Sound Transit Forces Parking Changes

"For the next six years there will be a hole in the ground," Chip Lydum, Associate Athletic Director for Operations and Capital Projects said Monday, as he and Jennifer Cohen, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Advancement, discussed Sound Transit's University of Washington Station, and how that build will impact Husky athletics, and specifically parking, for the foreseeable future.

The project actually started earlier in the summer when utilities for the concessions at Husky Stadium were moved behind the north end stands. This was done after the final verification of funding for sound transit was approved in November of 2008.

There will be roughly a six acre site covering the southwest portion of the Husky Stadium parking grounds that will be taken out to provide for the Sound Transit project. The dig for the large footprint will take place starting in December after the California game, and go through 2013. Then the smaller footprints will be dug from 2013-2015 and Sound Transit is expected to be active starting in 2016.

Sound Transit will have a line running from Capital Hill through the Montlake station and eventually to Northgate.

There are two links packed with information about the station and its impact on Washington athletics. The first one is a general Sound Transit link about the University of Washington Station. It can be found here. The second one is a very specific one laid out by the Washington Athletic Department detailing the construction of Sound Transit and the impact it will have on UW football and basketball fans, with particular regard to Tyee parking and their relocation. It can be found here. On the gohuskies site, donors will be able to get an accurate idea of who will be eligible for the remaining 800 spots in what will remain of the E-12 lot, as well as the E-15 lot, which typically hosts the majority of donor motorhomes.

The E-11 and E-17 lots directly to the west of Husky Stadium will be eliminated, as well as a sizable portion of the E-12 lot to the south. In total, UW expects to lose about 600 parking spots initially, but will recover all but 100 of those spots by the time the project is completed in 2016.

One point Lydum and Cohen did want to stress is that the current basketball parking arrangements would not be altered during the season.

Starting in 2010, the massive E1 parking lot to the north of Husky Stadium will become an all-donor lot. And starting in January, donors will start receiving parking packets in the mail, detailing more about the move and what it means for them going forward.

To educate fans and donors on how the project will impact their Husky football and basketball experiences, the department canvassed the current lots during the Apple Cup, distributing information. They will doing this for the California game as well. "There was so little knowledge about what is going to happen," Lydum said. "There was so much misinformation out there, or people just didn't know."

Helpful Links:
Sound Transit's Official Webpage on the University of Washington Station

Gohuskies.com's Husky Stadium Parking Website