Work to rebuild street crossings at S. Alaska and S. Chandler streets is anticipated to start the week beginning September 21.

The M Street to Lakewood Track and Signal project will upgrade seven miles of existing track and street crossings in the Lakeview Subdivision rail corridor from South M Street in Tacoma to Bridgeport Way SW in Lakewood. The project is part of the Sounder commuter rail extension of service from Tacoma to Lakewood.

The track and signal project will provide all new track and signal systems and street crossing improvements at 11 at-grade railroad crossings. The improvements upgrade the rail corridor in this section to meet current passenger rail safety standards. Layover tracks for train storage will be added in the rail right-of-way adjacent to the tracks and north of Lakewood Station.

In 2008, Sound Transit worked cooperatively with WSDOT Rail and the Point Defiance Bypass project to design the shared section of track between South 66th Street and Bridgeport Way SW to accommodate future double tracks for Amtrak passenger rail service. To minimize disruption to local traffic and the community, at-grades street crossings will be constructed for two tracks as part of Sound Transit's project, with the second set of tracks to be added later as State funding becomes available.