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.
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
The station straddles 236th Street Southwest on the east side of Interstate 5 in Mountlake Terrace, a city in the Snohomish County on its border with King County. Mountlake Terrace station has a parking garage and bus loop on the north side of 236th Street Southwest. It is southwest of downtown Mountlake Terrace and adjacent to Veterans Memorial Park, which separates the station from the civic center campus. The Mountlake Terrace city government began to encourage transit-oriented development around the future station and in their city center as early as 2007 to prepare for population growth. By 2024, three apartment buildings with more than 600 total residential units had been constructed on Van Ry Boulevard near the station's south entrance. A large lot to the east of the station and bus loop, used for construction staging and temporary parking, is planned to have a pair of eight-story buildings with 425 total apartment units.History
opened a 400-stall park and ride lot at Interstate 5 and 236th Street Southwest on April 12, 1983. It was initially served by two local Community Transit routes and King County Metro commuter buses to Downtown Seattle. The Mountlake Terrace lot, the fourth park-and-ride of its kind in Snohomish County, was constructed with funding from the Federal Highway Administration and the Washington State Department of Transportation. Metro service ceased in June 1989 and was replaced by Community Transit's own commuter routes. The new lot regularly reached capacity by 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 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. Construction of the freeway flyer stop, located in the median 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 and Community Transit commuter routes connecting Snohomish County to Downtown Seattle. 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. Both facilities were constructed with eventual use by Link light rail 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 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 freeway station reopened on November 29.
Community Transit transferred ownership of the transit center's parking garage to the Washington State Department of Transportation in September 2020. It is planned to be transferred to Sound Transit in 2026 as part of a full acquisition of the station site. 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" 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 to open in 2026.Station layout
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 891 total parking stalls in the garage and an adjacent surface lot.As part of Sound Transit's public art program, Kipp Kobayashi was commissioned to create a mural on the metal panels under the platform. The mural, named Re-Forestation, depicts the roots of a large tree.
Services
The station is served by the 1 Line, which connects Snohomish County to the University of Washington campus, Downtown Seattle, the Rainier Valley, Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, and Federal Way. It is the first southbound station from Lynnwood City Center and twenty-fourth from Federal Way Downtown, the southern terminus; Shoreline North/185th station in the next stop to the south. Trains on the 1Line serve Mountlake Terrace station 20 hours a day on weekdays and Saturdays, from 5:00a.m. to 12:00a.m.; and 18 hours on Sundays, from 6:00a.m. to 12:00a.m. During regular weekday service, trains operate roughly every eight to ten minutes during rush hour and midday operation, respectively, with longer headways of twelve to fifteen minutes in the early morning and at night. During weekends, 1Line trains arrive at Mountlake Terrace station every ten minutes during midday hours and every twelve to fifteen minutes during mornings and evenings. The station is approximately 27 minutes from Westlake station in Downtown Seattle and 65 minutes from SeaTac/Airport station.Mountlake Terrace station is a major hub for bus routes in the city and surrounding areas with service from Community Transit and King County Metro. It has four bus bays and access to the freeway station's two bays, which are served by Sound Transit Express routes from Downtown Seattle during rush hour. Community Transit's local routes connect the station to downtown Mountlake Terrace, Aurora Village, Edmonds, Brier, Lynnwood, and Alderwood Mall. An express route connects Mountlake Terrace station directly to Edmonds station and the city's ferry terminal, served by a Washington State Ferries route. King County Metro operates two routes from the station to Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, and Kenmore. The agency also expanded its microtransit service, Metro Flex, to a zone that includes Mountlake Terrace station in September 2024.