Sound Transit will host an open house next week 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 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 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 next year, begin construction in 2016, and complete the project in 2017.
Last month, 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.
The Tacoma Trestle project open house will be held on Thurs., Feb. 13, between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at 323 Puyallup Ave. (the former Durobilt Furniture and Upholstery building), in the Dome District. Attendees will learn more about the need for a new trestle, conceptual elements associated with the new structure, as well as the installation of new equipment for improving safety on Sound Transit’s railroad right-of-way.
