Today (Sept. 19, 2023), Sound Transit launched a public engagement period for the Lakewood Station Access Improvements project. The public is being asked to help prioritize potential improvements for people walking, biking and rolling to the station, which provides Sounder train and express bus service.
The online open house will provide information on the types of improvements planned and reflects further study and refinement since public comment late last year. Some of the highlights are:
- More direct connections to Lakewood Station from 115th and Bridgeport Way
- Improved crossing over the 47th Avenue SW bridge
- Other improvements for walking, cycling and rolling
Residents in Springbrook are within walking distance of Lakewood Station, but access requires walking on streets with missing or inadequate sidewalks, including the busy 47th Ave. SW overpass of I-5.
Jesse Black, leader of the Springbrook Connections community group, says, “Improving this bridge is a top priority. I’ve seen parents trying to push strollers on the too-narrow sidewalk … I see this all the time.”
Residents just west of the station on 115th St. Ct. SW are close to the station but have no direct route and must walk a mile out of their way to get there.
The Sound Transit proposals, coordinated closely with the City of Lakewood, would remedy these issues by filling in sidewalk gaps (including widening the sidewalk on 47th Ave. SW bridge), adding a shared-use path west of the station and more.
Interested members of the public should weigh in at https://lakewoodstation.participate.online (website also available in Spanish and Tagalog).
In-person information is available at the following times and places:
- Saturday, Sept. 23, 3-5 p.m.: Visit our table at the Springbrook Connections Community Meal, Springbrook Park, 12601 Addison St SW, Lakewood, Wash.
- Wednesday, Oct. 4, 4:30-7 p.m.: Visit our table at Lakewood Station, 11424 Pacific Hwy SW, Lakewood, Wash.
The Lakewood Station Access Improvements project was approved by voters in 2008. In 2021, Sound Transit identified and evaluated more than 60 options for improving access to the station and around the neighborhood.
These were further refined through early design and conceptual engineering in 2022 and 2023. Construction is anticipated as early as 2025, and all improvements will be complete by 2030.
Sound Transit’s Sounder S Line train service gives Pierce County residents a dependable, traffic-free commute to and from Seattle. The trip, with Wi-Fi, from Lakewood Station to Seattle’s King Street Station takes about 75 minutes.
The Springbrook neighborhood seems to be an underserved part of Lakewood which has a significant number of apartment complexes which results in concentrated numbers of residents. There are only two main routes from Springbrook to Pacific Hwy SW and then to the Lakewood Station. Improving the 47th Ave SW street with sidewalks (especially on the bridge over I-5) and other accessibility upgrades would make it much safer and easier for pedestrians to travel to the Lakewood Station.