News from King County Department of Transportation
Release date:  Feb. 10, 2006

Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride garage opens Monday

New parking and bus route will help relieve Interstate 90 congestion

Beginning Monday, Eastside residents can ease their daily commute by using King County Metro Transit’s new park-and-ride garage just north of Interstate 90.

click to enlargeThe Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride Garage is located at the intersection of Highlands Drive and High Street, north of Exit 18 on I-90. The new garage features 1,000 stalls of parking on five floors, and more than 20 trips to downtown Seattle during peak commute times on Metro and Sound Transit buses. It is expected the new garage will be used by residents of Issaquah, Sammamish, Preston, Fall City, Snoqualmie, North Bend and other Eastside communities.

“Today we celebrate new transit connections that further expand the transportation network along Interstate 90,” said King County Executive Ron Sims in a ceremony at the new garage. “But, we’re not focused on only improving local traffic congestion. [video link]

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

“Metro has a new slogan – ‘We’ll Get You There’ which represents the spirit behind the many different transportation choices we provide throughout King County. That spirit carries over regionally as we work with our partners to offer a variety of transportation choices,” said Sims.

“We’ve increased bus service in key corridors such as I-90 and Interstate 5. We’ve built new park-and-ride lots and transit centers in convenient locations. We sponsor hundreds of vanpools and rideshare options. Now, it’s up to the residents of this region to take advantage of all these opportunities and make a difference.”

Completion of the Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride represents a significant milestone in the region's transportation plan called Destination 2030. To mark that milestone, the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) presented its Destination 2030 award to King County and Sound Transit at today’s event. The Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride received $3 million of federal funding via PSRC.

The $26.6 million Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride project features 1,000 stalls of parking on five floors, with four bus bays for passenger boarding on Level 1. There is a separate loading area for ACCESS vans and for future private shuttle service to local businesses. There is also “parking” for 108 bicycles. The overall 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 outside walls on the north and west sides feature innovative artwork by Ned Kahn, who created thousands of wind-detecting panels that are constantly moving along the outer surface of the garage. It is titled “Glacial Façade.”

Visit Metro Online for specific schedule and routing changes connected with the Issaquah Highlands Park-and-Ride. Passengers can also visit Metro's Online Trip Planner to plan trips between specific points. Enter a travel date on or after Feb. 11 for trip plans that incorporate any of the upcoming schedule changes. Or, call Metro’s Rider Information Office at (206) 553-3000.