Tacoma City Council has approved a purchase resolution authorizing the payment of $55,000 in cost overruns related to the LINK light rail Commerce Street Station downtown.
In March, City Council awarded a $389,312 contract to Westwater Construction Company to build the new station located near South 11th Street and Commerce Street.
“During construction of the stations there were several key elements required by Sound Transit that needed to be incorporated into the work that were not addressed in the contract plans or specifications, although plan reviews by Sound Transit personnel were conducted prior to advertisement of the project,” wrote Richard McKinley, Tacoma’s Public Works Director, in documents supporting the resolution to increase the amount of the contract. The resolution was approved by City Council on Oct. 4. “Due to the limited right-of-way for Commerce Street, lane widths through the platform area and past existing Catenary System poles required a shift of centerline striping and minimum lane widths, resulting in damage to bus tires and station platform concrete. A bumper of high density polyethylene was mounted to the front of each platform to protect the platform and bus tires.”
The additional funds will also pay for the installation of a system at each platform to ground all metal elements such as shelters, handrails, bollards, and shelter benches; upgrades to lighting fixtures to provide more uniform lighting and prevent vandalism; station signing in accordance with Sound Transit requirements; additional hand rails at the middle of each platform to enhance Americans with Disabilities Act access; and removal and replacement an existing trench drain at the back of the southbound station through the existing sidewalk, to provide a means for connecting to the new platform scupper and drainage piping.
Commerce Street Station opened to the public on Sept. 15. Two weeks later, councilmembers joined representatives from the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Sound Transit, and the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the project completion.
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For earlier Tacoma Daily Index coverage of the new Link light rail station, click on the following links:
Tacoma, Sound Transit officially open new downtown Link station (09/29/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2044998&more=0
Link light rail station dedication ceremony Sept. 29 (09/23/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2042027&more=0
New downtown Tacoma Commerce Street Link station open (09/15/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2037281&more=0
New Link light rail stations open Thursday (09/12/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2035054&more=0
New Link station artwork honors Tacoma’s rail history (09/01/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=2030562&more=0
Downtown Tacoma’s new link light rail stations could open in July (06/16/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1993049&more=0
Artists sought for new downtown Tacoma Link light rail station (02/22/11) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1929332&more=0
Sound Transit board approves new downtown Link station proposal (09/27/10) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1845600&more=0
City Council approves plan for Link light rail station (09/20/10) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1841627&more=0
Plan adds new downtown Link light rail stop by next spring (08/31/10) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1830911&more=0
City Hall presentation Tuesday on new downtown Tacoma Link light rail stop (08/30/10) — http://tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1829842&more=0
City envisions Link light rail station near 11th Street (01/08/10) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1694358&more=0
