Kent Garage

Overview

Visit us in person

Tuesday, September 10, 3-6:30pm:
Drop-in session at Kent Station platform, 301 Railroad Ave. N, Kent, WA 98032

Save the date!

Map of Kent Station, including the train tracks through the middle of the image, the existing parking garage which is southeast of the station, and the planned garage location which is northwest of the station. — Map of Kent Station Garage project area.

Sound Transit is building a new parking garage at East James Street and Railroad Avenue North and a new surface parking lot at Railroad Avenue and Smith Street. Together, these facilities will add over 400 new parking stalls at the station.

The project design has changed since outreach to the community in 2018-2022. Instead of realigning Railroad Avenue for the new garage, we will build a narrower, four-level structure.

4 stories
ADA stalls and drop-off/pickup area
Two vehicle access points: north and south
Stair tower on southern façade – potential art location
Pedestrian entry with glass canopy at southwest corner
Arrival plaza south of garage

Walking, rolling, bicycling

Sound Transit has added 14 new smart bicycle lockers (reservable by the hour) at Kent Station. The agency also funded an improved pedestrian crossing at 2nd Avenue North and James Street. The improvements include a crosswalk, raised median, flashing beacon, and ramps. The City of Kent completed work in 2021.

Metro bus layover

Sound Transit is building a new bus layover space for King County Metro (KCM) along Railroad Avenue North. It will be east of the new garage where a passenger parking lot is now. The facility will have space for 10+ buses, infrastructure for zero-emission charging, and a rest area for bus drivers. This space will allow KCM to provide more transit service in Kent and South King County. (Visit the KCM website to learn more about King County Metro’s plans for a new RapidRide I Line connecting Kent Station with Auburn and Renton.)

Design

You shared your perspectives, and we listened

In 2022, Kent community members and passengers commented on the visual design of the garage. Preferences included:

Streetscape plants and greenery.
Canopies and other forms of shelter for station users.
A desire to incorporate features from downtown Kent.

Read more in the Visual Design Outreach Summary, and the Vision Statement on pages 7-8. We responded with the following design features:

We added a new canopy that provides continuous weather protection from the parking garage’s primary lobby to the platform.
The canopy will include trees and landscaping on either side.
We will use favored materials to represent the city’s Downtown Overlay District, character. This will include brick at the lower level of the parking facility with detailed transitions to other building materials.

In this section, you’ll see artist renderings of the garage designs from several angles. Note that some details could change when we complete the final design.

A large stairwell tower lined with windows connects to a stone parking garage with metal details and slatted windows that allow one to see inside the garage. The entire structure is brightly lit. — Night view of the Kent Station parking garage from the southeast corner of the site, along Railroad Ave.

The image perspective is that of someone standing on the train platform. Two large glass stairwell towers are connected to a stone and metal parking garage. A vehicle pull-through area is in the foreground and busses can be seen parked in the background. — View of the Kent Station parking garage from the train platform.

The image perspective is that of someone standing across Railroad Ave. from the parking garage. Two garage entrances can be seen with vehicles entering and leaving the garage. The garage is stone on the first level and metal on the levels above with vertical slats in some areas that offer a view into the garage. — Daytime view of the Kent Station parking garage from Railroad Ave.

Artwork

Ryan! Feddersen will design the garage artwork. She specializes in creating compelling site-specific installations and public artworks, which invite people to consider our relationships to history, culture, the land, and our non-human-kin. Feddersen grew up in Wenatchee and is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, from the Okanogan and Arrow Lakes bands, and of mixed European descent. She resides in Tacoma. Feddersen has created large-scale site-specific pieces and interactive installations throughout North America and has a growing body of permanent artworks in the public realm.

Construction

Stay ahead of construction

Sound Transit is building a new garage at Kent Station, so more people can conveniently access regional transit and enjoy traffic-free travel. Construction on the garage begins later this year, and we expect it to open in early 2027.

During all project phases until completion, we will close the ADA parking stalls and pick-up/drop-off areas on Railroad Avenue for construction. Passengers are encouraged to use the existing ADA parking stalls and pick-up/drop-off area in and around the parking garage on 1st Avenue North.
Throughout construction, partial road closures and temporary sidewalk closures could happen on streets like Railroad Avenue. We will provide notice to businesses, residents, and road users.
Expect noise, vibration, and changes to street patterns in the area during construction. Subscribe to email alerts to stay informed: soundtransit.org/subscribe.

Map of Kent Station, showing construction impacts. Railroad Avenue, between East James Street and East Pioneer Street will be closed to private vehicle traffic from 7 am - 5 pm, Monday - Friday. Temporary accessible parking will be in the existing Kent Garage and paratransit stops will remain available during construction. — Map of construction impacts at Kent Station during this project.

Meet the contractor

In August of 2023, the Sound Transit Board of Directors awarded the Design-Build Team of Absher Construction and WJA Design Collaborative to design and build the Kent Station Garage. Absher and WJA-dc have collaborated for 25 years on 18 projects including clients for military, federal and state organizations. Absher constructed the Northgate Station and Garage and is nearing completion of the Kent-Des Moines, Star Lake and Federal Way Stations and Garages.

JESSICA TIBBETS

PROJECT MANAGER

Jessica is a dedicated project manager with 20 years of construction industry experience leading diverse teams on complex and challenging projects.

Ten years of experience completing design-build projects, leading 4 design-build, multi-disciplinary teams since 2010
Experience working with AHJs and stakeholders on the federal, state, and local levels on Pierce Transit Maintenance Base & Operations Infrastructure and several other military projects
Led multiple projects with adjacent residences, operational facilities, and on active military bases

JASON SAYLOR

SUPERINTENDENT

Jason brings 15 years of industry experience, parking garage construction, and current Sound Transit experience to his role as Superintendent.

Experience managing multi-discipline project teams on several complex parking facilities
Constructed 7 parking garages, totaling over 4,000 stalls

C. TODD ST. GEORGE, PE,

SE DESIGN MANAGER

Todd will manage the design process. He places an emphasis on integrated design to maintain seamless coordination between disciplines.

27 years’ experience providing innovative management and structural engineering solutions to a variety of large complex projects
Over 10 years’ experience completing design-build projects with Absher, including the Pierce County Readiness Center at Camp Murray
Parking garage experience includes: a 2,000 stall below and above grade parking structure at Microsoft St. Andrew’s Complex in Redmond and a parking garage feasibility study at Seattle University

Transit and jobs

Building transit infrastructure helps support our region’s economy. This project will create about 26,300 hours of craft labor work. We expect to hire about 77 craft workers during construction.

Schedule

Our commitment

Community Outreach is a team within Sound Transit. Our mission is to represent the agency in the community, and the community’s interests within Sound Transit. During construction, we will keep you informed of construction and project progress.

We’re your point of contact for Sound Transit.

As part of our good neighbor commitments, we’ll:

Provide advanced notification of work.
Maintain business and residential access.
Maintain a clean work site.
Minimize noise, dust, and debris.
Provide wayfinding signage.
Maintain a 24-hour construction hotline: 1-888-298-2395.

Questions? Contact the Community Engagement team: kentgarage@soundtransit.org or 253-303-3766

24-hour construction hotline: 1-888-298-2395

Frequently Asked Questions

In March 2024, the Sound Transit Board adopted a new parking management policy, including daily paid parking. We expect to begin daily paid parking in early 2025. The rollout will start at Link parking facilities.

Implementation at the Kent Sounder Station would depend on a facility meeting eligibility criteria identified in the Board’s recently adopted policy. It would not begin before the new garage opens.

Learn more about the board resolution and the engagement on paid parking here.

Sound Transit implements industry best practices to ensure our facilities are safe. Tactics include:

Placing security cameras outside garages.
Landscaping that preserves open sight lines.
Lighting on the garage exterior and surrounding areas to ensure a visible and well-lit area for pedestrians and others.
24-hour lighting inside all areas of the garage.
Ensuring visibility for stairwells and elevator shafts, such as using glass or other transparent materials.
Monitoring of garages by security staff and encouraging customers to report any suspicious activity.

Sound Transit was required to complete a State Environmental Policy Act Checklist to consider impacts of the garage, including traffic. Our analysis found that the garage could impact traffic flow at the intersection of Railroad Ave North and East James Street. We have proposed several measures to mitigate that impact, including funneling exiting traffic south to East Pioneer Street and Central Avenue North, away from James Street.

This garage was promised to voters in the ST2 ballot measure in 2008, to address growing ridership on Sounder and regional bus service. While transit ridership declined during the pandemic, we expect it to rebound over the coming years, and this new garage is going to be needed when it opens in 2027.

Sounder runs primarily on tracks owned by the BNSF Railroad; they are heavily used for freight movement. We do provide special event trains for select events, like some Seahawks, Sounders FC, and Mariners games. In addition, we are updating the Sounder South Strategic Plan, which may consider service midday, evenings, and/or weekends.