TACOMA, Wash. — A project to connect Tacoma to Seattle by light rail has been pushed back by at least three years to 2035, the Tacoma News Tribune reports.
Sound Transit says the planned 10-mile extension to connect the existing Tacoma light rail line to the full Seattle-area network at Federal Way, Wash., needs additional station options in Fife because of flood-plain issues and route changes in the Federal Way-Milton area. Because of construction issues, a portion of the route that was to follow Interstate 5 may be realigned to follow State Route 99, which would also require relocating a station and its parking structure to one of two possible locations.
The Fife station will be relocated by about 1,500 feet. Two locations are being considered. The Sound Transit board will make final decisions on the changes at a March 23 meeting.
The $3.3 billion extension, approved by voters in 2016, was originally projected to open in 2030, then pushed back to 2032, the News Tribune reports. It will provide 35-minute service to SeaTac Airport.
Charles, Federal Way is the City north of the King County/Pierce County line. It is a pretty good size City stretching from the Auburn City Limits on the east westward across I-5, SR-99 to Puget Sound. There is construction on I-5 in the Fife/Milton area around a newly completed road Wapato Way East which will connect with SR-167 extension from the Green River/Puyallup river valleys. The big 6 mile mess on I-5 from SR-16 to Fife was finally completed after 22 years last year. That project widened I-5, added two car pool lanes, and two new bridges over the Puyallup River. The entire Seattle area is a traffic mess with inadequate infrastructure, poor road surface condition and way too much traffic. The area from Federal Way all the to JBLM military base and Dupont is always a mess, desperately in need of rail transit. I long for my days when I was in Minnesota without the mess here.
Charles – what widening of I-5 in the Federal Way area? As a resident of the area I can tell you that there is no current widening project. WSDOT has a future project (2025 start) to make some improvements to the I-5/SR-18 interchange, but nothing going on currently.
Sorry when I was there last year I was mostly lost. For three days. I do know that the reconstruction of I-5 is south of SeaTac. I saw that both from the air and the road. But I really don’t know where Federal Way is.
Good luck with this, folks. This is rough territory. If I understand the proposal, it’s an all-new r/w parallel to I-5. The widening of I-5 now underway is a colossal project. Adding a rail line parallel (with stations and parking garages and access roads) would almost be akin to building another freeway.
I can’t argue to need. Driving from Tacoma to SeaTac is one of life’s worst experiences, like driving to Boston’s Logan Airport.
An I-5 alignment explains a little bit, why it appears that the SB Weigh Station at Federal Way is decommissioned. Makes good area for staging equipment for construction. Sitting a station in Fife will be interesting. The Emerald Queen Casino is a good traffic generator, although LINK has the potential to affect one of the Puyallup Tribe’s other businesses. The Gas Station.