Exit133.com: ST Moving Forward With Pacific Crossing

ST Moving Forward With Pacific Crossing ( 7. December 2006, 17:12 by Derek Young) ~ Impacts? What Impacts?

Sound Transit is moving forward with their existing plans to cross Pacific Avenue in order to connect Tacoma to Lakewood. The alternative plans – the plans that try to minimize the impact to south downtown – were deemed too expensive for consideration.

From the Business Examiner Daily:

Local architect Jim Merritt and other Tacoma stake holders offered alternatives to Sound Transit officials, including one that would begin at Freighthouse Square, traveling south behind Brown & Haley’s candy factory, dropping into a covered trench along South 27th Street, then cross under Pacific Avenue and surface on South Tacoma Way, across that street from the Tacoma Rescue Mission. The alternative route, local proponents claim, would spare several businesses and preserve key traffic routes.

But studies presented today to the Sound Transit board indicate that the preferred alternative route would add an insurmountable $200 million to the project budget and tack two years onto the project timeline.

“This can’t be funded with the existing budget,” said Sound Transit Spokesman Lee Sommerstein, adding that unless the board decides otherwise, study of alternative routes for the project is over.

For now, Sound Transit will move forward with its current plan — known as Modified Alternative Two with Hood Street Loop — but remains open to discussion of business impacts, mitigation and viable alternatives.

I would be interested in seeing the itemized budget. Anybody?

Link to the Business Examiner

Previously on Exit133

Commenting Is Closed
Comments are allowed for two weeks from the posted date. If you want to make a comment or reopen this discussion, please contact us with your request. Thank you for visiting.

After sparcely attended public meetings, and obviously little “design” time given early on by Sound Transit to this crossing, the only remedy seems to be the time tested tacoma solution of hanging your head and heading to the swiss.
(Or, of course, a ground swell of public outrage, litigation and the press.)
This “crossing” really does affect, functionally, all the new money spent in downtown, and I haven’t found a reason why all the developers, who have spent so much of their time and money promoting Downtown Tacoma, aren’t at the sound transit meetings raising their hands if not their voices.
In the 60’s there was a saying “asphalt is forever’, and a corollary would be even more assured “Train tracks are left where they’re laid”

1 | Posted by rick | Dec 8, 05:52 PM

For now, Sound Transit will move forward with its current plan — known as Modified Alternative Two with Hood Street Loop