Council approves objectives for development of the South Kirkland Park-and-Ride

July 11, 2011

Summary

New “Transit-Oriented-Development” significant achievement for Eastside regional cooperation

Story

The Metropolitan King County Council today gave its unanimous approval to the approved mutual objectives and principles of agreement for the planned development of the South Kirkland Park-and-Ride, an integration of residential, business, retail and transit uses.

“This is a landmark agreement between King County and our Eastside city partners,” said Council Vice Chair Jane Hague, the sponsor of the legislation. “The new South Kirkland Park-and-Ride will be a transformational project. I really look forward to seeing the end result.”

“A growing number of people want to live and work near transit, and we know that transit works best when it’s near a high concentration of people and jobs, so this project is a win-win,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, Chair of the Transportation, Economy, and Environment Committee. “What is already a well-used park-and-ride will be put to even better use by adding homes, jobs, and retail to the site.”

The site, located north of SR 520 at 10610 NE 38th Place, borders the Kirkland/Bellevue boundary and has long been considered a potential site for Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Under the current plan, the new park-and-ride would add another 250 parking stalls to the 600-stall lot.

The project will emphasize a mixture of housing including lower income units. The future design will also connect to the BNSF corridor, which is also being developed as a potential transportation corridor.

$7.2 million in state and federal grants have been secured for the project. The same plan was approved by the Bellevue and Kirkland city councils back in January. The Council and the Executive are expected to take further action later this year. The scheduled completion date is October 2014.