A 266-space parking garage at the Atlantic station on the Eastside Extension Gold Line is scheduled to open next Friday, April 16. It’s the second station along the line to have parking — the Indiana station has a small lot. There is also paid parking available at Union Station.

Parking at the new garage is free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The press release with a few more details is posted after the jump. New parking garage on Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension to open Friday, April 16

A new parking garage on the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension at the Atlantic station will open to the public Friday, April 16, with a total of 266 free parking spaces for Metro patrons that use the light rail line to commute.

The three-story parking garage is located in the northwest corner of Atlantic Boulevard and Pomona Avenue in East Los Angeles, just across the street from the east entrance to the Atlantic station. The free parking will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

The Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension, which opened on November 15, 2009, with six-miles of track and eight new light rail stations, two of them underground, was built on time and within budget. This expands the Metro Rail system to a total of 79 miles of rail — all built during the past 20 years.

Now residents from the Eastside communities can park at this new facility and travel countywide to the San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, Pasadena, Hollywood, Norwalk, beach communities, Wilshire and downtown Los Angeles via the Metro Rail system, which links the Metro Gold Line with the Metro Blue and Green light rail lines, Metro Red and Purple subway lines and the Metro Orange Line dedicated busway.