CT breaks ground on new Swift Orange Line

Most recent bus rapid transit line will expand access to destinations around the county

Community Transit staff and board members, federal and elected officials, and community partners celebrated the kickoff of the construction of Swift Orange Line at Lynnwood Transit Center on April 19.

When it’s finished in 2024, the 11-mile bus rapid transit (BRT) route will serve people who are traveling in southwest Snohomish County. Swift Orange Line will also be the first BRT (bus rapid transit) line in Snohomish County to connect with Sound Transit’s Link light rail when the station opens in Lynnwood, greatly expanding access to many new destinations around the Puget Sound region.

Officials making remarks at the event included:

• Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Ad- see BREAK GROUND page 16 u u from COMMUNITY TRANSIT page 1 part of the load that we’ve been carrying for the last four decades,” he said.

These changes mean Community Transit has what Ilgenfritz describes as a generational opportunity to restructure its network in Snohomish County. During the April 18 Mukilteo City Council meeting, Ilgenfritz and Roland Behee, director of planning and development, gave a preview of some of the upcoming changes and provided details on the agency’s plans to further engage with the community on the future of transit in Snohomish County.

The council previously asked Mayor Joe Marine, chair of the Community Transit board of directors, to schedule an update with Community Transit officials.

“It would be tough to overstate the transformation that is going to happen with public transit when we connect to light rail,”

Behee said.

He noted that everyone on the council probably has traveled to Seattle for meetings and other engagements. The travel time to Seattle, Behee said, might be best characterized as variable.

“We can’t really predict what that trip is going to look like from one day to another,” he added.

Some days the trip might take 60 minutes, while on other days it could be half that time. Light rail will have a train running every four minutes during peak hours, and the trip will take 28 minutes to downtown Seattle.

“So the real game-changer light rail brings to that is that it is the same each and every time,” Behee said. “Naturally, I think everybody would agree that is remarkably different from your experience on any given day see MAJOR CHANGES page 15 u