Light rail to Sea-Tac International Airport moved a step closer Jan. 10 when SeaTac lawmakers approved a development and transit way agreement with Sound Transit.

The 1.7-mile extension will run from the South 154th Street Station in Tukwila to the airport-SeaTac City Center station near South 176th Street.

Riders will be able walk over a sky bridge from the station connecting to the airport parking garage and then into the airport terminal.

Another sky bridge will cross International Boulevard to a “kiss-and-ride” lot on the east side of the boulevard.

Senior Project Coordinator Soraya Lowry told lawmakers Sound Transit plans to put out the first construction bids in February so the light-rail link will be finished by December 2009.

Sound Transit wants the project completed in time to serve airport travelers coming to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C.

City Manager Craig Ward said the pact was a “terrific agreement.

“We’ve been hashing it out for a long time,” Ward noted.

He helped negotiate the deal between the city, Sound Transit, operators of the light rail system and the Port of Seattle, manager of the airport, when he served as assistant city manager.

Sound Transit CEO Joni Earl noted the importance of the agreement to the region.

Councilman Joe Brennan marveled “at how well it all turned out.”

He noted previous Sound Transit planners had offered five different options -- “some ludicrous” -- including running the guideway down the middle of International Boulevard.

From the South 154th Street Station on the northeast corner of Tukwila International Boulevard and 154th Street, the guideway will cross over SR-518 and run west of the boulevard to the new station.

The trains will sometimes run at ground level while at other times will be elevated.

Noting mass transit has been talked about in the region for 50 years, Deputy Mayor Ralph Shape declared, “Finally we are getting the project built.”

Lowry said trains would leave the station every six minutes during peak times. It will operate 20 hours per day with an anticipated 4,500 riders daily by 2015.

The kiss and ride lot, with an entrance and exit on South 176th Street, will have eight stalls for waiting vehicles and a quick drop-off point.

The lot is one of the most important elements for the city, according to Lowry.

City staffers envision a multi-story transit-oriented business development on the site. If the city announces plans by September to build the development, Sound Transit has agreed to pay $690,000 of the costs.

Sound Transit has also agreed to pay the city $4.5 million in mitigation, Lowry announced.