Sound Transit Operations and Maintenance Facility East

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Sound Transit will build the Operations and Maintenance Satellite Facility East (OMF East) in Bellevue, Washington to maintain, store, and deploy light rail vehicles on its expanding light rail system. By 2023, the system will grow from 16 to 50 miles and the existing light rail fleet will triple in size from 62 to 180 vehicles. Sound Transit projects that its existing operations and maintenance facility in Seattle, which can accommodate up to 104 light rail vehicles, will reach full capacity by 2020, making the OMF East a much-needed addition to Sound Transit's maintenance capacity. The new site is located between a former BNSF Railway railroad right-of-way to the west and 120th Avenue Northeast to the east, south of SR 520 and north of Northeast 12th Street in the City of Bellevue. In addition to the OMF East facility, the site will eventually include transit-oriented development consistent with the City of Bellevue's plans for new housing, office, and retail projects in the Spring District. In 2008, local voters approved the expansion of the region's light rail system, supported in large part by Sound Transit 2; a dedicated local option sales tax. Light rail system extensions to be supported by the OMF East include East Link extending from downtown Seattle to Bellevue and Redmond, Northgate line running from the University of Washington to the Northgate Mall and north to Lynnwood, and Federal Way extension south from SeaTac Airport. The project is the second to reach financial close under a TIFIA Master Credit Agreement (MCA), first authorized under MAP-21.  Under the agreement USDOT may make a contingent commitment of future TIFIA credit assistance for a program of related projects secured by a common security pledge. Sound Transit secured a $1.991 billion contingent commitment to fund portions of the Northgate Link, Lynnwood Link, Federal Way Link and the Operations and Maintenance Facility East through individually approved loans.

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