes Creek, and brings us one step closer to eliminating flooding at the intersection of 116th under I-405,” Kirkland Mayor Penny Sweet said.
As a member of the Board of Supervisors to the Flood Control District, I am excited to support projects like this that have the dual benefit of reducing flooding and improving water quality.
King County is redrawing the map
 Click above to watch the video about redistricting in King County
By law, King County council district boundaries must be redrawn every 10 years to reflect changes in population distribution using Census data. To help redraw these district maps, the 2021 King County Districting Committee wants to hear from you!
Watch the video to learn more about the King County redistricting process, look at the four draft district maps, and get involved today:
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Sincerely,
 Claudia Balducci
King County Council
District 6
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