Transit Service News, June 2002
Improvements arrive at Northgate Transit Center
Commuters and mid-day transit users arriving at the Northgate Transit Center on June 10 were greeted by the addition of a new park-and-ride lot with 500 new parking stalls. The new lot is located just east of the transit center between NE 100th and NE 103rd streets. Seventy-five stalls are reserved for weekday morning carpool use with vacant stalls open for park-and-ride use after 10:00 a.m.
King County regards the Northgate Transit Center as one of its highest priorities, and is making plans for significant improvements in the years to come. Please see inside for details on the new park-and-ride lot, related changes to area bus service, King County Metro Transit Rideshare's Ridematch, VanPool, and VanShare programs, and the county's vision for the transit center's future.
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Background
King County Metro Transit purchased this new Northgate park-and-ride lot site in March 2002, using funds provided by voters in the 2000 Proposition One "Yes on Metro" vote. The purchase was part of King County Executive Ron Sims' initiative, launched in 1997, to ease riders' daily search for parking by creating more park-and-ride spaces.
County Executive Sims, who made two early-morning trips to the Northgate Transit Center to talk with riders, said of the new lot, "This is a very efficient use of resources. Since this site is already a parking lot, creating these 500 spaces will cost only about half as much as it would to build a new parking structure. Commuters who get here by 7 a.m. often find all the parking spaces filled. This project will help meet the demand for more park-and-ride space and reduce improper parking in neighboring office parks."
The Maple Leaf Community Council and Metro are collaborating on the pilot project to provide 75 parking stalls in the new lot for morning carpools, with those left vacant available for mid-day general park-and-ride use on weekdays.
About the New Northgate Transit Center Extension
- Size: Just under four acres
- Location: Immediately east of Northgate Transit Center
- Improvements: New pavement surface, newly painted parking stalls, additional sidewalk lighting, designated walkway through the park-and-pool, and direct pedestrian access to the transit center.
Northgate Transit-Oriented Development
Over the next few years, King County will work with the City of Seattle, community groups, and adjacent property owners and businesses on a master plan for re-development of the publicly owned western half of the "super-block" bordered by First and Fifth Avenues NE, and by NE 100th and 103rd Streets.
The master plan could include such features as a new light rail station, new traffic lights and street improvements for buses and pedestrians, a parking structure for park-and-ride use, and a mixed-use development with housing, cinema, retail, hotel, office and open space. The King County project will offer employees and residents incentives to not drive such as employee bus passes, Flexcar, Free Guaranteed Emergency Ride Home, and other programs.
King County will continue to work with the City of Seattle and others on the potential relocation of the park-and-ride lot at Fifth Avenue NE and NE 112th Street, north of the Target store, to permit redevelopment of that space as a park. The parking stalls there may be relocated to a parking structure within walking distance of the Northgate Transit Center.
For more information
To get this information in alternative formats, call 206-684-1142 (voice) or 206-684-1682 (TTY).
Produced by Community Relations and Communications, King County Department of Transportation, June 2002.
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