WSP USA was the prime consultant for project development of Sound Transit’s I-405 Stride Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility project in the Seattle metropolitan area. The project will construct a 37-mile freeway-running BRT system between the Lynnwood and Burien Transit Centers, a new bus maintenance facility, and establishes a new transit mode for Sound Transit.
WSP led a large multi-discipline team providing planning and engineering services for the project in three distinct phases: Phase 1 planning, Phase 2 conceptual engineering, and Phase 3 preliminary engineering. WSP provided project management, transit planning and integration, bus maintenance facility planning, traffic analysis, environmental permitting, preliminary engineering, cost estimating, sustainability, safety and security, and other services for the project.
Sound Transit's Stride BRT provides fast, frequent, reliable bus service connecting several regional transit modes to each other and to communities north, east and south of Lake Washington in the Seattle metropolitan area. The Stride BRT will connect to Link light rail stations operating in the corridor and to county-level bus rapid transit systems such as King County Metro’s RapidRide and Community Transit’s SWIFT BRT, thereby providing improved bus service to many communities in the region. Stride BRT represents a new transit mode for Sound Transit, complementing their existing light rail, commuter rail and express bus service.
Stride BRT is designed for fast arrivals and departures and includes new stations incorporating off-board fare payment, multiple-door entry and exit and many other state-of-the-art features. New freeway running bus lanes and transit priority improvements throughout the I-405 corridor help riders avoid traffic congestion and travel faster. The project team established a close partnership between Sound Transit, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), eight local jurisdictions, and two local transit agencies in the planning and design of the large and sophisticated BRT system. This partnership helped keep the project on schedule and on budget through all phases of project development.
The WSP team helped Sound Transit engage with and coordinate the work of local jurisdictions conducting station area planning efforts in their communities. The goal of this effort was to create, preserve and enhance opportunities for transit-oriented development, optimize BRT transit integration and enhance non-motorized access to BRT stations.
WSP started project planning in March 2018 and was substantially complete with preliminary engineering in April 2022 after final submittal of 30 percent plans, cost estimates, and construction schedules. Preliminary engineering work will extend into the summer of 2022 to support Sound Transit with ongoing environmental permitting and coordination of design documentation for work in WSDOT’s right-of-way.
WSP was able to keep project cost estimates within budget as defined in the voter approved ST3 plan. With completion of project development, WSP has laid the critical foundation for final design and construction of the I-405 BRT and Bus Operations and Maintenance Facility.
