Comments on Tacoma Tomorrow: New Stadium Way designed to support Streetcar

Bet the cycling community will love the new bike l...

2011-08-02T17:05:25.062-07:00

Bet the cycling community will love the new bike lanes (and a relatively gentle slope) in and out of DT T-Town.

Sounds like the pedestrian improvements will be great too.

Looks like the Streetcar Stakeholders did quite a bit of work already on route alternatives. Looks like eventually going up 6th Ave still makes alot of sense as far as putting in a route that has the most bank for the buck.

Complete streets are by definition multifaceted. ...

2011-08-02T14:45:32.595-07:00

Complete streets are by definition multifaceted. We can expect to see more of this with each new project that the city undertakes.

I wish we didn't have to tear up the street twice to install rails, but there's no avoiding it. It's yet another circumstance where money is allocated and needs to be spent within a certain time frame and the planning for transit projects just takes a long time. ST won't release money without alternatives analysis.

There is a lot of bonding capacity available to Pierce County, which was supposed to be saved for Tacoma Dome to Federal Way, but you're right, that's not happening anytime soon. It would be great if we could bond some revenue that comes out of Tacoma to really expand light rail.

On the plus side, the roadway is already designed to take streetcars, so that simplifies the engineering. Also, if we use PDX style construction techniques for streetcar, we can construct the extension in segments rather rapidly.

Wow, This is a multi faceted post you have here. B...

2011-08-02T12:06:42.769-07:00

Wow, This is a multi faceted post you have here. Bayside trail, street car stops, complete street design. Looks like Stadium Way is gonna get a complete makeover.

I hope that the City Council and ST can figure out a way to move on the street car ASAP. It seems like it would be a waste of money to pave Stadium Way for cars, then tear that pavement up to put in the streetcar bed later. I wonder if there is any money from ST2 that can be diverted from the Federal Way to T Dome right-of-way acquistions. Extending T- Link in Tacoma now, when Tacoma needs more, and better transit within the city limits would be a wise choice at this time, IMO. Light Rail to the airport would be great, but it is at least a decade away from even starting (if ST3, happens, and if it gets a positive vote).