Thank you to everyone who engaged with us in 2024. It was a busy year as we advanced the Ballard Link Extension (BLE) project through the planning process. Our efforts included hosting info sessions in the Chinatown-International District (CID), completing additional studies in South Lake Union and the CID, and holding the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping comment period for BLE. Additionally, in partnership and collaboration with the City of Seattle and King County, we kicked off a series of South Downtown Hub workshops and wraparound engagement in the community. 

Here’s a summary of our engagement activities by the numbers in 2024:  

• We hosted two in-person CID Info Sessions, with a combined attendance of 85, to discuss equity and regional and local access. 

• In partnership and collaboration with the City of Seattle and King County, we hosted two in-person South Downtown Hub workshops, which engaged 185 attendees collectively, 11 smaller focus group workshops with 160 community members (four workshops held specifically with Cantonese and Mandarin speaking communities), and an online survey that collected over 460 responses, all to discuss improvements to streets and public spaces and transit-oriented development around existing and future transit stations in the CID and Pioneer Square neighborhoods. 

• We launched one online survey, which received nearly 1,500 responses, and hosted two webinars with 50 attendees to share South Lake Union Feasibility Study findings, answer questions, and collect input from current and future riders.  

• We hosted two BLE scoping in-person open houses, engaging with nearly 180 community members, and received over 160 NEPA scoping comments (both in English and Cantonese) during the 45-day comment period.  

• We staffed tables at 11 community events to share project information and collect feedback, engaging with nearly 7,500 community members. 

• We facilitated more than 80 briefings and meetings (in-person and virtually) with property owners and community organizations.  

• We responded to over 80 questions via our project email and hotline.  

• We sent 22 email updates to 12,000+ subscribers.  

• We proactively communicated information to neighbors and businesses about 41 geotechnical borings, taken in the area to better understand soil and groundwater conditions, via door-to-door communication, emails, and phone calls.   

In 2024, our outreach efforts helped us to gather your input, answer your questions, and collect your scoping comments. We also continued our partnership with the City of Seattle’s Community Liaison program to support engaging with historically underrepresented communities within our project area. Your continued feedback has helped us take meaningful steps to advance project planning. We greatly appreciate the time you’ve spent participating. For a closer look at our engagement reports visit the resource library on our online open house.   

In 2025, we will advance the environmental planning process, publishing the BLE Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for public comment. The Draft EIS will outline each alternative’s potential environmental impacts and benefits as well as proposed mitigation strategies. We will also continue engagement around station designs and our South Downtown Hub planning effort in collaboration with community members, the City of Seattle, and King County.