Tomorrow, Saturday, December 6, join transit and community leaders at the opening of the Federal Way light rail! This exciting expansion of our light rail system is the latest opening delivered ahead of schedule and on budget. As Chair of the Sound Transit System Expansion Committee, I am thrilled that the planning and problem-solving I led, including creative approaches by staff and contractors to deal with construction challenges and continued focus on making policy decisions that deliver the light rail as soon as possible, have brought us to this momentous occasion, delivering the light rail that the people of our region voted for and deserve.
I was proud to fight to open the 2 Line on the Eastside before the connection across the I-90 bridge was complete, and now following the opening of Downtown Redmond, there are 10 new light rail stations in East King County. I am equally proud to have supported the work to bring light rail to Federal Way as quickly as possible, finally connecting southern-most areas of King County all the way to Snohomish County. Please join us for the festivities tomorrow starting at 9:30 AM, with the first trains rolling in at 11:00 AM. I hope to see you there!
King County’s Solid Waste Division is repairing and resurfacing the Factoria Recycling and Transfer Station tipping floor through mid-February, 2026. The work, which began on Monday, December 1, will cause disruptions and closures of some services throughout the construction period. The following service disruptions and closures are planned during construction:
- Garbage and recycling will be closed to self-haul customers Monday-Friday. On weekdays, self-haul customers can use nearby Renton and Houghton stations for garbage and recycling services
- Yard waste will not be accepted at the Factoria station throughout this period. Yard waste can be taken to the Shoreline and Bow Lake stations
- The Factoria station will remain open Monday-Friday for commercial haulers
- On Saturdays and Sundays, the Factoria station will be open to the public for garbage and recycling services (excluding yard waste). The Factoria station will be closed to commercial hauler traffic over the weekends
- Household hazardous waste drop-off will remain open, with no service impacts, throughout
2025 has been a momentous year for me, both personally and professionally. Personally, my kid, Victor, graduated high school and started college. Professionally, I continued to work on your behalf on the biggest issues I hear about from constituents: the cost of living, including housing affordability; public safety; environmental sustainability with a focus on water quality; instability due to actions at the federal level around transportation, food security, and healthcare; and more.
We made some great progress, including:
- Opening the Downtown Redmond Link Extension in May
- Launching a transit safety task force to ensure bus operators and riders are safe wherever they travel
- Passing a 0.1% public safety sales tax, including funding to prevent gun violence and serve crime victims and their families
- Studying and appropriately scaling solutions to our regional affordable housing crisis, including updating our Regional Affordable Housing Task Force’s recommendations and looking into the root causes of high eviction rates to reduce housing instability
- Leading the King County Council’s work to respond to volatility at the federal level to make sure our local government is ready to support all King County residents in the face of funding cuts and policy threats
We have a lot of work to do in the coming year, but I am committed to working with my colleagues and my community to address the challenges ahead of us. As always, it is an honor to represent you. While we will take a break from this newsletter during the Council recess, which begins on Wednesday, December 10, my team and I are always available and excited to assist you, so please don’t hesitate to reach out. On behalf of myself and my team, we wish you and yours happy holidays and a happy new year!
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