Sound Transit opens expanded lot for Puyallup Sounder riders

Upgraded satellite lot provides 219 additional parking spaces, lighting, and environmentally sustainable rain gardens for Sounder commuters

After four months of construction, Sound Transit will open an expanded, upgraded parking lot at 5th St. SW and 9th Ave SW for Sounder riders on Monday.

Just minutes from the Puyallup Sounder station, the lot, which opened for Puyallup Fair attendees earlier this month, adds 219 parking spaces to 364 slots currently provided at the station's main lot and 182 spaces at two lots leased by Sound Transit. Drainage, new lighting, and environmentally sustainable rain gardens were also added.

"Sound Transit is pleased to provide our riders with the additional parking capacity they have been asking for," said Dave Enslow, Sound Transit Board Member and City of Sumner Mayor. "Our expanded lot, offered in partnership with the City of Puyallup and the Puyallup Fair & Events Center, will enable us to conveniently serve the increased numbers of Sounder riders who use our trains every day to get where they need to go."

In recent years, the number of drivers commuting to the station has exceeded parking capacity. To meet the demand, Sound Transit graded and paved the Fair's existing "Red Lot" across from the Puyallup Fair & Events Center grounds. Pierce Transit bus route 495 will transport Sounder riders to and from the station and lot in sync with the train's departure schedule.

Eco-Friendly Rain Gardens

Four uniquely engineered rain gardens will capture stormwater run-off from the lot's paved surfaces. The system mimics natural hydrology by using a specially designed soil that allows maximum infiltration of stormwater while providing a nutrient-rich environment for plants. Stormwater that does not infiltrate the soil will be stored in a large detention system under the parking lot. When landscaping is complete this fall, shrubs and other foliage native to the Pacific Northwest will be added to the gardens.

The $2.8 million project was funded by a combination of federal and local grant monies.

For more information on the Puyallup station parking expansion, please visit the project page >>>

More information on Sounder, including schedules, station locations, and a service map, is available here >>>