Construction on the new SeaTac south-end terminus station for link light rail will begin next month.

Sound Transit will extend light rail from the SeaTac City Center/Airport station at International Boulevard and South 176th Street, south another 1.6 miles via elevated double track guideway along the east side of 28th Avenue South to South 200th Street.

On May 7, “little” 28th Avenue South in the triangle section where the parking garage will be built will be closed for three years. A month later the northbound two lanes of 28th will also be closed. The two southbound lanes will be converted to one lane each way for traffic during construction. Work on the guideways will also start next month.

Construction activity will generally move south to north.

The new “Angle Lake” station will straddle South 200th Street with entrances on both the north and south sides of the street. It will feature a 700-stall parking garage, interim surface parking, passenger drop-off area, bike storage, and bus connections.

The elevated station will include passenger platforms with covered waiting areas, public art and an adjoining plaza.

The station is slated to open in September 2016, four years earlier than originally planned.

With design work 50 percent completed, Sound Transit held a well-attended open house April 3 at SeaTac’s Madrona Elementary.

King County Councilmember Julia Patterson, Sound Transit Board vice chair, told open house participants the station will be a “great benefit” to the area.

She said by 2018, 5,400 passengers a day are expected to use the station. Fifty-five percent are expected to come from areas south of the station.

Patterson said it will take riders 38 minutes to get to downtown Seattle and 47 minutes to the University of Washington.

“It will be a very affordable trip to access jobs or education,” she said.

Some 12,000 jobs are forecast to be added as part of anticipated transit-oriented development around the station.

“I’m very excited for our community,” Patterson declared. “I don’t mean to be overly dramatic, but we desperately need redevelopment in this community.”

A major driver for the decision to build the station four years ahead of schedule is to relieve parking congestion at the Tukwila International Boulevard station at South 154th Street.

“At Tukwila, it’s almost impossible to find parking after 7 a.m., Mark Johnson from Sound Transit said.

Plans are for a 700-stall parking garage in the triangle section to the west of the station.

Because the triangle is an odd-shaped lot that also contains a Puget Sound Energy substation, the exact location of the garage has not been determined, according to Johnson.

In addition, Sound Transit will build a 300-stall surface parking lot to the west of the station. That is set to go away when the Des Moines/Kent station opens in 2023 with its own parking facility.

The retail space, incorporated into the parking garage, will also contain the public restrooms. Providing security for restrooms is difficult so they may be closed at night when the businesses are not open, Johnson noted. Some SeaTac council members voiced support for nighttime access to restrooms when the development agreement with Sound Transit was discussed.

Residents at the open house said they were concerned about shelter from cold winds on the raised platforms. Architect Catherine Calvert replied that the station contains several wind shelters. Also, riders can board the trains while waiting for them to depart, she said.

Johnson noted the station is within a half-mile of Angle Lake and Des Moines Creek parks. The future Sound to Lake Trail will also be nearby.

Bike trails will be built between the station and Des Moines Creek/Sound to Lake trails, Johnson added. Sidewalks will also be built from multi-family areas to the station.

SeaTac and Des Moines are also cooperating on extending 24/26th avenues from 200th down to South 216th Street, Johnson said.

A large public art piece called “Cloud” by artist Laura Haddad will be installed overlooking South 200th Street. It will emit a yellow glow at night, turning to blue when a train arrives at the station, Sound Transits art director Barbara Lueke reported.