When will Puyallup’s Sound Transit garage be open for public use? Here’s what we know

More time is needed to complete Puyallup’s new Sound Transit garage due to delays and supply-chain issues, which will cost the agency more money.

Sound Transit pushed its completion date further in the year as more time is needed to complete the project. The board voted in April to allocate an additional $3.25 million to the total cost to complete the construction phase, according to the agency’s resolution document.

The project, which would bring a five-level parking garage and additional surface parking spaces to the Puyallup Sounder station, originally had a $79 million price tag. That increased to $82.35 million. The new funds will come from the agency’s capital project budget.

Delays with permitting and receiving materials mean Sound Transit must extend its contracts with consultants and contractors, which contributes to the additional costs, said agency spokesman Scott Thompson.

Sound Transit told The News Tribune in September 2021 it expected to finish construction by the first half of this year. Now it is planning to finish sometime between October and December.

Thompson said the parking garage is “pretty well complete” and is now in the operations department’s hands. The department is tasked with ensuring elevators and other garage features are functioning properly.

Off-site improvements such as new traffic lights as well as improved sidewalks are some of the things holding the project up, Thompson said. Permitting processes took longer than expected, and Sound Transit also ran into some supply-chain issues.

Thompson said there are certain types of equipment that have been back-ordered. One example is a traffic signal cabinet. The cabinets protect traffic signal equipment from the rain, among other things.

“We haven’t been able to get all the components and infrastructure for those off-site improvements to really tie everything together,” Thompson said.