Sound Transit to begin parking expansion for Puyallup Sounder station

Written by jrood

On May 17 at 11 a.m. at the Puyallup Fair "Red Lot," Sound Transit will break ground on a project to expand parking for commuters using the Sounder Puyallup, Wash., station. Developed in partnership with the City of Puyallup and the Puyallup Fair & Events Center and funded by a combination of local and federal monies, the project will create 219 permanent satellite park-and-ride spaces at the lot located at 5th St. SW and 7th Ave SW.

Puyallup station
currently provides 546 parking slots – 364 in its main lot and 182 in two lots
leased from the city – for Puyallup commuters who drive to the station to take
the Sounder train. In recent years, the numbers of drivers commuting to the
station have exceeded parking capacity. To meet the demand, Sound Transit will
grade, pave and landscape the Fair’s existing "Red Lot" across from
the Puyallup Fair & Events Center. Drainage, new lighting and a rain garden
to collect stormwater from paved surfaces will also be added.

"Sound Transit
is pleased its partnership with the City of Puyallup and the Puyallup Fair
& Events Center will increase the opportunity for people to use
transit," said Snohomish County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair
Aaron Reardon. "I also am grateful for Mayor Kathy Turner’s successful efforts
to secure federal funding for this important project."

The three-month,
$2.8-million project will be paid for by a $1.85-million Regional Mobility
Grant from the State of Washington, a $780,000 grant secured by the City of
Puyallup from the Federal Transit Administration, and $250,000 in matching
funds from Sound Transit.

"This is a
great opportunity for the city of Puyallup to partner with many organizations
to work on solving parking problems," said Puyallup Mayor Kathy Turner.
"The Fair, Sound Transit, The City and the federal government have been
instrumental in increasing parking availability that will benefit all parties
and citizens in Puyallup."

Just minutes from
the station, the new park-and-ride lot will be serviced by Pierce Transit bus
route 495, which will efficiently transport commuters to and from the main
train station in sync with the train’s departure schedule. The upgraded lot
will open for Puyallup Fair attendees this September and be available for
Sounder commuter use in October.

"This idea actually
came from a comment written to the newspaper," said Sumner Mayor Dave
Enslow. "It was a great suggestion! Using one lot for multiple purposes
saves land, saves taxpayer money and gets everyone-the Fair, Sparks Stadium,
and Sound Transit riders-a better facility to use at different hours of the
day. Congratulations to whoever wrote in that comment: you really got us all
working together."

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