Sound Transit readies to complete second phase of Tacoma Trestle project

Written by Kyra Senese, Managing Editor
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Sound Transit

Sound Transit has announced a temporarily revised route for its Sounder South Line to allow crews to complete the second phase of work on its Tacoma Trestle Track & Signal Project from Feb. 17–22.  

 

Regular Sounder service is set to continue Feb. 22, when trains will have access for the first time to the new bridge.

The line’s south track on the new bridge will be completed, allowing all Sounder trains to begin using the track. After the cutover to the new bridge, the old single-track timber railroad trestle will be removed, and Sound Transit will continue building the north track.

Sound Transit says trains will operate on both the north- and south-bound tracks in 2018. The $160.9 million trestle track and signal project also brings signal upgrades, roadway enhancements, utility relocation and erosion management. The transit system says this project will support service of more Sounder and Amtrak trains and minimize the occurrence of delays along the corridor.

Voters approved the Tacoma Trestle project in the 2008 Sound Transit 2 (ST2) ballot measure, and in 2013, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Sound Transit a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant to enable the project’s final design and construction work.

Sound Transit says the funding has made it possible for the transit system to complete the project five years ahead of its original plans. An additional $17 million dollars in Federal Transit Administration and Federal Railroad Administration grants also fund the project.

The trestle currently serves 11 round-trip Sounder South Line weekday trains. A mid-day train began service in September 2016, and two additional peak-service trains will launch operations later in 2017, the transit system said.

Sound Transit has arranged for shuttles to accommodate customers at the Tacoma Dome, South Tacoma and Lakewood stations in the mornings and afternoons to transport passengers to and from Puyallup station and allow them to board Sounder trains.

More information about the Tacoma Trestle Project is available here

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