As Sound Transit continues its work to expand the Tacoma Link, the City of Tacoma is working to ensure that community members have a strong voice in the way these infrastructure improvements reshape Hilltop and surrounding neighborhoods.

A 13-member citizen’s advisory committee – projected to have five at-large members and eight members representing the Hilltop community – has been established to guide the process that incorporates community feedback into the streetscape work planned by the City for 1st Street, Division Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. With an eye toward the long-term success of the area, the committee will also be tasked with working to enhance awareness among residents regarding financial education and planning resources, as well as workforce training and apprenticeship opportunities under a Project Labor Agreement.

“Working with Sound Transit, the City has been fortunate to secure a $2 million federal grant to design and engineer the 1st Street, Division Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way portions of the Tacoma Link expansion route to a standard that matches Stadium Way and Pacific Avenue,” said Mayor Marilyn Strickland. “We look forward to hearing the ideas that our community members share with us throughout this process.”

“When this design and engineering work is complete in just over a year’s time, we will be well positioned to secure a federal grant to build a streetscape that meets the Hilltop neighborhood’s standard, and is worthy of its rich heritage and future,” said At-Large Council Member Victoria Woodards.

“Not only will the newly established citizen’s advisory committee guide the process that incorporates community feedback into the streetscape work planned by the City, they will also help design a training program that gives existing residents the support and training they would need to qualify them to work on the Link expansion and, hopefully, the associated new streetscape construction,” said District 3 Council Member Keith Blocker.

The City will utilize its current Committees, Boards and Commissions process to interview candidates for all 13 citizen’s advisory committee seats now through Monday, Aug. 29. Interviews will be conducted by the Community Vitality and Safety City Council Committee, with recommendations forwarded to the full City Council for adoption in September 2016.

– City of Tacoma