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Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride gets off to a great start

The first day of operation at the new Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride got off to a great start on Monday, with more than 400 bus passengers using the new five-story garage.

King County and Metro officials expect the new 1,000-stall garage to be well used by bus commuters from Issaquah, Sammamish, Preston, Fall City, Snoqualmie, North Bend and other Eastside communities. The new garage is located just north of Exit 18 on Interstate 90, and will attract people who normally drive the congested section of I-90 between Issaquah and Bellevue.

“The Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride provides new transit connections that further expand the transportation network along I-90,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “But, we’re not focused on only improving local traffic congestion.

“Including the Issaquah Highlands garage, King County and Sound Transit will add 2,500 new park-and-ride spaces into the regional transit system during the month of February alone. Just think how many cars that takes off our overloaded road and highway system every day.”

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, approximately 21,000 cars travel westbound each weekday morning between Issaquah and Eastgate. Sims said the new and existing park-and-ride lots along that stretch of I-90 provide more than 3,200 parking spaces.

“Can you imagine what the average commute on I-90 would be like if these park-and-ride lots and bus service didn’t exist?” he asked.

The Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride Garage is located at the intersection of Highlands Drive and High Street. Bus service at the new garage includes more than 20 trips to downtown Seattle during peak commute times on Metro and Sound Transit buses.

It is served by existing Metro Route 269 (Issaquah-Sammamish-Redmond-Overlake) and Sound Transit Express 554 (Issaquah-Eastgate-Mercer Island-Seattle). There is also a brand new Metro Route 218 with commute-time service direct from Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride to Seattle. The 218 makes ten trips in the morning, arriving downtown between 6:20 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. There are also ten trips in the afternoon departing between 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The $26.6 million cost of the project includes planning, land acquisition, engineering, design, and construction. It was funded by a partnership of King County, Sound Transit and the Federal Transit Administration.

The 4.2-acre site is located in the “Town Center” area of the Issaquah Highlands development – a large master-planned community. It is being developed by Port Blakely Communities, and upon completion will consist of 3,250 residential units, an urban town center, and several million square feet of office space – all within walking distance of the park-and-ride garage. Approximately 10,000 square feet of retail space is planned along the southern end of the garage to meet the development requirements of the surrounding town center.

The outside walls on the north and west sides of the garage feature innovative artwork by Ned Kahn, who created thousands of wind-detecting panels that are constantly moving along the outer surface. It is titled “Glacial Façade.”

Visit Metro Online for specific bus schedules serving the Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride. Passengers can also visit Metro's Online Trip Planner to plan trips between specific points. Or, call Metro’s Rider Information Office at (206) 553-3000.

 

Updated:  February 13, 2006

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