The upcoming traffic Armageddon in Lake Forest Park

Paula Goode and Jeff Snedden at CORE meeting
Photo by Mike Remarcke

By Mike Remarcke

A group of folks living along State Route 522 (Bothell Way NE) and other LFP residents met last Saturday, February 22, 2025 to gather more information on an ongoing debate they are having with Sound Transit. 

Sound Transit has been working on the “Stride 3” project on SR522 for years and a couple of years ago, residents of LFP, particularly those who live near SR522 and whose properties may be affected, formed Citizens Organized to Rethink Expansion (CORE). 

The meeting was held at the Sheridan Market, owned by Paula Goode, one of the founding members of CORE and also a LFP Councilmember. 

Leading the group was Jeff Snedden, another founding member of CORE.

The meeting began with a discussion of the key issues regarding the redesign of SR522, specifically a 1.2 mile stretch between NE 165th St and NE 153rd St. 

Discussions with Sound Transit and cities involved including LFP have been ongoing since 2016. CORE was founded in 2023 by residents, not the city of LFP. 

Sound Transit wants an express line for buses, running from Bothell, through Kenmore and LFP, then west on NE 145th, with both Seattle and Shoreline affected by the express bus line to the Shoreline South Transit stop. 

There are issues regarding costs of $200 million, which CORE says is a lot of money to save just one minute in travel time along this stretch. That figure has not been verified and Sound Transit disputes this assessment. 

Also, the project impacts private property and businesses along the route as well as tree removal and replacement. 

Other options would be using Bus Queue Jumps, which allow buses a head start at traffic lights at NE 165th and NE 153rd. Keeping the existing street configuration, NE 145th will use queue jumps because there are no options for expanding the street to create an express lane. 

Lastly, CORE would prefer no changes whatsoever. They would prefer to keep the road as is, or at a maximum, using queue jumps.

Half a dozen planned road projects

To complicate the entire process there will be other major roadway projects happening at or around the same time as the Stride-3 project. Along with Stride-3, other projects in the area include:

• Revive I-5 (major resurfacing of I-5 in the north end)
• City of Shoreline roundabouts at 145th and I-5
• WSDOT Lyon Creek Culvert at Ballinger Way (SR 104) and 35th
• LFP roundabout at 40th Pl NE and Ballinger Way (SR104)
• City of Kenmore/WSDOT Swamp Creek Culvert

LFP residents listening to the CORE presentation
Photo by Mike Remarcke

CORE now believes that Sound Transit has not done due diligence in their planning to take into account all of the other projects, and how their project adds to the chaos. They feel that these projects will create a “Traffic Armageddon” in LFP, for they state LFP will have the highest increase in traffic of all areas impacted. “LFP is ground zero and will absorb the most impact.” 

Other cities may debate that statement by CORE.

CORE group has now hired legal representation and will pursue a legal claim against Sound Transit. 

They state that Sound Transit did not study cumulative impacts of multiple projects as required by law. Their hope is to mitigate and not go to court. Their goal is to shut down the Stride-3 project, or at minimum, delay it. 

Delaying will greatly increase the overall costs of Stride-3. If Sound Transit would lose in court, the entire Stride-3 project would have to start from scratch and delay indefinitely the entire Stride-S3 Line from Bothell to the I-5 station at 145th, greatly increasing the cost and timeframe of this project.

There are few established starting dates with any of the projects, so determining when Sound Transit starts with Stride-3 is a tricky proposition. 

A spokesperson from Sound Transit states “we have been engaged in ongoing conversations with communities along all three Stride routes, including LFP since the program was approved by voters as part of ST3 in 2016”.

“We have not yet broken ground on the project. Since the timing of Revive I-5 is at present unclear, its impact on Stride 3 is speculation,” the spokesperson stated.

Construction for the entire Stride-3 project is scheduled to begin in 2025 and be completed in 2028 according to the Sound Transit project page.