Federal Way Downtown station

Federal Way Downtown is a future light rail station at the site of the Federal Way Transit Center, a bus station in Federal Way, Washington. The bus station opened in 2006 and has 1,190 parking spaces available in its parking garage and surface lots. It is served by King County Metro, Pierce Transit and Sound Transit Express buses and is the southern terminus of the RapidRide A Line.[1][2] The transit center is located adjacent to The Commons at Federal Way shopping mall and Interstate 5, connected via a direct access ramp to its high-occupancy vehicle lanes.

Federal Way Downtown
Sound Transit Express bus leaving the transit center in 2006
General information
Location	31621 23rd Avenue South Federal Way, Washington United States
Coordinates	47°19′03″N 122°18′17″W
Train operators	Sound Transit (planned)
Bus stands	9
Bus operators	King County Metro Pierce Transit Sound Transit Express
Construction
Parking	Parking garage
Bicycle facilities	Bicycle lockers and racks
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	February 11, 2006 (February 11, 2006)
Rebuilt	2020–2026 (planned)
Previous names	Federal Way Transit Center
Services
Preceding station Sound Transit Following station Future service Star Lake toward Northgate 1 Line Federal Way Extension (2026) Terminus Proposed service Star Lake toward Ballard 1 Line Tacoma Dome Extension (2032) South Federal Way toward Tacoma Dome

A similar park-and-ride lot, on the south side of South 320th Street and east of the shopping mall, opened on November 5, 1979, using land donated by a local businessman.[3]

As part of the expansion of Link light rail by Sound Transit, the transit center is planned to be the southern terminus of the Federal Way Link Extension, which would extend light rail south from its current terminus at Angle Lake station to Federal Way. A voter-approved plan passed in 2008 proposed funding to design, but not construct, a light rail station and other bus and parking improvements at the transit center. In 2016, the Sound Transit 3 plan approved a 2024 completion date for light rail to Federal Way Transit Center, as well as a light rail extension from Federal Way to Tacoma to be opened by 2030.[4]

The preliminary design for the light rail station consists of an elevated platform along 23rd Avenue South that is located two blocks south of the current transit center. A second garage with 400 parking stalls would be built, along with transit-oriented development on the site of a former shopping center.[5] Demolition of several vacated retail buildings at the site began in April 2020.[6] A series of 35 murals by local artists were installed on the construction site's fences, but were damaged in an act of vandalism in August 2020.[7] Sound Transit officials called the incident racially-motivated, as the murals were primarily celebrating the area's Pacific Islander, Black, and Asian communities.[8]

Light rail service is expected to begin in 2026.[9]