Garage construction to begin later this year
Over the past few months, Sound Transit has been moving forward on the new parking garage and access improvements at Puyallup Station to better connect Pierce County residents with fast and reliable Sounder train service.
On March 10, the Puyallup City Council unanimously approved a development agreement between Sound Transit and the City of Puyallup, and the Sound Transit Board of Directors also approved it soon after, on March 26.
This development agreement followed the Board’s action on November 21, 2019, to award a design-build contract to Hensel Phelps Construction Company for the project, which includes a new 500-space garage and new surface parking with approximately 165 spaces. The design-build method means the Hensel Phelps team will both design and construct the project.
This month the Puyallup City Council is considering a street vacation for Third Avenue Northwest between Fifth and Sixth Streets, the site of the new garage. This action is essential for the project.
Final design work began this spring, and we expect construction to start later this year, beginning with utility relocation and building demolition. We’ll hold an online open house before construction begins to share updated designs and prepare you for construction activities. If COVID-19 restrictions allow, we’ll also hold an in-person event. Stay tuned for more details.
In addition to the new garage and surface parking, we’ll be making improvements to two intersections for better traffic flow. This includes a new signal at Seventh Street Northwest and West Stewart Avenue and a new right-turn lane from West Stewart Avenue to southbound North Meridian. We expect to begin this work as early as mid 2021.
Sound Transit is also contributing $3.8 million to the city of Puyallup for street lighting, curb ramps and other pedestrian safety improvements as well as new bicycle lanes on West Stewart Avenue.
We expect the garage and traffic improvements to open in 2022 and the bicycle and pedestrian improvements to be finished by 2023.
Transit construction jobs can help the economic recovery
The improvements we’re making at Puyallup Station will create an estimated 100 full-time-equivalent craft labor positions over a 15-month period. Taking into account workers in different fields, we estimate approximately 600-700 different workers participating in work throughout the project. These family-wage jobs, along with thousands of other Sound Transit construction jobs throughout Puget Sound, will help support our region’s economic recovery, and in turn will support more retail and service jobs in the community. And as more people return to work, investments in transit infrastructure will help more people connect to jobs.
Interested in a new career in transit construction? Learn how to be part of rebuilding our region’s economy.
Sound Transit COVID-19 update
As our region responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sound Transit has reduced Sounder, Link and some ST Express service until further notice. This includes suspending some Sounder South roundtrips. View the Sounder South reduced schedule for more details or visit our Reduced Service page for details on other routes.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we encourage you to sign up for rider alerts so you’ll always receive the latest updates for your route.
Read our Platform blog post for the latest information on how Sound Transit is responding to heightened COVID-19 concerns.
Parking permit update
Due to COVID-19, Sound Transit has temporarily suspended issuing new parking permits at all park-and-ride lots, including in Puyallup. We anticipate resuming issuing new permits and reinstating fees at eligible facilities on an individual facility basis, when a given location regularly fills to 90% or above weekday capacity again.
Questions? Contact Sound Transit's permit parking administrator at transit.riders@reefparking.com or visit our website.