Sound Transit Board approves Kent parking garage site for train commuters

Sound Transit plans to start construction in 2021 on a new parking garage in Kent for train commuters. COURTESY GRAPHIC, Sound Transit

Sound Transit plans to start construction in 2021 on a new parking garage in Kent for train commuters. COURTESY GRAPHIC, Sound Transit

The Sound Transit Board approved on Thursday a preferred site for a new Kent parking garage for Sounder train commuters.

The site is south of East James Street and west of Central Avenue North. The garage is estimated to add approximately 500 new parking spaces. The board also identified a proposed package of pedestrian, bicycle and transit access improvements. The board prioritized projects as the most effective at improving non-motorized access to the station, though the projects themselves may change during design and environmental review, according to a Sound Transit press release.

“As Sounder ridership continues to grow, these improvements will go a long way toward alleviating parking issues at these high-demand stations,” said Dave Upthegrove, Sound Transit Board member and King County Council member, about new parking garages in Kent and Auburn. “Easy, reliable access to transit is crucial in south King and Pierce counties, where residents experience some of the worst traffic congestion in the nation.”

Sound Transit staff identified four potential sites in Kent for the estimated $65 million garage. A stakeholders group as well as the majority of train commuters surveyed favored what staff labeled as Site 3. The Kent City Council approved the site in October.

Construction on the garage is expected to start in 2021 and be completed in 2023, according to transit documents.

Sound Transit will move the project forward over the next two years to prepare for preliminary engineering and environmental review.

Voters approved the Kent Station Access Improvements Project on the 2008 ballot measure to expand mass transit throughout the region. The economic recession forced suspension of funding in 2010, but the Sound Transit Board restored funding in 2016. Improving easy and reliable access to the station for all users will be necessary as ridership and service increase.

Commuters now park at the Kent Station garage, 301 Railroad Ave. N., which opened in 2001, just north of West Smith Street. The garage and surface lot provide 996 parking spaces but fill up quickly and drivers use nearby Mill Creek neighborhood as well as downtown streets to park. Sounder trains carried about 1,900 daily riders in 2016 in Kent. Ridership is projected to go as high as 3,000 daily in 2025.


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

City of Kent Corrections Facility, 1230 Central Ave. S. COURTESY PHOTO, Kent Police
Medical examiner rules Kent female inmate jail death as ‘natural’

45-year-old woman died April 22 in City of Kent Corrections Facility

Kent Reporter photo
Kent Police Blotter: April 28 to May 11

Incidents include wanted woman, caught on camera, 99 Ranch Market robbery

Howard Hanson Dam along the Green River. COURTESY FILE PHOTO, U.S. Army Corps
Murray blasts Trump administration for cutting Hanson Dam funds

Congress had awarded $500 million for fish passage, water storage project; funds headed to red states

The Great Wall Shopping Mall, 18230 E. Valley Highway in Kent. COURTESY PHOTO, Great Wall Shopping Mall
Asian residents target of robberies in Kent, other cities

Kent Police issue crime alert for people to be ‘informed and vigilant’

T
Please subscribe and help support local journalism in Kent

The Kent Reporter is offering readers a new premium service that will help strengthen our mission to provide quality local journalism in the community.

City of Kent Corrections Facility, 1230 Central Ave. S. COURTESY PHOTO, Kent Police
Kent Police investigating city jail inmate death at local hospital

Medics transported Kent man, 36, to hospital after medical emergency in jail

t
Kent School District superintendent fined for election violations

State Public Disclosure Commission determines election law rules broken by Israel Vela, district staff

Kent Reporter Photo
Kent Police arrest husband for attacking his wife

Reportedly pointed a gun at her; assaulted family member who came to help

t
Kent Police overtime costs jump to $4.1 million in 2024

A 58% increase from 2021; two officers made more than $100,000 each in OT

Kentwood High School, in Covington. COURTESY PHOTO, Kent School District
Ex-Kentwood High teacher pleads guilty to sex charge with student

Steve Bilvais, 56, to be sentenced June 27 for communicating with a minor for immoral purposes

Courtesy Graphic
Renton, Bellevue among cities of possible measles exposure

For those possibly exposed to measles between April 30 and May 3, the most likely time to become sick would be between May 7 and 24.

A speed limiter device, like this one, will be required for repeat speeding offenders under a Washington law signed on May 12, 2025. The law doesn’t take effect until 2029. (Photo by Jake Goldstein-Street/Washington State Standard)
WA to rein in fast drivers with speed limiters

The new law is named after four people killed in a crash last year near Renton: Boyd Buster Brown, Eloise Wilcoxson, Andrea Smith Hudson and Matilda Wilcoxson.