Sounder breaks ground for Puyallup Station

Puyallup city officials, community leaders and Sound Transit will celebrate breaking ground to begin construction on Puyallup's Sounder train station on Wednesday, May 10. The celebration will be from 10:30-11 a.m. at the site of the future Sounder station located west of Merdian St. N. on Stewart Ave. W. on the north side of the railroad tracks in downtown Puyallup. Classical selections will be provided by the Puyallup High School String Quartet and everyone is invited to attend to enjoy the festivities and refreshments.

The design of Puyallup's Sounder station will be in the traditional craftsman style of an open-air train depot. The unique agricultural history of the area will be reflected in public art in and around the station. The design of every Sounder station along the route has been developed with the active involvement of residents and city officials to reflect the character of their individual community.

The Puyallup Sounder train station will be one of 13 stations along the 82-mile Sounder train system using existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway serving the cities of Lakewood, Tacoma, Puyallup, Auburn, Kent, Tukwila, Seattle, Edmonds, Mukilteo and Everett. The 40-mile line between Tacoma and Seattle is scheduled to begin service this fall, with Sounder commuter rail extending service north to Everett and south to Lakewood by 2001/2002.

Sounder is just one part of Sound Move, the regional transit plan approved by voters in 1996 which also includes the development a 21-mile Link light rail connecting SeaTac, Tukwila and Seattle; a 1.6-mile downtown Tacoma Link light rail line; and the Regional Express program which includes at least 18 new limited-stop ST Express bus routes and numerous improvements to transit centers, park-and-ride lots and HOV lanes throughout the region.

For up-to-date information on Sound Transit please visit our Web site at www.soundtransit.org/. You may also write or call for more information: Union Station, 401 S. Jackson St., Seattle WA 98104, (206) 398-5000, 1-800-201-4900, TTY/TDD: (206) 398-5086.

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Sound Transit plans, builds and operates regional transit systems and services to improve mobility for Central Puget Sound.