MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — To people squeezing into crowded park-and-ride lots in Lynnwood and at 164th Street SW and Ash Way, Community Transit has a message: Come on down to Mountlake Terrace, there’s plenty of room.
The park-and-ride lot at 236th Street SW and I-5 — recently rebuilt for $20 million and now featuring a five-story parking garage — is operating at less than half of its capacity.
The garage and surface lot now hold 880 vehicles, compared to 387 before the project.
In May, about 265 vehicles per day used the lot, Community Transit spokesman Tom Pearce said. In July it was 235.
He noted the garage was built partly to allow for future capacity.
“It’s about the usage level we were anticipating,” Pearce said.
He noted that the University of Washington is out of session and three routes from the lot go to the University District. Use of the lot is expected to pick up in the fall, Pearce said.
The lot also serves local routes and three Community Transit routes to downtown Seattle, in addition to the U-District routes. King County Metro also serves the lot.
The lot opened in February after 14 months of construction. The garage was built with several environmentally friendly features, including 32 solar panels and recycled steel.
A large parking lot for a church in downtown Mountlake Terrace was leased for commuters while the work took place.
The previous surface lot, built in 1983, had been overflowing for years, which enabled local officials to successfully lobby for federal funds for the project.
On two recent days, the surface lot and two floors in the parking garage were mostly full, while the top three floors were mostly empty.
Lori Brown of Mountlake Terrace said she parked in the lot before it was rebuilt and returned afterward. She parked in the garage on Friday. She and other riders said they like the shelter.
“I can’t understand why people park over there,” Brown said of the surface lot.
Melissa Korn, 31, of Lake Forest Park just recently started riding the bus to her job in downtown Seattle. She said she prefers the surface lot.
“You never know who’s lurking around a garage,” she said.
Still, she said she’d use it if the surface lot is full.
The 1,378-space Lynnwood lot and the 1,022-space Ash Way lot at 164th Street SW and I-5 have been operating at or over capacity in recent years, officials said when the garage opened in February.
Carol Eisenhauer usually parks at the Lynnwood lot but tried the Mountlake Terrace lot Friday after leaving her car in a shop nearby. Parking at Lynnwood was tight until about eight months ago, she said.
“No problem now,” Eisenhauer said, adding that she believes the economy has reduced the commuting force.
Velkyn Fulmer, 26, of Mountlake Terrace used the previous crowded lot and is glad the new one is open.
“Now that I know that space is available I don’t have to worry about going to another park-and-ride,” she said.
In 2011, the Mountlake Terrace lot will connect to a new bus station in the I-5 median. Sound Transit broke ground this spring on the $40.9 million project. Buses will be able to pull in and out of the station without having to exit onto side streets. Commuters will be able to park at the transit center, walk across a footbridge and catch the bus.
The station eventually could be used by light-rail trains. Sound Transit’s long-range plan calls for extending rail to Lynnwood by 2023.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
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