“Environmental sustainability,” “beneficial economic impact,” and “interagency cooperation” were among the phrases used earlier this year at a transit groundbreaking ceremony located at an old landfill near Olympia, WA.

What do transit and landfills have in common? More than one might think.

Intercity Transit is completing a park-and-ride facility atop an eight-acre portion of a former landfill in Thurston County, WA. The project gives a second life to unproductive public land and provides a much needed park-and-ride facility adjacent to Interstate 5, one of the most congested travel corridors in the state.

Pursuing the agency’s vision to be an innovative leader in providing mobility, sustainability, and community prosperity, Intercity Transit’s leadership embraced the idea in 2008 and commissioned a feasibility study. The agency used the study’s findings to successfully secure significant state regional mobility funds for the project; preliminary work began in 2009.

"The landfill is perfectly located for a park-and-ride facility and, by using it in this way, valuable land is preserved for residential and commercial development,” said Intercity Transit General Manager Mike Harbour.

But taking on redevelopment of a closed landfill comes at a price: greater project cost and complexity and the need for specialized design, engineering, and construction.

Phase 1 of the project required modification of the site’s gas collection system with 148,000 tons of fill dirt to compress the subsurface refuse. Maximum compaction levels were reached over the next year. The next phase involved installation of a new landfill liner and structural support layers, plus permanent modifications to the gas collection system.

The project is currently beginning its final stage with grading, paving, lighting, and landscaping.

KPFF Consulting Engineers is coordinating site development, planning, and construction management. Tucci and Sons did the Phase 1 “preload” and Scarsella Brothers is completing the current construction phase. All firms involved in this project are local, adding additional economic benefit to the community.

Opening This Fall
When it opens this fall, the Hawks Prairie Park-and-Ride will have 334 parking stalls, a public transit island, five electric vehicle charging stations, and round-the-clock security video surveillance. It will support transit, carpool, and vanpool activity as the largest park-and-ride lot in Thurston County.

Interagency cooperation has been key to moving this innovative project from vision to reality. It involves two local jurisdictions—Thurston County and the city of Lacey—with additional oversight by two state agencies, the Washington State Departments of Transportation and Ecology. The neighboring Meridian Campus Commercial Owners Association also supports the project.

The $8.2 million project was largely funded with a $6.66 million Washington State DOT Regional Mobility Grant. Intercity Transit is investing $600,000 plus the value of the property as the local match. Project partner Thurston County leases the land to Intercity Transit for just $1 per year.

In an opinion proffered by The Olympian, the region’s daily newspaper, the project is “taking a nonproductive piece of county property and turning it into a great community asset.”

Adding public value and interest to the project is a new dog park—informally called the “Park and Bark”—adjacent to the park-and-ride facility. Citizens appear to be embracing this new development: a unique, multi-use open space in a region with growing residential, commercial, and commuter populations.

Intercity Transit prepared a former landfill for conversion into a park-and-ride lot by trucking in 148,000 tons of fill to compress the below-ground refuse at the site before beginning construction. The process took more than six weeks.