Construction will begin soon on a new five-story parking garage at
King County Metro Transit’s busy
Eastgate park-and-ride lot on Interstate 90. To offset any loss of parking
spaces during construction, Metro will open an additional lot just west of the
main park-and-ride.
The
interim lot will open Saturday, April 12. It is located at 13620 Eastgate
Way, about six blocks west of the current park and ride lot. The interim lot is
paved, lighted, and has approximately 550 parking stalls. A new traffic signal
has also been installed to keep traffic flowing from the interim lot to
Eastgate Way.
All bus routes currently serving the
Eastgate
park-and-ride lot will continue to pick up and drop off passengers there.
But, the interim lot will only be served by some of those routes: Metro 212,
225, 229, 247 and 942; and Sound Transit 554. Shuttles traveling to special
events such as ballgames and festivals will serve both lots.
Construction of the garage will last approximately 13 months, and should be
ready for use by June 2004. The project is being done in partnership with the
Washington State Department of Transportation, which owns and originally built
the lot. When completed, the Eastgate park-and-ride will have a total of 1,650
parking stalls – more than double its current capacity.
