Design drawing of new Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride garage.

King County Metro Transit has broken ground on a five-story park-and-ride garage in the Issaquah Highlands community north of Interstate 90.

The garage is similar in design to the one Metro opened last June at Eastgate. In the short time that the new Eastgate Park-and-Ride has been open, it has turned out to be very popular with bus riders.

“What we’ve already learned in the five months since the Eastgate garage opened, is that if you build convenient transit facilities the commuters will come,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “Issaquah Highlands will be the same. It has easy access to I-90 and it is a short drive for thousands of people who live in Issaquah, Sammamish and unincorporated areas of King County.”

Sims said both Sound Transit and the Federal Transit Administration are financial partners in the $26.6 million project. Also, Metro’s project team has worked cooperatively with Port Blakely Communities, the developer of the surrounding planned community, and the City of Issaquah’s Major Development Review Team on the architectural appearance of the 1,000-stall garage and how it is integrated into the adjacent Issaquah Highlands Town Center. Unlike Eastgate, the Issaquah Highlands site will not have any surface parking, but plans do call for 10,000 square feet of retail space on the south side of the structure to be built by a private developer.

Construction of the garage should take 12 to 15 months, and it is projected to be ready for commuters by February 2006. It will be served by both Metro and Sound Transit bus routes. Currently, there is a 100-stall temporary park-and-ride at Issaquah Highlands that is just served by Sound Transit’s Route 554.

Executive Sims noted that Metro’s new transit facilities and the park-and-ride expansions planned by Sound Transit along I-90 offer other regional benefits.

“The more people we can entice into commuting by bus, the more cars we are taking off our highways and local streets,” said Sims. “That relieves congestion, keeps our air clean, and improves the quality of life here in King County.”

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The shuttles serve five area park-and-ride lots for just $3 one way. That’s in addition to the many regular Metro routes that travel near the stadium.

For all the details on Seahawks service, visit Metro Online.

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It is a temporary repair that will keep the 91-year-old bridge open to vehicular traffic until next year, when a new bridge now under construction is completed. The new bridge will have wider travel lanes and shoulders for safer access by vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians. The bridge and its approaches will also have increased sight distances.

Construction for the new bridge is progressing well. The new bridge substructure has been completed.  Although the contractor's schedule has been impacted by the lack of available American-made steel to fabricate the new bridge girders, Road Services staff is working with the contractor to try to minimize any delays and the impacts to the overall project schedule.

In addition, a pre-cast concrete pedestrian/bike tunnel for the Cedar River Trail was completed.  The construction site is currently being stabilized for the coming winter weather by the placement of straw mulch, moving of all materials outside of the floodway, and by covering stockpiled material.

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Here is a list of King County Department of Transportation projects that may disrupt traffic and travel in the coming weeks:

Northeast 124th Street, north of Redmond - Work continues through the end of November on the Northeast 124th Street project between Willows Road and State Route 202. Most of the work now is concentrated at the bridge over the Sammamish River.

South 277th Street, between Auburn and Kent - Motorists may experience periodic traffic disruptions on South 277th Street between the West Valley Highway and 72nd Avenue South through October 2005 as a result of a major reconstruction project.

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