On Friday, Sound Transit and its partners broke ground on the Mountlake Terrace Freeway Station. Federal stimulus money and a regional mobility grant will help fund the $40.9 million facility.

The new project in the center of I-5 will enable buses to pick up and drop off Mountlake Terrace commuters inside the freeway median.

Set to open in 2011, the project features a pedestrian bridge connecting the new bus platforms with Community Transit’s new Mountlake Terrace Transit Center and park-and-ride garage. The project was planned in partnership with the city of Mountlake Terrace and Community Transit. Construction will be managed by the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The $4.6 million in federal stimulus dollars for the Mountlake Terrace project is part of $131 million in federal stimulus funds for transit projects in the Puget Sound region. Sound Transit will receive a total of $23 million for five shovel-ready construction projects in communities throughout the Sound Transit District.

The project includes northbound and southbound direct access on- and off-ramps exclusively for buses, making it easier and faster for them to enter and exit the freeway and pick up passengers without being slowed down by local traffic. Along with the South Everett Freeway Station, which opened last September, the Mountlake Terrace Freeway Station will be the second of Sound Transit’s Snohomish County facilities located in the freeway median and the fourth with direct freeway access ramps.