Published March 2002

Station opens door
to era of opportunity

The beginning of a new era ...

That’s trite, of course, but it’s an apt description of the importance of the new Everett Station in Snohomish County’s largest city, now home to nearly 100,000 residents.

The $44 million station — including the new adjacent Pacific Avenue overpass — is likely to become a historical reference point, marking the first significant change in the county’s transportation network in decades.

Concentrating bus, rail, taxis and shuttle services in a modern new facility with an adjacent park-and-ride lot will enable public transportation systems to mesh better. It will establish the city as a prominent link in Puget Sound’s new transit web.

And, it will focus attention on Everett as one of the region’s cities that is doing something about transportation needs and congestion. The entire project is a prime example of what can be accomplished through the joint efforts of public and private enterprises.

With the presence of university-level education programs and career development centers at Everett Station, plus its multi-use community facilities, it seems destined to spark new development and redevelopment for the business and residential neighborhoods around the site.

The importance of Everett Station can be seen in the roster of dignitaries and agencies present for the grand opening on Feb. 4, an event that packed the station’s main floor and overflowed into balcony viewing areas on three floors with more than 500 people.

Speakers at the event included Gov. Gary Locke; U.S. Rep. Rick Larson; Federal Transportation Administration Regional Administrator Helen Knoll; Sound Transit Board Chair Ron Sims; Gil Mallery, Senior Vice President of Amtrak West; Transportation Improvement Board Chair Rob McKenna; Dr. Karen Morse, President of Western Washington University; Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel; Washington State Employment Security Commissioner Sylvia Mundy; Everett Mayor Ed Hansen; and Larry Hanson, Publisher Emeritus of The Herald and The Herald Business Journal and former member of the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board.

The event was, by any measure, a “big deal.” And it will continue to be.

Already, Everett Transit, Sound Transit and Community Transit are operating from the Everett Station, along with Greyhound buses. In March, University Center begins offering classes at the station. In May, WorkSource Everett will open career development offices, with a resource center and high-tech computer network. That same month, the Station Café opens.

In July, Amtrak trains will begin using Everett Station and by the fall of 2003, Sound Transit will be completing additional parking spaces and providing commuter rail service to Seattle and Tacoma.

There is also 2,100 square feet of office space for lease on the third floor of the 64,000-square-foot station.

Making the multi-modal project a multi-agency, multi-purpose project gave the city and the region a far more valuable asset than a simple transit center could provide. The city, county and state agencies, transit companies and education institutions that worked together to make Everett Station possible should be commended publicly, privately and frequently for their efforts and foresight.

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