An artist’s conception of the Mountlake Terrace station for the Link Light Rail Extension from Northgate to Lynnwood. (Sound Transit) 2018

An artist’s conception of the Mountlake Terrace station for the Link Light Rail Extension from Northgate to Lynnwood. (Sound Transit) 2018

Part of MLT Transit Center will close for light-rail work

The transit center’s surface lot will close Oct. 19, replaced by an interim lot in downtown Terrace.

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Big parking changes are coming next month at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center to make room for Link light rail construction.

In the transit center surface lot, 220 spaces will disappear after Oct. 19. A new lot with slightly more spaces will open about a half mile away at the former site of Roger’s Market Place. The transit center garage will remain open.

That won’t be the only parking adjustment for Mountlake Terrace commuters during the nearly five-year construction timeline ahead.

“The interim lot will be open for 12 to 18 months,” said John Gallagher, a Sound Transit spokesman. “At that point, we’ll be able to open a temporary lot at 59th Place. That temporary lot will be open until the new station opens in 2024.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The future lot at 59th Place West, next to the the transit center, is currently a cul-de-sac of nine single-family houses that Sound Transit is in the process of acquiring through eminent domain.

When those houses fall, they’ll join a host of other visual cues portending the construction of the future 8.5-mile light rail route from Northgate to Lynnwood. Crews have cut down thousands of trees along I-5 since spring. A Black Angus restaurant and a furniture warehouse next to the Lynnwood Transit Center were knocked down by excavators last year.

“As construction picks up, we’re going to be seeing a lot of changes and a lot of impacts along the way,” Gallagher said.

Sound Transit this week announced the Oct. 19 switch-over date — a Saturday. The transit center surface lot is set to close at 8 that evening.

After that, commuters can use 235 spots in the interim park-and-ride at 56th Ave W and 232nd Street SW, where a supermarket used to stand until being demolished earlier this year. There are 235 spaces there.

Buses already run frequently along 56th. Additionally, Sound Transit promises to run a shuttle service to the transit center to “ensure the wait is never more than 10 minutes during peak hours,” an agency news alert said. “In fact, in most instances the wait will be far shorter.”

Commuters from the Lynnwood Transit Center also will see some major parking disruptions during construction, but specific dates haven’t been announced yet.

“There will be multiple moves there throughout the construction,” Gallagher said. “We’ll give people as much notice as possible.”

The construction of a parking garage at the Lynnwood Transit Center will replace part of the surface lot and add about 500 new spaces. It’s slated for completion in 2023, about a year before Link light-rail trains start serving the station.

When the light-rail extension is complete, riders should be able to travel from Lynnwood to downtown Seattle within a half hour and from Lynnwood to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in about an hour.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Vehicles travel along Mukilteo Speedway on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Mukilteo cameras go live to curb speeding on Speedway

Starting Friday, an automated traffic camera system will cover four blocks of Mukilteo Speedway. A 30-day warning period is in place.

Carli Brockman lets her daughter Carli, 2, help push her ballot into the ballot drop box on the Snohomish County Campus on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Here’s who filed for the primary election in Snohomish County

Positions with three or more candidates will go to voters Aug. 5 to determine final contenders for the Nov. 4 general election.

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Everett postal workers gather for a portrait to advertise the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County letter carriers prepare for food drive this Saturday

The largest single-day food drive in the country comes at an uncertain time for federal food bank funding.

Everett
Everett considers ordinance to require more apprentice labor

It would require apprentices to work 15% of the total labor hours for construction or renovation on most city projects over $1 million.

Signs hang on the outside of the Early Learning Center on the Everett Community College campus on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett Community College to close Early Learning Center

The center provides early education to more than 70 children. The college had previously planned to close the school in 2021.

Northshore school board selects next superintendent

Justin Irish currently serves as superintendent of Anacortes School District. He’ll begin at Northshore on July 1.

Auston James / Village Theatre
“Jersey Boys” plays at Village Theatre in Everett through May 25.
A&E Calendar for May 15

Send calendar submissions for print and online to features@heraldnet.com. To ensure your… Continue reading

Contributed photo from Snohomish County Public Works
Snohomish County Public Works contractor crews have begun their summer 2016 paving work on 13 miles of roadway, primarily in the Monroe and Stanwood areas. This photo is an example of paving work from a previous summer. A new layer of asphalt is put down over the old.
Snohomish County plans to resurface about 76 miles of roads this summer

EVERETT – As part of its annual road maintenance and preservation program,… Continue reading

Apartment fire on Casino Road displaces three residents

Everett Fire Department says a family’s decision to shut a door during their evacuation helped prevent the fire from spreading.

Helion's 6th fusion prototype, Trenta, on display on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Helion celebrates smoother path to fusion energy site approval

Helion CEO applauds legislation signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson expected to streamline site selection process.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

The Daily Herald relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in