Sound Transit breaks ground on Tacoma bridge replacement

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Sound Transit

Sound Transit broke ground on its Tacoma Trestle Track & Signal Project, which will replace an aging single-track timber railroad trestle with a concrete, double-track bridge.

 

“I strongly support investments in our nation’s transportation infrastructure, to make our roads, rails and public transit safer, more efficient and to help meet the demands of a 21st century economy,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). “I’m proud to play a part in securing federal investments that give communities the extra bump that helps get projects, like the Tacoma Trestle replacement, over the finish line – and am so glad to have great advocates at the local level to work alongside.”

“More than a century ago, this timber trestle helped establish Tacoma’s regional significance in commerce and transportation,” said Sound Transit Board Vice Chair and Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland. “Replacing it with a modern, double-track bridge will improve efficiency and decrease delays as more trains and people move through this busy rail corridor.”

The $120.5-million Tacoma Trestle Track and Signal Project, scheduled for completion in 2018, will replace the timber trestle with a modern double-track concrete structure along a 0.65-mile section of track between the Tacoma Dome Station and East M Street. The project includes demolition of the existing trestle, construction of new tracks and a crossover track, signal upgrades, roadway improvements, utility relocation and erosion control.

Sound Transit is also partnering with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) on a separate project to extend the station platform. When complete, the extension will accommodate longer Amtrak trains when WSDOT redirects its Cascades and Coast Starlight service to an inland route.

Voters approved the Tacoma Trestle project in the 2008 Sound Transit 2 ballot measure. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant to Sound Transit to advance final design and construction of the project. The grant enabled Sound Transit to complete the project five years earlier than planned. An additional $17 million dollars in Federal Transit Administration and Federal Railroad Administration grants also support the project.

 

 

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