Northgate Transit Center


Northgate Transit Center

Looking northeast at the transit center
Location 10200 1st Avenue Northeast
Seattle, Washington
United States
Coordinates 47°42′11″N 122°19′41″W / 47.70306°N 122.32806°W / 47.70306; -122.32806Coordinates: 47°42′11″N 122°19′41″W / 47.70306°N 122.32806°W / 47.70306; -122.32806
Train operators Sound Transit (planned)
Bus routes 14
Bus stands 6
Bus operators King County Metro
Sound Transit Express
Construction
Parking 284 parking spaces
Bicycle facilities Bicycle lockers and racks
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened June 6, 1992 (1992-06-06)
Services
  Future services  
Preceding station  
Link
   Following station
Northgate Link Extension
Under Construction
Terminus
TerminusLynnwood Link Extension
Planned

Northgate Transit Center is a bus station and future light rail station in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The transit center, located adjacent to the Northgate Mall, has six bus bays and parking for 284 vehicles.

Upon the completion of the Northgate Link Extension project in 2021, it will become the northern terminus of the Link Light Rail system. It is also proposed as a major bus rapid transit terminal and an area with potential for transit-oriented development.

Location and layout

The station in 2015

Northgate Transit Center is located east of 1st Aveune NE between NE 103rd and NE 100th streets on the south side of Northgate Mall. It consists of 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) and includes a 284-stall park and ride that is supplemented by 728 additional spaces in surrounding lots.[1] The transit center itself consists of six bus bays that serve a reverse-direction street for buses that is wide enough for layover space and passing lanes.[2] The passenger waiting area is covered by large white canvases held aloft by steel towers.[3] Various pieces of public artwork at the transit center were designed by Chris Bruch and cost $50,000 to install.[4]

The transit center is also located directly east of Interstate 5 and is near an access ramp to the freeway's reversible express lanes.[5]

The transit center features several amenities, including public bathrooms, pay phones, an ORCA card vending machine, bicycle parking, and a baby changing station.[3]

History

The Northgate Transit Center opened on June 6, 1992, at a cost of $15.8 million to construct.[3] It was planned in 1978,[6] as part of King County Metro's "MetroTRANSITion" program, becoming the last of 11 transit centers built under the plan.[7][8] The Northgate area was historically served by the Blue Streak express bus to downtown Seattle from 1970 onward,[9] using a park and ride on the north side of the mall (closed in 2008 and converted into Hubbard Homestead Park).[10] Construction began in 1990 with the demolition of a Group Health clinic and relocation of a segment of Thornton Creek.[11]

The park and ride at the transit center initially consisted of the west lot, with 284 spaces, and was expanded twice in the 2000s. In 2001, the parking lot was expanded to 950 spaces after the $7.6 million purchase of 3.9 acres (1.6 ha) from Simon Property Group.[12] The completion of Thornton Creek in April 2009 brought 350 additional parking spaces to be added to the transit center,[13] mostly used to replace a 500-stall park and ride north of the mall.[10]

Future

Light rail

Aerial view of the bus bays, looking southwest towards the future light rail guideway

The Northgate Transit Center will become the terminus of the Link Light Rail system in 2021, with the completion of the $1.9 billion Northgate Link Extension project. The 4.3-mile-long (6.9 km) light rail line will extend light rail north from University of Washington station to Northgate via a tunnel and two stations at U District and Roosevelt.[14]

The Northgate area had been considered in several rapid transit studies in the late 20th century as a suitable terminus or major station.[15] The Northgate Link project was proposed as part of the "Sound Move" ballot measure in 1996, pending additional funding,[16] but was deferred until the voter approval of the Sound Transit 2 package in 2008.[14][17]

Construction of the light rail extension began in 2012 and will be completed in 2021.[14] Construction on the station began in 2016 and will be completed in 2020; a $174 million contract was awarded to Absher Construction in August 2016 to build the station and approaching elevated guideway.[18] On January 13, 2017, Sound Transit broke ground on the station, beginning construction with the demolition of two parking lots.[19]

The Northgate light rail station will be elevated 25 to 45 feet (7.6 to 13.7 m) above ground level, on the east side of 1st Avenue Northeast, spanning Northeast 103rd Street. It will have two entrances, one adjacent to the Northgate Mall at the corner of 1st Avenue NE and NE 103rd Street and another adjacent to the transit center.[14] Beyond the station, a 400-foot (120 m) pocket track will be built to the north for train storage and reversal, as well as accommodating a future light rail extension to Lynnwood Transit Center, planned to be completed in 2023.[20] Two pieces of public art, a glass painting on the platform level and a sculpture outside the south entrance, are planned to be included in the station's construction.[21]

As part of the project, parking capacity at the transit center would be reduced by spaces eliminated for the station and a new bus station to the west of the current one. A partially below-grade parking garage will be built on the southwest corner of the Northgate Mall parking lot with 450 spaces.[22][23]

Sound Transit estimates that the station will have 15,000 daily boardings by 2030.[20]

Bus rapid transit

Northgate Transit Center is being planned as the terminus of two bus rapid transit lines under development by the Seattle Department of Transportation as part of the RapidRide+ program. The program was funded by the November 2015 "Move Seattle" levy and consists of seven corridors throughout the city of Seattle.[24][25]

The Roosevelt to Downtown line, anticipated to open in 2021, will travel south along Roosevelt Way and Eastlake Avenue from Northgate through the Roosevelt, University District, Eastlake and South Lake Union neighborhoods.[26] The Northgate/Fremont line, anticipated to open in 2022, will replace Metro bus route 40 and travel through the Ballard and Fremont neighborhoods toward Downtown Seattle.[27]

Pedestrian bridge

A pedestrian bridge over Interstate 5 is planned to be built to improve walking access to North Seattle College and the Licton Springs neighborhood from the future light rail station.[28]

The $20 million bridge was proposed in 2012,[29] and designs were narrowed to two options: a tied-arch and a tube/truss;[30] the latter won out.

Funding for the bridge remained incomplete during the planning process. In 2012, Sound Transit and the Seattle Department of Transportation each allocated $5 million to cover part of the $25 million cost, if the remainder could be funded by July 2015.[29][31] A federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant application in October 2015 for $15 million was not approved,[32] but two Seattle council members asked to have the July deadline removed.[33] The Washington State Legislature approved $10 million in funding as part of the 2015 Transportation Improvements Budget.[34] Full funding for the project was finally approved with the November 2015 passage of the "Move Seattle" property tax levy.[28][35]

Transit-oriented development

Thornton Place, a transit-oriented development opened at Northgate Transit Center in 2009.

As part of the anticipated extension of light rail to Northgate Transit Center, the area around Northgate Mall was identified by the city as an "urban village" in 1993,[36] with heavy potential for transit-oriented development. In 2013, the Puget Sound Regional Council estimated that the 1⁄2-mile (0.80 km) buffer around the transit center had a population of 5,453 residents and 9,273 jobs.[37] In 2007, the city rezoned the Northgate area to support an increased height limit of 125 feet (38 m).[36]

In 2009, one of the mall's surface parking lots was converted into a mixed-use, transit-oriented development called "Thornton Place", with 109 condominiums, 278 apartments (including affordable units), a movie theater, and 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of retail space.[38] The complex, which also includes a community park and a daylit section of Thornton Creek,[39] was heralded as one of Seattle's first true transit-oriented developments.[40]

The city of Seattle published an "urban design framework" for the Northgate area in 2013, outlining a vision for the redevelopment of the neighborhood into an urban center, based on the 1993 urban village designation. The report focused on maximizing transit-oriented development around the transit center and light rail station by building mixed-use infill development in the surface parking lots south of the mall with open spaces and plazas.[41] The draft "Seattle 2035" comprehensive plan, written in 2015, anticipates at least 1,600 residential units and 6,000 jobs to be added to the Northgate area by 2035.[42]

Services

As of March 2016, Northgate Transit Center is served by 12 bus routes from King County Metro. It is the primary hub for bus routes in northern Seattle,[43] served by routes from the city of Shoreline, University District, Lake City, Fremont, and Downtown Seattle. Intercity express bus service to Bellevue and Issaquah is provided by two Sound Transit Express routes.[2][44][45]

From 2000 to 2003, Sound Transit also operated express buses to Northgate from Everett in Snohomish County on routes 505 and 506.[46]

Bus routes

Route Bay(s)[2] Termini[44] Via[44] Notes
26X 2, 6 Downtown Seattle Green Lake
40 2, 6 Downtown Seattle Ballard, Fremont
41 2, 5 Downtown Seattle (Transit Tunnel),
Lake City
63 2, 5 First Hill Peak-only commuter route
67 1, 5 Seattle Children's Hospital Roosevelt, University District
75 1, 5 University District Lake City, Sand Point
303 2, 5 Shoreline,
First Hill		 Peak-only commuter route
345 3, 4 Shoreline Community College Shoreline, Haller Lake
346 3, 4 Aurora Village Transit Center Shoreline
347 3, 4 Mountlake Terrace Transit Center Ridgecrest
348 3, 4 Richmond Beach Shoreline, Ridgecrest
555 4 Issaquah Highlands Bellevue Transit Center, Eastgate Peak-only commuter route
556 4 Issaquah Highlands University of Washington station, Bellevue TC, Eastgate Peak-only commuter route
995 Lakeside School,
Laurelhurst		 Peak-only school route

References

  1. ↑ "Park & Ride Information". King County Metro. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Northgate Transit Center Boarding Locations". King County Metro. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Lane, Bob (May 27, 1992). "Not quite your average bus stop — design and usefulness meet at Metro's new Northgate Transfer Center". The Seattle Times. p. B3. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Northgate Transit Center (sculpture)". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  5. ↑ Brown, Charles E. (March 27, 2006). "Bumper to Bumper: Red-light cameras, Saving time, Highway 9". The Seattle Times. p. B1. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  6. ↑ Fleming, Leonard (June 5, 1992). "Major changes coming in Metro services, routes". The Seattle Times. p. A1.
  7. ↑ Crowley, Walt (July 9, 1993). "Part IV: End of the Line, Tunnel Visions and a Shotgun Merger". Routes: An Interpretive History of Public Transportation in Metropolitan Seattle. p. 127. OCLC 31996584.
  8. ↑ Gough, William (December 8, 1982). "Northgate area will get Metro transit center". The Seattle Times. p. F1.
  9. ↑ "Milestones—The 1970s". King County Metro. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  10. 1 2 Murakami, Kery (December 7, 2008). "Getting There: New park won't cost park and ride spaces". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Transit center work to begin this month". The Seattle Times. April 5, 1990. p. B3.
  12. ↑ Kossen, Bill (December 22, 2001). "Park-ride lot takes chunk out of plan for Northgate". The Seattle Times. p. B2.
  13. ↑ Pryne, Eric (March 25, 2009). "Lose your job? No worries, they'll pay your mortgage". The Seattle Times. p. A1. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  14. ↑ Nolan, Mary (September 28, 1990). "Metro wants rapid-transit system to Northgate". The Seattle Times. p. B3.
  15. ↑ "Sound Move: The Ten-Year Regional Transit System Plan" (PDF). Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority. May 31, 1996. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  16. ↑ Schaefer, David (February 23, 1999). "Light rail to Northgate? Maybe not for 12 years". The Seattle Times. p. A1. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Sound Transit selects Absher Construction to build elevated station, guideway for Northgate Link Extension" (Press release). Sound Transit. August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Sound Transit breaks ground on Northgate light rail station" (Press release). Sound Transit. January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  19. 1 2 "Northgate Station" (PDF). Sound Transit. July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 2, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Northgate Station". Sound Transit. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Northgate Station". Seattle Design Commission. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  22. ↑ Lindblom, Mike (July 27, 2013). "Sound Transit to test charging for parking at 4 lots". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  23. ↑ Lindblom, Mike (October 18, 2015). "Move Seattle levy: Better bus service or a bunch of ‘guesstimates’?". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  24. ↑ Lindblom, Mike (November 3, 2015). "Voters saying yes to Seattle’s big ask for transportation". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Roosevelt to Downtown High Capacity Transit (HCT)". Seattle Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Seattle RapidRide Expansion Program". Seattle Department of Transportation. July 2016.
  27. 1 2 "Northgate Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge". Seattle Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  28. 1 2 Gutierrez, Scott (June 28, 2012). "Sound Transit approves $5 million for Northgate pedestrian bridge". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Northgate Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge: Design Meeting 2" (PDF). Seattle Department of Transportation. October 21, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Northgate Pedestrian Bridge" (PDF). Seattle Department of Transportation. April 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  31. ↑ Lindblom, Mike (October 27, 2015). "Feds deny funding for Northgate pedestrian bridge, Pronto bike expansion". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  32. ↑ Feit, Josh (December 22, 2014). "Seattle Sound Transit Board Members O'Brien and Phillips Try to Save Northgate Ped/Bike Bridge". Seattle Met. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Northgate Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge Project Fact Sheet" (PDF). Seattle Department of Transportation. October 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  34. ↑ Lindblom, Mike (May 6, 2015). "City wants even larger transportation levy: $930 million". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  35. 1 2 Pryne, Eric (December 26, 2008). "Seattle's vision of Northgate as urban center takes shape". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  36. ↑ Growing Transit Communities Oversight Committee (October 2013). "Northgate: Future Light Rail/Bus" (PDF). The Growing Transit Communities Strategy. Puget Sound Regional Council. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  37. ↑ "A year later, Northgate condos still all unsold". The Seattle Times. April 3, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  38. ↑ Zemtseff, Katie (March 26, 2009). "European village pops up in Northgate's parking lot". Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  39. ↑ Benfield, Kaid (June 7, 2011). "A Seattle development that is greener than green". Grist. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  40. ↑ Northgate Urban Design Framework (PDF) (Report). City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development. December 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  41. ↑ "Seattle's Growth Strategy". Seattle 2035: Draft Comprehensive Plan for Managing Growth, 2015-2035 (PDF) (Report). City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development. July 8, 2015. p. 29. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  42. ↑ "TIGER FY 2015 Grant Application: Northgate Non-Motorized Access to Transit and Education" (PDF). City of Seattle. 2015. p. 18. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  43. 1 2 3 Regional Transit Map Book (PDF) (Map). Sound Transit. February 2014. pp. 8–11. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  44. ↑ Metro Transit System: Northwest Area (PDF) (Map). King County Metro. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  45. ↑ Hadley, Jane (May 8, 2003). "Sound Transit bus routes get a tweaking". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
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