Sound Transit approves money for Renton parking garage

Published 3:44 pm Monday, June 1, 2026

Sound Transit will now be building a $100 million parking garage at the future Renton Transit Center.

At the May 28 Sound Transit Board meeting, the board approved an amendment to Resolution R2026-11 to move the Renton Transit Center Parking Garage into the fully funded section of the resolution by moving $100 million from the $8.4 billion funding the South Kirkland-Issaquah Link Extension Project.

Resolution R2026-11 is the legislative action updating the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) system plan to address the predicted $35 billion shortfall in funding due to rising costs since the plan’s adoption in 2016. Sound Transit is legally required to bring the voter-approved financial policy back into balance when the projected expenditures exceed revenues by more than 5%.

The resolution classified projects that are affordable within available resources, projects with unfunded construction phases or deferred projects. The Renton Transit Center Parking Garage was classified in the original resolution as a deferred project, along with many other parking projects such as Tacoma Dome Link Parking, Everett Link Parking and Stride Parking, to save a total of $2.5 billion.

Board member and Renton City Councilmember Ed Prince said the amendment will deliver important investments to the city of Renton.

“This amendment is important because it supports riders throughout Renton and South King County who depend on transit and rely on parking facilities to connect into the regional system. This amendment also reflects importance in partnerships and creative solutions,” Prince said. “This investment in Renton will support regional mobility, access to jobs, and education, working families and mainly commuters, and riders who rely on transit to connect to schools, healthcare, and essential services.”

Board member and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay supported the amendment and made an amendment for the funds to reduce the parking investments only in the South Kirkland to Issaquah link project.

“Board Member [Ryan Mello] said it best when he said different communities access transit in different ways, and the Renton community has made it clear to us through their mayor, through their council members, through several community members, that the Renton parking garage is critical infrastructure for accessing public transit,” Zahilay said.

Board member and King County Councilmember Steffanie Fain advocated for the connectivity the parking garage would offer her district.

“I think a lot of you know that in South King County, there isn’t a convenient walk, or bike, or alternative transportation, and without parking garages like this,” Fain said. “It’s a critical access infrastructure because it just means, without it, people are just going to drive. This makes transit accessible and realistic for working families and seniors and caregivers and residents in communities who do not have transit connections.”

Not all the board members supported the amendment. Vice Chair and King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci said she could not support the source of the funding being a light rail extension.

“We are a transit agency, not a parking agency. We should not take money out of our primary mission to do an important, necessary, but ancillary service, and I think we can do both,” Balducci said. “I’m proposing that we do both, but I can’t support this funding source, no matter how popular it is.”

Board member and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson echoed Balducci’s concerns.

“We are Sound Transit, not Sound Parking,” Wilson said. “Parking is very, very expensive to build and given the magnitude of the shortfall that this agency is facing, I will not be able to support building a parking garage.”

The amendment passed the Sound Transit Board vote 15-3. Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone was a strong advocate to include funding for the parking garage.

“This outcome was made possible through our strong, long-term advocacy efforts, and our commitment to finding a path forward, even in difficult scenarios,” Pavone said. “This is a big win for Renton – it will support downtown business, ease parking challenges for residents and visitors, and strengthen Renton’s position as a regional transit hub.”