Mountlake Terrace station is a

bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

and

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

station in

Mountlake Terrace, Washington Mountlake Terrace is a suburban city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It lies on the southern border of the county, adjacent to Shoreline, Washington, Shoreline and Lynnwood, Washington, Lynnwood, and is north of Seattle. The c ...

, U.S. It is served by the 1 Line of

Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It manages the Link light rail system in Se ...

Link light rail Link light rail is a light rail system with some rapid transit characteristics that serves the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit pro ...

system. The elevated light rail

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

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 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

near its interchange with 236th Street Southwest. It is west of Mountlake Terrace's

city center A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms that exist in ...

History

Community Transit Community Transit (CT) is the public transit authority of Snohomish County, Washington, United States, in the Seattle metropolitan area. It operates Public transport bus service, local bus, paratransit and vanpool service within Snohomish Count ...

opened a 400-stall park and ride lot at Interstate 5 and 236th Street Southwest on April 12, 1983. It was initially served by Community Transit and

King County Metro King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...

commuter service, until the latter dropped service to Snohomish County in June 1989. The new lot regularly reached capacity beginning in the 1990s and was supplemented with leased spaces at three nearby churches to provide overflow parking. Plans for a parking garage to increase capacity at the Mountlake Terrace lot emerged in the 1990s. City officials proposed a garage with integrated housing and retail, but later dropped the mixed-use elements from their plans. Construction began in late 2007 with the closure of the existing lower lot, which was replaced by spaces leased from local businesses. The parking garage at Mountlake Terrace Transit Center was dedicated on February 20, 2009, and opened three days later. It includes 32

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s 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. Construction of the freeway flyer stop, located in the

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

of Interstate 5, began two months later and was funded by Sound Transit. It opened on March 20, 2011, and served by

Sound Transit Express Sound Transit Express (ST Express) is a network of regional express buses, operated by the multi-county transit agency, Sound Transit. The routes connect major regional hubs throughout 53 cities in three counties (King, Pierce, and Snohomish) ...

and

commuter routes connecting

Snohomish County Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 72nd-most popul ...

Downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...

. 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

station. Both facilities were constructed with eventual use by

in mind; an extension into Snohomish County on either Interstate 5 or State Route 99 was approved by voters in the 2008

Sound Transit 2 Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It manages the Link light rail system in Seattle and Tacoma, re ...

funding package. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The new main bus loop opened on March 30, 2024. Light rail service at Mountlake Terrace station began on August 30, 2024.

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. The city government is also planning a "

town center A town centre is the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus st ...

" in the area east of the light rail station. A plaza and new pedestrian path through Veterans Memorial Park to the city hall and library is also planned.

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.

Services

References

External links

Lynnwood Link ExtensionMountlake Terrace Freeway Station
{{Sound Transit railway stations, Blue=y, Central=y, state=collapsed Link light rail stations in Snohomish County, Washington Railway stations in the United States opened in 2024 Bus stations in Washington (state) Sound Transit Express Transit centers in the United States 2009 establishments in Washington (state)