'Berm' opponents to rally in Tacoma's Dome District Wednesday

The folks opposed to Sound Transit’s plans to build a berm to elevate railroad tracks through Tacoma’s Dome District aren’t giving up.

Foes of Sound Transit berm to seek support with tour

The folks opposed to Sound Transit’s plans to build a berm to elevate railroad tracks through Tacoma’s Dome District aren’t giving up.

Do It Right Tacoma, a group promoting a “post and beam” alternative to the berm, will host a public meeting and walking tour at 5 p.m. today at 402 E. 26th St. to rally support for the cause.

Sound Transit plans to elevate the tracks as part of a new section of track required to extend Sounder commuter rail service to Lakewood. Opponents of the berm – basically a mound of earth – say it will create an unsightly barrier in the neighborhood and impede future development.

Sound Transit won't budge on berms

Sound Transit is unlikely to make major changes to the design of a Sounder commuter rail extension through Tacoma’s Dome District despite opposition from businesses and residents.

That message came through clearly Monday at Freighthouse Square at a meeting about Sound Transit’s plans for the commuter rail segment from the Tacoma Dome to South M Street.

The agency plan relies largely on earthen berms to elevate the track as it rises to cross Pacific Avenue and climb a hill along South Tacoma Way. Opponents say the berm will divide the business district and prefer a “post and beam” support structure that would leave open space beneath the tracks.

TACOMA: Rail crossing must accommodate wildlife

Re: “Rail to Lakewood: Get on with it” (editorial, 7-29).

The 100-plus community members attending the Sound Transit community meeting in Tacoma Tuesday were unanimous that, at the very least, the B Street Ravine crossing should be on posts and beams and not on a berm.

That ravine is part of a wildlife corridor from the southern uplands north to the Foss Waterway. Though there are still two other barriers (Tacoma Rail tracks and 25th Street) in the ravine, berming for the new Sound Transit Sounder tracks would essentially seal off this ravine forever.

Residents decry rail line plans

For more than an hour Tuesday night, the Tacoma City Council listened to residents and business owners urge the council to reconsider the design of a Sound Transit line through downtown.

But the project’s chief engineer told council members the design is complete and shouldn’t be altered.

And if the agency has to revise its plans, it could delay the project for six to nine months and cost up to $28 million, said Jim Edwards, Sound Transit’s capital projects director.