South Seattle is finally getting its long-promised light rail station at Graham Street, after the Sound Transit board voted to fully fund the $214 million project as part of its updated ST3 system plan.

The station, targeted to open in 2031, will fill a 1.5-mile gap between the Columbia City and Othello stations on the Link 1 Line in Rainier Valley. It was first approved by Seattle voters in 1999, but it had been deferred twice before this vote.

"We're not going to wait another 30 years," said Violet Lavatai, executive director of Tenant Organizers & Advocates, one of the community groups that organized to keep the station on the plan. "Had we not organized, had we not demonstrated and called this out, we would be on the deferred plans again."

The May 28 amendment to fund Graham Street was co-sponsored by Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, and King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda. The funding plan combines a $25 million federal grant already secured, cost savings from North Seattle's Pinehurst infill station, and a commitment from Seattle and King County of up to $30 million if needed.

The overall ST3 plan update passed 16-2, with board members Claudia Balducci and Dan Strauss casting the only votes against. Graham Street is among 13 projects now listed as fully funded through construction.

The decision came as Sound Transit grapples with a roughly $34.5 billion funding gap over the next two decades. The Graham Street vote was largely overshadowed by the board's separate 14-4 decision to deem the Ballard Link Extension beyond Seattle Center "unaffordable."

Zahilay, who grew up in Rainier Valley near the Graham Street corridor, called it "a special promise to serve a community that absolutely deserves it" at a post-vote celebration at the Filipino Community Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South.

The neighborhood is home to a significant share of transit-dependent residents. A 2019 visioning document created by the Graham Street Community Action Team called for preservation of small businesses, religious and cultural institutions, and affordability around the station.

Under the amendment's terms, Sound Transit staff must develop confirmed cost savings and identify alternative financing by mid-2027. The city also committed to expedite permitting and support cost-reduction efforts.

The station's current cost estimate includes a 67% contingency because construction will require disrupting 1 Line service; Sound Transit expects that figure to decrease as design advances.