Additional parking, pedestrian and bike options chosen as preferred alternatives for improving rider access to Sounder stations in Puyallup and Sumner

Improvements would enable popular stations to handle growing demand as more south line train service is added and the region's population grows 30 percent by 2040

The Sound Transit Board of Directors today unanimously identified additional parking and access improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists at the popular Sounder train stations in Puyallup and Sumner.

"These improvements will go a long way toward alleviating parking issues at these high-demand stations as Sounder ridership continues to grow," said Sound Transit Board member and Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy. "We would like to thank members of the Puyallup and Sumner city councils, leadership group participants, and the citizens who worked tirelessly with Sound Transit to develop options for making it easier for riders to reach our Sounder stations."

The planned improvements were funded by the 2008 Sound Transit 2 ballot measure. At Puyallup Station they include an approximately 420-stall parking garage at the current site of the Eagles garage, a pedestrian bridge over Fifth Street NW from the garage to the Sounder Station and a pedestrian/bicycle bridge over the railroad tracks at the station, a surface parking lot along the north side of Third Avenue Northwest, and additional leased parking at the Red Lot at Seventh Avenue Southwest and Fifth Street Southwest.

Improvements at Sumner Station include maintaining the majority of existing parking spaces at the transit center surface lot and building a garage of approximately 400 parking spaces at the station. The agency will also consider leasing temporary parking spaces for station users at the Washington Tractor site during garage construction. Pedestrian and bike improvements will include sidewalk improvements at Academy Street and Cherry Avenue, and a pedestrian/bicycle bridge over the railroad tracks at the station.

"We have waited a long time for this," said Sound Transit Board member and Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow. "Sumner was out of parking three weeks after the station opened. Sound Transit and Sumner have put a lot of work into finding solutions. It's exciting to finally move forward on fixing the overpass, providing more parking and making it easier to walk and bike to the Sumner station." 

Improvements at both stations also include modifications to sidewalks, the Americans with Disabilities Act curb ramp, and bicycle routes on streets leading to the station. They also include additional storage for bikes and traffic signal improvements in the station area. Sound Transit will also support a partnership with the state Department of Transportation and the cities of Puyallup and Sumner to fund car, bike and pedestrian improvements to the SR410 interchange for better access to its stations.

The planned improvements will undergo full environmental review and preliminary design through 2016, with construction completed by 2020.