Possible enhancements to Sound Transit’s system under the voter-passed ST2 package include increased parking, pedestrian sidewalks and bridges, bicycle commute options and transit facility enhancements.

But what most Auburn residents wanted to know from planners during Sound Transit’s recent open house at Auburn City Hall was this – will the long-talked-about second transit parking garage for Auburn be among those improvements?

“Too early to tell,” said Val Batey, a senior transportation planner for Sound Transit.

Transit planners offered information on the Sounder Station Access Study, which the agency is conducting to identify potential improvements in the ways commuters access its busy south-line commuter rail stations. There was no formal presentation, but attendees got an overview of existing station access issues, a look at maps and diagrams, a chance to talk about potential solutions and to ask questions.

With the loss of tax revenues attendant on the recession, Sound Transit has had to prioritize the package of improvements in ST2, which voters approved in 2008. The package contemplated many projects, including the second parking garage, The program is divided into five areas, and the South King County area is one of them. A guiding principle is that money raised in one of these areas must be spent in that area.

Now with anticipated taxes substantially reduced by the recession, Sound Transit’s board of directors has to to decide which projects it will complete and which it will have to postpone for sunnier times.

Major competition for Auburn station includes the extension of a link over and by SeaTac Airport and improvements to Kent Station.

“The question is which one of those should be at the top of the list,” said Paul Berry, a planning consultant for Harris and Associates in Auburn. “Clearly my opinion is Auburn, given the fact that South King County is already tapping out this particular station for available parking and resources, Sound Transit is talking about adding trains, and since they are talking about a major effort to add more circulatory buses to get more people to the station to use it. Basically, you are creating a situation where the people here are not going to take advantage of those trains, and we’re going to continue to have more and more of an impact, particularly with the redevelopment of the downtown. So the people that Sound Transit is supposed to be supporting, it isn’t. Building the second garage here is going to be far more impactive than making improvements to Kent Station.”

Batey stressed that Sound Transit is still in the information-gathering phase of the study.

“We started last fall doing a number of things to gather information,” Batey said. “So we’ve done rider surveys on trains, we’ve talked to local jurisdictions, to technical staff and to elected officials. We’ve been doing observations at the stations, trying to a get a sense of how people are getting to station today and what barriers they are finding in getting to the stations. Is there not enough parking? We know that’s the case in Auburn. Is there a bike path or a missing section of a bike lane that could get you to a station more safely? Are there pedestrian crosswalks that could get people to them more safely?”

Planners will compile the answers for the report. The next phase will be to propose improvements that would address those issues and then to evaluate them to determine what is most cost effective. Sound Transit’s board will make the final decision on what the funded projects are to be and how and when they will be funded.

“What we’ve heard most in Auburn is that parking is the issue,” Batey said. “So how is the parking being managed? How can we let people know when there’s not any parking available in the garage so people don’t have to drive around the garage to see for themselves? What other opportunities are there for people who want to drive their car? Perhaps one answer is satellite lots, with shuttles between there and the station. It’s a really popular thing in Bonney Lake.”

Batey added that the second parking garage is still among the options.

“That is definitely something we have to look at. In our early planning analysis we’ve looked at property we own on C Street Southwest as a location for a garage that could connect to existing parking. We are looking for alternatives that can get us from where we are now until when another garage can be built, if that’s the long term solution. A lot of people might be willing to take the bus if it’s easier to do it. They might want to ride their bike if it’s safe to do so from their neighborhood to the station,” Batey said.