Mountlake Terrace station

Mountlake Terrace station is a bus station and light rail station in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, U.S. It is served by the 1 Line of Sound Transit's Link light rail system.

41  Mountlake Terrace
Link light rail station
Parking garage and bus bay 2
General information
Location	6001 236th Street Southwest Mountlake Terrace, Washington United States
Coordinates	47°47′08″N 122°18′53″W
Owned by	Washington State Department of Transportation
Train operators	Sound Transit
Bus routes	7
Bus stands	6
Bus operators	Community Transit King County Metro Sound Transit Express
Construction
Parking	880 parking spaces
Bicycle facilities	Bicycle lockers and racks
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	February 23, 2009 (2009-02-23) (buses) August 30, 2024 (light rail)
Rebuilt	2019–2024
Passengers
1,207 daily weekday boardings (2024)[1] 148,328 total boardings (2024)[1]
Services
Preceding station Sound Transit Following station Lynnwood City Center Terminus 1 Line Shoreline North/185th toward Angle Lake Future service Lynnwood City Center Terminus 2 Line Shoreline North/185th toward Downtown Redmond
Location

The elevated light rail station was built as part of the Lynnwood Link Extension from 2019 to 2024. It opened on August 30, 2024.

Location

Mountlake Terrace station is located adjacent east of Interstate 5 near its interchange with 236th Street Southwest. It is west of Mountlake Terrace's city center.

History

Community Transit opened a 400-stall park and ride lot at Interstate 5 and 236th Street Southwest on April 12, 1983.^[2] It was initially served by Community Transit and King County Metro commuter service,^[3] until the latter dropped service to Snohomish County in June 1989.^[4][5] The new lot regularly reached capacity beginning in the 1990s and was supplemented with leased spaces at three nearby churches to provide overflow parking.^[6]

Plans for a parking garage to increase capacity at the Mountlake Terrace lot emerged in the 1990s.^[7] City officials proposed a garage with integrated housing and retail, but later dropped the mixed-use elements from their plans.^[6][8] Construction began in late 2007 with the closure of the existing lower lot, which was replaced by spaces leased from local businesses.^[8]

The parking garage at Mountlake Terrace Transit Center was dedicated on February 20, 2009, and opened three days later.^[9][10] It includes 32 solar panels on its facade and was built with recycled materials; the garage also has glass art created by local high school students under the direction of artist Jerry Newcomb.^[11] Construction of the freeway flyer stop, located in the median of Interstate 5, began two months later and was funded by Sound Transit.^[12] It opened on March 20, 2011, and served by Sound Transit Express and Community Transit commuter routes connecting Snohomish County to Downtown Seattle.^[13] The median flyer stop was first proposed in a 1996 report by Sound Transit and WSDOT; it would serve buses and could be converted into a light rail station.^[14] Both facilities were constructed with eventual use by Link light rail in mind;^[15] an extension into Snohomish County on either Interstate 5 or State Route 99 was approved by voters in the 2008 Sound Transit 2 funding package.^[16]

Sound Transit approved a route along Interstate 5 for the Lynnwood Link Extension in April 2015, including a station at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center.^[17] An alternative option would have bypassed the city entirely by using State Route 99 or required an east–west section to serve the transit center from the corridor.^[18] Light rail construction at the transit center began in September 2019, with the closure of the surface parking lot for construction staging. The light rail platforms were built to the east of the bus bays and were opened as part of the Lynnwood Link Extension, carrying the 1 Line in August 2024 and 2 Line in 2025.^[19] The freeway station bays were closed for five months beginning in July 2020 for light rail construction, with commuter routes bypassing Mountlake Terrace replaced by a temporary fare-free shuttle route to downtown.^[20]

The main bus loop at the transit center was closed in March 2021 and replaced with a temporary loop to the east of the future light rail station.^[21] The new main bus loop opened on March 30, 2024.^[22] Light rail service at Mountlake Terrace station began on August 30, 2024.^[23]

Transit-oriented development

Beginning in 2018, the former site of the Evergreen Elementary School just south of the station was redeveloped into a three-building complex with 600 apartments and retail spaces.^[24] The city government is also planning a "town center" in the area east of the light rail station.^[25] A plaza and new pedestrian path through Veterans Memorial Park to the city hall and library is also planned.^[26]

Layout and services

Mountlake Terrace station has two entrances to the east of its parking garage and primary bus bays; the entrances are on the north and south sides of 236th Street Southwest and are connected to the elevated platform by stairs, escalators, and elevators. The transit center's bus bays are located adjacent to the parking garage, on 236th Street Southwest, and in the median of Interstate 5. The station has 890 total parking stalls in the garage and an adjacent surface lot.^[27]

Services

Route	Bay(s)[28]	Termini	Via	Notes
111	1	Brier		Peak-only route
112	1	Ash Way Park and Ride	Lynnwood, 44th Avenue W, Lynnwood Transit Center
119	1	Ash Way Park and Ride	Edmonds College, Meadowdale
130	3, 4	Edmonds Station, Lynnwood Transit Center	Aurora Village Transit Center
331	1	Shoreline Community College, Kenmore	Aurora Village Transit Center, Lake Forest Park	Operated by King County Metro
333	1	Shoreline South/148th station	North City, Shoreline, Shoreline Community College	Operated by King County Metro
510	6, 7	Everett Station	Ash Way Park and Ride	Sound Transit Express; peak-only route
515	6, 7	Lynnwood Transit Center		Sound Transit Express; peak-only route
909	1, 3	Edmonds Station	Edmonds