Link Transit plans new Leavenworth Park and Ride for 2018

Plans are moving forward for a new Link Transit Park and Ride in Leavenworth adjacent to Safeway. Link Transit held an open house at Leavenworth City Hall on Nov. 15. Link Finance and Planning Manager Nick Covey said this has been in the works for a few years. 

“We had to purchase the property and put the design down. Now, we’re going out to get public comment on our design work. We hope to go out to bid in January with construction starting as soon as the snow melts, having it completed by about October, 2018,” Covey said. 

It will be a 90-car park and ride, for the Link Transit route 22, which serves Leavenworth. A new transit-only access road is to be constructed just east of the new Hampton Inn. Covey said the 22 bus will go into town until 11 a.m. daily with a new shuttle serving the downtown corridor from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

“This will hopefully take care of some traffic issues on Highway 2 during the day and help our bus stay on schedule. Right now, during the holiday season, Thursday, Friday and weekends, they get behind just because of all the traffic,” Covey said. 

The plan at present is for the shuttle to be complimentary service, according to Lauren Loebsack, Link planning officer.  

“The shuttle is going to do the same thing the 22 does. It’s going to the Shell station at the end, turn around and come back. It should be able to do that three times an hour and meet our bus when it comes in every hour,” Covey said. 

The Link Transit Board likes the concept, he said. The Nov. 15 meeting was the first public hearing for the actual concept. 

“The city is very supportive of it. The WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transportation) is very supportive of it. Anything to get this corridor cleared off any way, shape or form, is helpful to everybody,” Covey said. “We’ve had a lot of good agency support. Everyone we’ve talked to in the area has supported it as well. It has been good. Hopefully it will work as well as we think it will.” 

The new access road will be transit only, at least at first. Covey said the city has been deeded the property and has the right-of-way to put a full 60-foot street there with sidewalks on both sides. 

“It will be road we can go both ways on eventually. Until the WSDOT signs off on right had turns of it, and the money comes along to finish the road, that may or may not happen when we build it out next spring. It may just be transit only for the first year or two. That is up to the city of Leavenworth,” Covey said. 

The Link Transit schedule will be changing slightly next July. Covey said the 22 route will be on a 45-minute schedule. Right now, there is commuter service every half-hour in the morning that spreads out to an hour in the afternoon, then comes back to half-hour. 

“The 45 minute route should satisfy pretty much everybody on it. We’re seeing some our trips with very few people on it. It’s a little bit less expensive. We can save ourselves a bus,” he said. 

The Leavenworth 22 route is one of the best routes in the whole system. It is very well supported in Leavenworth, he said. 

“We get a lot of commuters and reverse commuters, coming to Leavenworth to work, then getting home. Our last bus leaves here at 9 p.m. Hopefully we’ll be able to extend that beyond the 10 p.m. range soon. Don’t have any plans now, but we’d like to hit that extra shift so people can get back to Wenatchee,” he said. 

Plans are to open the new station in September or October next year. Darrell Smith with Perteet Engineering said the design on the new station is quite unique. 

“First of all, this will be the first Bavarian themed park and ride in the state. We’re really excited to be involved with that. It’s going to involve a 90-plus stall parking facility. It’s going to have two transit bay areas. One is for the 22 route that goes between Wenatchee and Leavenworth,” Smith said. “Then, there’s going to be a local circulator that will also come into it that will go through downtown. We’re improving access into that greater Safeway area. There will be a new roundabout and a new connection onto Highway 2.”

The roundabout will be connected to the new Zelt Strasse, which will serve the KOA, and the new access road, which at present, does not have a name. Currently, only a driver only bathroom is planned for the site. City officials are talking to Link about adding public restrooms. 

In terms of coming up with a Bavarian theme for the station, Smith said they worked with TCF Architecture. 

“They did a lot of different research to come up with the different accents. I think for a park and ride, they’ve done a really nice job getting the traditional type chairs incorporated. They will be metal, but they will look very Bavarian,” Smith said. “The operator comfort station is more a ski chalet type look. They are putting in some nice accents, some traditional lettering on the side of the buildings.”

The design has not gone before the Design Review Board, because there has been no final decision on the restrooms. 

“Right now, the way it is configured, there is a tiny break room. There are two bathrooms on the inside and a maintenance room in the back. There will be a glass type structure on the outside for good weather protection,” Smith said. 

For Smith, the design of the station is real revelation for a public project. 

“Years ago, I worked for the state of Washington. Sometimes government agencies are very structured. You’re not going to find something like that in a design book. I think Link is doing some really nice work here and pretty darn cost effective, as well,” Smith said. 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.