Sound Transit opens expanded lot for Puyallup Sounder riders

After four months of construction, Sound Transit will open an expanded, upgraded parking lot at 5th St. SW and 9th Ave SW in Puyallup, Wash., for Sounder riders on Oct. 4. Just minutes from the Puyallup Sounder station, the lot, which opened for Puyallup Fair attendees earlier this month, adds 219 parking spaces to 364 slots currently provided at the station's main lot and 182 spaces at two lots leased by Sound Transit. Drainage, new lighting, and environmentally sustainable rain gardens were also added.

"Sound Transit is
pleased to provide our riders with the additional parking capacity they have
been asking for," said Dave Enslow, Sound Transit Board Member and City of
Sumner Mayor. "Our expanded lot, offered in partnership with the City of
Puyallup and the Puyallup Fair & Events Center, will enable us to conveniently
serve the increased numbers of Sounder riders who use our trains every day to
get where they need to go."

In recent years, the
number of drivers commuting to the station has exceeded parking capacity. To
meet the demand, Sound Transit graded and paved the Fair’s existing "Red
Lot" across from the Puyallup Fair & Events Center grounds. Pierce
Transit bus route 495 will transport Sounder riders to and from the station and
lot in sync with the train’s departure schedule.

Four uniquely engineered
rain gardens will capture stormwater run-off from the lot’s paved surfaces. The
system mimics natural hydrology by using a specially designed soil that allows
maximum infiltration of stormwater while providing a nutrient-rich environment
for plants. Stormwater that does not infiltrate the soil will be stored in a
large detention system under the parking lot. When landscaping is complete this
fall, shrubs and other foliage native to the Pacific Northwest will be added to
the gardens.

The $2.8-million project
was funded by a combination of federal and local grant monies.