Almost $1 million in federal money is headed for Tacoma to be used on a revamp of downtown’s main street, Rep. Norm Dicks’ office announced Tuesday.
The $978,300 will go toward the $8 million Pacific Avenue renovation, which includes a better stormwater system and new streets, sidewalks and landscaping between South Seventh and 17th streets.
Meanwhile city officials said the project’s timeline has been extended a bit to account for changes in the design, including the restoration of traffic lanes and parking spaces. Early plans had taken parts of Pacific Avenue to two lanes from four, and eliminated some parking spaces.
“Parking is a huge concern for the project,” said Sue O’Neill, assistant division manager for the city’s engineering department. O’Neill said under current draft design, there is no net loss of parking spaces if side streets are included. “We’re back to parallel parking on most of Pacific Avenue, but we’ll be making up the parking spaces on the side streets.”
O’Neill also said how to best incorporate bike traffic is still under discussion.
Renovating Pacific Avenue was among the things the city pledged to do to improve downtown when DaVita and Russell Investments were making major decisions about their offices. City leaders said infrastructure upgrades would happen no matter what the companies decided, though some business leaders have been frustrated at what they say is a slow pace of fulfilling those promises.
Other items on the list were the construction of a light rail stop at 11th and Commerce streets, which is happening now, and the cleanup of the contaminated Sauro’s site on Pacific Avenue. State money was used to turn that site into a parking lot next to DaVita’s main office building.
The Pacific Avenue project still is scheduled to be finished by the end of next year, but O’Neill said the planned renovation of Stadium Way is a higher priority. The projects will be coordinated to minimize impacts on businesses, she said.
Dicks’ office said in a news release that the city’s grant application had been approved by the Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Program, which is run through the Federal Highway Administration. Applications for the 2011 TCSP program were due in early June.
“This is a check that will be written this week,” said Dicks spokesman George Behan. “That’s the difference between this and a lot of appropriations. This is a grant.”
With this latest grant, the project is more than half funded. In addition to Tuesday’s news, the city has another $800,000 from the Federal Highway Administration; $1.5 million from the Environmental Protection Agency; $1.5 million of local surface water funds to match the EPA grant; $200,000 in city funds for street signs; and $175,000 from the city’s real estate excise tax fund.
The approximately $2.8 million outstanding could come from other grants, which O’Neill said the city is always watching for. It also could come from bonds, which would be a decision for the City Council.
“This grant continues the momentum that the city has achieved along the Pacific Avenue corridor, helping to make it more accessible, pedestrian friendly and more attractive for those living and working in downtown Tacoma,” Dicks said in the news release.
Kathleen Cooper: 253-597-8546
kathleen.cooper@thenewstribune.com
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.