Sound Transit: Open house Aug. 11 for Tacoma Trestle project

Sound Transit will host an open house this month to discuss a project that will replace the existing Tacoma Trestle, which is located east of Freighthouse Square in the Dome District, as part of an effort to increase capacity and improve reliability for additional Sounder commuter rail passenger trips.

According to Sound Transit officials, the Tacoma Trestle Track & Signal Project was approved by voters in 2008 as part of the Sound Transit 2 system expansion plan. Sound Transit is replacing the 100-year-old wooden single track railroad trestle with a modern, double-track bridge. The new bridge aims to provide increased capacity and improved reliability for additional Sounder and Amtrak passenger trips, as well as Tacoma Rail freight movements.

The Tacoma Trestle Track & Signal Project includes demolition and removal of the existing 0.65-mile single-track bridge and trestle; construction of a new double-track rail bridge and crossover tracks; upgrades to the embankment along the trestle; upgrades to the railroad signals; minor street reconstruction and utility relocations; and a study of the feasibility of building an extended passenger platform.

Sound Transit expects to complete the final design this summer, begin construction in 2016, and complete the project in 2017.

Last year, the City of Tacoma agreed to sell a 1.2-mile stretch of City-owned railroad (including the Tacoma Trestle) to Sound Transit for $4 million and approximately 1.2 acres of Sound Transit-owned property near the intersection of Pacific Avenue and South 26th Street (see “Tacoma approves Sound Transit railroad sale,” Tacoma Daily Index, Jan. 17, 2014).

The Tacoma Trestle Track & Signal Project open house will be held on Tues., Aug. 11, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., at the Tacoma Dome Station Plaza, located near 505 E. 25th St., in Tacoma. Attendees will offer public feedback on design concepts, including landscaping, lighting, art, fencing, windscreens, and canopies for replacing the Tacoma Trestle. Staff will also provide updates on architectural elements for the project, constructability and construction impacts, next steps for work, opportunities to engage directly with Sound Transit staff and numerous methods for providing comments and feedback on the project.

More information is available online here.

To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s complete and comprehensive coverage of the Tacoma Trestle Track & Signal Project, click on the following links: