Katy-area commuters gained access to additional parking space Oct. 26. The Grand Parkway park and ride location added nearly 450 new parking spaces, which more than doubled the location’s existing 423 spaces. The new spaces are considered interim parking while a new 1,650-space parking garage is constructed at the northeast corner of the I-10 and Grand Parkway frontage roads, said Clint Harbert, senior director of system planning for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County. The parking structure will break ground in early 2016 and should be complete by fall 2016, he said. “Ridership growth [at the Grand Parkway location] has been growing for some time,” Harbert said. About 400 cars parked at the location when it launched in 2008, and that number has doubled to 800 per day, Harbert said. Commuters were parking in undesignated lot space, which prompted the need for expansion. “We were over-parked. New Quest has been very helpful [in working with METRO to provide more space],” he said. Commercial real estate lender New Quest Properties owns the property and will fund the estimated $21 million cost of construction for the parking structure. A long-term lease with METRO will reimburse the company for the cost of construction, METRO Asset Management Specialist Andrew Buchmann said. When the parking structure is complete, demand on opening day is expected to be 1,000-1,300 cars per day, Harbert said. Daily ridership at Grand Parkway has seen a more than 14 percent increase between 2014 and 2015, according to METRO ridership data. “This is a very successful park and ride [location],” Harbert said. “We’re continuing to find ways to help people get downtown.”