In mid-October, the project team hosted the fourth and final Tree Giveaway under the Federal Way Link Extension project. This year’s giveaway received an unprecedented amount of interest, resulting in participation from over 100 community members. Participants from across Kent, Des Moines, SeaTac, and Federal Way picked up a variety of native tree species, including Vine Maples, Pacific Crabapples, Cascaras, Douglas Firs, and Western Redcedars. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and we had a great weekend building relationships with the community and distributing trees and project information. 

Through the Tree Giveaway program, hosted in collaboration with our construction contractor, Kiewit, we’ve given out 4,000 trees to the community since 2021. The program has been provided in addition to required replanting during construction. We’ve learned so much from this program, and through a shared love for trees, we’ve connected with project neighbors, community-based organizations, environmental associations, classrooms, and community gardens. 

We are partnering with the City of Federal Way to support transit-oriented development on approximately six acres of land next to the future Federal Way Downtown Station. These sites offer an opportunity to fulfill the community’s vision for a vibrant city center with direct access to transit. 

We conducted a comprehensive community engagement effort earlier this year to guide the development strategy.  

This community feedback will inform Sound Transit’s proposed goals and strategy on how to redevelop the properties to ensure alignment with the community’s needs and vision. For more details on this engagement effort and a full summary of what we heard from the community, see the link below. 

Keep your eye out for future project updates and join our Federal Way Link Extension Facebook group for additional project information, community events and construction alerts. You can also sign up for  

You can join the group by clicking here.