Community Based Funding Requests for 2025
Congresswoman Jayapal is proud to submit the following community based funding requests for consideration to the Committee on Appropriations as the Committee puts together Federal funding for the 2025 Fiscal Year. NOTE: The projects are listed in alphabetical order by project recipient.
$3 million, Stadium Pocket Track Reconfiguration, Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (“Sound Transit”)
401 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104
Funds will be used to complete preliminary engineering and final design to improve transit operations by making safety and efficiency improvements to track configurations that were designed over 24 years ago, specifically tracks south of Stadium Station on Line 1. This Line serves between 101,000 – 136,000 boarders per weekday. This project will increase the functional capacity in the core of Link system, slightly improving speeds and reducing delays. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will improve safety, speeds, and reliability, reduce delays, and reduce the potential for collisions. These measures will improve commuters’ experiences, encourage increased use of public transit, and help the city prepare to host an anticipated 750,000+ visitors for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
$5 million, Lakefront Park Community Center, City of Lake Forest Park
17425 Ballinger Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
The City of Lake Forest Park Community Center Project would complete construction of the Lakefront Park Community Center, the Community Safety Office, and public restrooms. The community center will offer various services, including programming for children, teens, and seniors, as well as serving as an indoor and outdoor gathering space for the community. The project will provide residents with their first opportunity to water access, which is currently only available to about 15 percent of city residents that own shoreline property or are members of private clubs. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because the project will provide community gathering space for the first time, allowing community members and the city to host programming for children and seniors, educational workshops and classes, and more.
$5 million, Lake City Community Center and Affordable Housing Redevelopment, City of Seattle
600 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104
The Lake City Community Center and Affordable Housing Redevelopment project will fund construction for a community center and approximately 100 units of affordable housing for low-income residents. The facility will co-locate a vibrant new community center with space for services including childcare, programming, recreational facilities, and gathering spaces. It will also be located near a park, library, city services center, and high-frequency transit, providing future residents with easy connectivity to jobs, schools, and services, and access to green space and amenities. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will create new affordable housing units co-located next to a community center that will restore and expand vital programming and services to the neighborhood.
$10 million, Seattle Waterfront Elliott Bay Seawall Project, Phase 2, City of Seattle
600 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104
Funds will be used to replace an existing 90-year-old seawall along Seattle’s downtown waterfront, completing the City’s efforts to protect local residents and businesses, critical transportation infrastructure, and improve nearshore marine habitat in this area. Specifically, the seawall will protect the BNSF rail that carries 3,200 rail cars per day and a major cruise terminal that generates significant jobs and revenue. The BNSF rail line carries freight and passenger trains headed north and south through Seattle and is a critical regional infrastructure link that is about 90 feet away from the current seawall’s edge and could be damaged in a major earthquake event. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will protect the area from seismic and climate risk, in particular adjacent residences and businesses, rail lines carrying freight and passenger trains serving the state and region, and a major cruise terminal—totaling over $1 billion in infrastructure.
$3 million, Shoreline N 175th Street Corridor Improvements Project (Phase 1), City of Shoreline
2400 NW 80th St. #191, Seattle, WA 98117
Funds will be used to implement construction of sidewalks, pedestrian crossing and ADA improvements, bike lanes, transit improvements (including speed and reliability enhancements and a new bus stop), and a new signal system at the N 175th and Meridian Ave N intersection, adjacent to an elementary school. This corridor is Shoreline’s most active east-west arterial. This corridor has high daily volumes (22,000 and growing), significant peak period congestion, and a historic record of pedestrian, bike and vehicular collisions resulting largely from these conditions. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will improve infrastructure and safety on a vital regional transportation route for commerce, emergency response, regional access, and routine travel for the entire Shoreline community.
$4 million, Trail Along the Rail, City of Shoreline, WA
17500 Midvale Ave. N., Shoreline, WA 98133
Funds will be used to support the creation of a 2.5 mile multi-use trail running alongside multiple light rail stations. The Trail will connect to a broader regional system including Seattle bike facilities to the south, the Interurban Trail to north and the west and the Burke Gilman Trail to the east. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will connect transit to communities, improving accessibility to light rail and providing safe pathways for pedestrians and bikes.
$3.75 million, Third Avenue Revitalization, City of Seattle’s Department of Transportation
600 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104
The Third Avenue Revitalization project will update and expand Seattle’s wayfinding system, Seamless Seattle, to make it easier for people to connect to transit options and reduce traffic by incentivizing transit use; enhance urban the urban tree canopy to combat extreme weather events; and construct intersection improvements to improve accessibility. Third Avenue is Seattle’s most heavily used transit corridor and is regarded as the busiest transit corridor in North America. It serves as the front door to downtown Seattle and helps connect people to jobs, cultural and sports events, SeaTac International Airport, shopping, and homes throughout the Puget Sound region. These improvements will revitalize Third Avenue to increase access to, safety, and comfort along this essential transit corridor. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because the project will improve accessibility and safety for local residents and visitors, especially as the city is expected to host over 750,000 visitors for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
$933,000, King County Violent Crime Victim Services and Court Backlog Reduction project, King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office
516 3rd Ave., Seattle, WA 98104
Funds will be used to provide resources to support crime victims and help address pandemic-related court case backlogs. The project supports the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office’s efforts to maintain high-quality victim services while supporting overall backlog reduction efforts. The unprecedented court backlog, coupled with the rise in crimes, especially in violent crimes, not only undermines the efficiency of the legal system and denies timely resolution to victims and defendants alike, but also heightens the need for robust victim support services to assist those affected by such traumas. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will ensure victims of violent crime receive necessary resources to help reduce the impacts of trauma and victimization while helping the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office resolve cases.
$2.63 million, Terminal 18 On-Dock Rail Restoration and Capacity Expansion, Northwest Seaport Alliance
Pier 46, 401 Alaskan Way S., Seattle, WA 98104
Funds will be used to restore functionality to a portion of the terminal’s on-dock rail yard that has not been in use for several years. Terminal 18 is the highest volume terminal across both North and South harbors. In 2023, Terminal 18 handled over 500,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent containers (TEUs). The last economic impact analysis estimated that every 100 TEUs directly support 1.2 jobs and $260,000 in business revenues statewide. Efficient terminal operations will support access to international markets for Northwest exporters, including for many high-value products grown and processed in Washington State like hay, frozen potato products, soybeans, dairy products, and apples. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because repairs and upgrades will unlock about 8,000 feet of additional on-dock rail for storage, increasing capacity to move an additional 100 containers per vessel.
$1.5 million, Pier 86 Grain Terminal Switcher Locomotive Replacement, Port of Seattle
2711 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98121
Funds will be used to purchase and install a new Tier 4 switcher locomotive for use at the Pier 86 grain terminal. Replacement of the switcher locomotive is necessary to ensure operational continuity at a key grain export location. It will also result in increased fuel efficiency, which is integral to lowering emissions. This reduction will help improve air quality and health benefits for residential communities—such as the neighborhoods of Belltown, Queen Anne, and Magnolia—adjacent to the port operations. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because the project will ensure operational continuity for a key agricultural export terminal for soy and corn while increasing fuel efficiency and reducing operating costs.
$800,000, Seattle Waterfront Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment, Port of Seattle
2711 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98121
The Seattle Waterfront Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment project will conduct a joint vulnerability assessment to understand the impacts of sea level rise on the Seattle waterfront and surrounding communities. As part of this study, project partners and experts will collaborate to determine metrics to address waterfront assets’ risk, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will produce a study that can be used to identify and prioritize resilience needs, sequence investments, and to apply for funding to reduce future community risk in the coming decades. Sea level rise in Seattle is projected to increase by about one foot by 2050 and between two and five feet by 2100, causing tremendous harm and triggering a profound increase in coastal flooding.
$4.5 million, UW AI Research Infrastructure, University of Washington
301 Gerberding Hall, Seattle, WA 98195
Funding will provide the critical computing infrastructure—specifically high powered servers—needed to support, train, and expand fundamental research opportunities for UW researchers and students in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ultimately to systematically address, eliminate, and prevalent bottlenecks that hampering progress in basic research and across various use-inspired AI domains. Currently, advancement in AI foundation models is driven by industry because of the prohibitively expensive resources and platforms required. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will expand access to AI platforms for academic researchers and provide students educational opportunities in a growing field.
$5 million, UW Cold Lab, University of Washington
301 Gerberding Hall, Seattle, WA 98195
Funds will be used to acquire equipment for a state-of-the-art research facility to study extreme environments. The Cold Lab will provide opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration, enable the development of novel research techniques, and facilitate the recruitment of world-class researchers and students in the realms of ice research and high-altitude atmospheric research. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because research conducted using the new equipment will enable scientists to answer fundamental questions about our past and present climate, inform us how it will change in the future, and provide insight on what we must do to protect it.
$281,000, Evaluating Shoreline Restoration Effectiveness, Vashon and Maury Island project, Washington State Department of Ecology
300 Desmond Drive, Lacey, WA 98503
This project will conduct pre-and post-construction surveys and monitoring at King County shoreline restoration sites, specifically on Vashon and Maury Island, to evaluate the effectiveness of restoration projects to make the area more resilient to sea-level rise and benefit forage fish, chinook salmon, orca recovery, and human well-being. Much of the shoreline affected by this project is adjacent to the Maury Island Aquatic Research, which has been targeted for conservation for its ecological value. The broader area includes some of the most valuable shoreline resources in Puget Sound.The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because accomplishing the restoration goals to be evaluated makes the shoreland and its ecosystem more resilient to anticipated sea-level rise and climate change.
$7 million, Seattle Ferry Terminal Shoreside Electrification. Washington State Department of Transportation
2901 Third Ave., Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98121
The Seattle Ferry Terminal Shoreside Electrification project will support the construction of Terminal Electrification at the Seattle Terminal to support full hybrid-electric propulsion for the Jumbo Mark II (JMII) class ferries serving the Seattle-Bainbridge route that are currently being converted to hybrid-electric propulsion systems, and the 160-Auto class hybrid-electric ferries being constructed for the Seattle-Bremerton route. Washington State Ferries (WSF) is the largest ferry system in the country and the second largest in the world, carrying about 20 million passengers annually. Ferries are the State’s largest consumer of diesel fuels and generate the most carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions within the State’s transportation system. Converting to electric ferries will save millions in fuel costs in addition to significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This project will support Washington State becoming the first state in the country with electric ferries. The project is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because it will reduce pollutants, emissions, and harm to marine life, and save millions in operating costs.