It probably wouldn’t be fair to say that the University of Washington Tacoma is backpedaling on designs for its portion of the Prairie Line Trail (even though the pun is pretty darned tempting).
Better to say university administrators are listening to feedback from folks in town about proposed designs to reuse the rail line that brought the first Northern Pacific transcontinental to tidewater in 1873.
I wrote Thursday about my concerns, shared by others, that the designs were pretty, but not sensitive to competing desires, especially that the historic trail reflect its history and that the trail actually be a trail.
The university’s segment is near the end of what is hoped to be a regional trail network connecting downtown to South Tacoma’s Water Ditch Trail and other existing and planned regional trails.
But the designs presented by international firm Atelier Dreiseitl last week seemed to barely tolerate bikes. Both designers and university administrators even suggested that bicyclists who are “trying to get somewhere” should use streets above and below the campus.
Being a physical and psychic roadblock to bikes risked making the entire trail network less functional. And the designs didn’t reflect the industrial history of the area – neither the railroad nor the warehouse buildings that grew up adjacent to the tracks.
UWT spokesman Mike Wark called Friday to say the university had heard the concerns about the designs and was responding to them.
First, he said, administrators will stop referring to the project as the Hood Corridor and will likely use a name that includes the more familiar Prairie Line. It also will add a 10th design objective for the project to make sure the regional trail system is respected.
“It will say something like, ‘the UW Tacoma section of the Prairie Line Trail will be part of the larger Prairie Line Trail and its goals,’ ” Wark said. “I was surprised that wasn’t already there. It was implied in the objectives but wasn’t specifically called out.”
Wark said he thinks administrators who suggested bikes should use other routes had miscommunicated the UWT’s intent.
“That got away from the original concern, which was the speed of bikes,” Wark said. “It’s been envisioned from the start as a through corridor for the city and the campus.”
A better way to describe the safety concerns would have been to say that if bicyclists want to go 30 miles per hour, they should use other routes. Those willing to share the pathway with students crossing the trail and using the rest of the corridor as outdoor space will be welcome.
“That’s now top-of-mind for us,” Wark said.
Designers will also reconsider the types of materials used in the trail project to better reflect the brick and steel seen on campus and in the neighborhood.
“They are taking that to heart,” he said.
A significant driver of the project is stormwater, both for philosophical and financial reasons. The university is committed to building green and has staked part of its future on efforts to develop and promote clean water technology through its Urban Waters center, Wark said.
Like the nearby Pacific Avenue streetscape project in downtown Tacoma, state and federal stormwater treatment money is picking up a big part of the tab of the trail project. Forty percent of the first phase will be covered by a stormwater grant.
But the retention and filtering system is not why the trail designs treated bikes as an afterthought. A trail big enough to be eligible for grant money need only be 14 feet wide. The corridor is 80 feet wide.
While it seems UWT is moving quickly – hoping to approve design in early March and start construction next summer – Wark said there will be plenty of opportunity for meaningful public involvement. No decisions are final until Chancellor Debra Friedman makes them and she “is definitely looking at the feedback,” he said.
To see a UWT webpage with Atelier Dreiseitl’s latest designs and a way to send comments, go online to http://bit.ly/prairieuwt
Peter Callaghan: 253-597-8657
peter.callaghan@thenewstribune.com
blog:thenewstribune.com/politics
Twitter: @CallaghanPeter
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