New Totem Lake Transit Center at Evergreen Hospital opens Oct. 25th
Bus riders benefit from hospital, transit partnership
Sound Transit’s new Totem Lake Transit Center opens on Saturday, Oct. 25 with service from five King County Metro Transit bus routes. The new transit center is integrated into the design of Evergreen Healthcare’s newly constructed DeYoung Pavilion building on the southwest corner of the Kirkland hospital campus.
The public is invited to join Sound Transit, Evergreen Healthcare, Metro Transit, and the city of Kirkland at a dedication ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at noon in the lobby of the new DeYoung Pavilion, 12039 NE 128th St. A transportation open house will run from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the same location.
The new transit center is the result of a unique public-private partnership between Sound Transit and Evergreen Healthcare, and the project features six bus bays with sheltered passenger waiting areas and bus layover space. Improvements were also made to the intersection of 120th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 128th Street to give buses and pedestrians safe and easy access to the facility. Metro routes 230, 236, 238, 291 and 935 will serve the transit center.
Sound Transit Boardmember and Kirkland City Council Member Mary-Alyce Burleigh recalls the vision of the 1996 Sound Move voter-approved initiative to create community transit connections through public-private partnerships. This project included Sound Transit, Evergreen Healthcare and the city of Kirkland.
“In addition to the funding partners, two major transit agencies, Metro and Sound Transit, are coordinating services that improve local access to regional transit systems,” states Burleigh. “This center is a result of a great vision and is now a valuable community asset that will serve commuters well into the future.”
Construction of the transit center was integrated into the building of the new DeYoung Pavilion. When the pavilion opens next spring, it will house the Evergreen Neuroscience Institute, which includes the Multiple Sclerosis Center and Booth Gardner Parkinson's Care Center and Cardiac Rehabilitation Services.
"We’re delighted to be the home of the Totem Lake Transit Center," said Steve Brown, CEO of Evergreen Healthcare. "Having the bus stop on our doorstep provides a low-cost transportation alternative for our employees and gives our patients easier access to our many, quality health care services."
It will also result in more convenience for people traveling to and from the hospital campus.
“This new transit center will allow Metro buses to bring employees and hospital visitors right into the Evergreen campus,” said Harold Taniguchi, director of the King County Department of Transportation. “Plus, passengers will have a much nicer place to wait for buses that is sheltered from the weather.”
City of Kirkland officials are pleased to see the expansion of transit options for their residents.
“The Totem Lake Transit Center now completes a transit triangle here in Kirkland, with Sound Transit’s Totem Lake Freeway Station just blocks away and Metro’s Kingsgate Park-and-Ride to the northwest. This web of transit connections means that businesses, commuters, shoppers and the healthcare community now have convenient connections in and out of the Totem Lake area,” said Kirkland’s Mayor James Lauinger.
For more information about the transit center project or rider information, visit Sound Transit at www.soundtransit.org or Metro Transit at www.kingcounty.gov.
