Sound Transit has posted an online open house so residents can learn more about the new Kent Station parking garage to be built for Sounder train commuters.
When complete in early 2027, a new garage at East James Street and Railroad Avenue North, and a new surface parking lot at Railroad Avenue and Smith Street, will add over 400 new parking stalls at the station to serve Sounder S Line passengers and users of Sound Transit Express and King County Metro services, according to an Aug. 15 Sound Transit news release.
The online open house is available at kentgarage.participate.online.
The design has changed since the last open house in 2022, according to the news release. Current plans now include a four-story garage structure, two vehicle access points, a pedestrian entry with glass canopy at the southwest corner and an arrival plaza south of the garage.
Sound Transit is also building a new bus layover space for King County Metro along Railroad Avenue North. It will be east of the new garage where a passenger parking lot is now. The facility will have space for 10-plus buses, infrastructure for zero-emission charging and a rest area for bus drivers.
Previously, Sound Transit added 14 new smart bicycle lockers (reservable by the hour) at Kent Station, according to the news release. The agency also funded an improved pedestrian crossing at Second Avenue North and James Street. The improvements include a crosswalk, raised median, flashing beacon and ramps. The city of Kent completed that work in 2021.
The online open house provides information on the garage design, with renderings (subject to refinement or change) and potential construction impacts.
Additionally, in-person information is available from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10 with a drop-in session at the Kent Station platform, 301 Railroad Ave. N.
Sound Transit’s Sounder S Line train provide service to South King County residents who commute to and from Seattle. The trip, with Wi-Fi, from Kent Station to Seattle’s King Street Station takes about 30 minutes.
Project cost
The Sound Transit Board in 2023 awarded a contract with Puyallup-based Absher Construction worth $62.5 million to build a new structured parking facility, additional surface parking as well as pedestrian and bicycle improvements.
The board also approved a $9 million agreement with King County Metro for a new bus layover facility, zero emissions bus charging infrastructure and other support facilities for transit operations and bus operators.
The garage will be built along Railroad Avenue North, just south of West James Street, including property that housed a cold storage warehouse.
Voters approved funding in 2008 with an expected opening of the garage in 2015. But the Great Recession in 2010, the pandemic in 2020 and other funding issues have continually delayed the project. Sound Transit opened a garage in 2001 in Kent at 301 Railroad Ave. N., just north of West Smith Street, for train commuters.
Sound Transit is mainly funded through local taxes in the agency’s service area, which includes car tabs ($110 per every $10,000 of vehicle value annually); property tax (0.25 per every $1,000 assessed value, about $150 annually on a $600,000 house); sales and use tax of 1.4% (14 cents on a $10 purchase); and rental car sales tax of 0.8% (80 cents on an $100 car rental), according to the Sound Transit website.
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A map of where Sound Transit will build a new parking garage for Sounder train commuters. COURTESY IMAGE, Sound Transit
