Lay those tracks, but do it right

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: December 2nd, 2007 01:24 AM (PST)

Lakewood and South Tacoma will emerge as winners in any event. They’ve been waiting for years for Sound Transit to deliver the commuter rail service they were promised in 1996, when Puget Sound voters approved the creation of a regional transit system. When Sounder arrives at their stations in 2012, they’ll finally have a rail connection to the rest of region – all the way to Everett.

But the project could all too easily damage the Dome District if the extension in that area is not done with the best principles of urban design foremost in mind. A straight-ahead engineering mindset would be a disaster.

To get Sounder to Lakewood, Sound Transit must first build 1.2 miles of track westward from Freighthouse Square across Pacific Avenue to a juncture with existing freight tracks just past the Tacoma Rescue Mission.

The danger lies east of Pacific. Some property owners in the Dome District are deeply concerned that the new tracks will cut their neighborhood in half and blight its development prospects.

Their fears are legitimate. The heavy tracks Sounder requires have an industrial look and feel; this could be compounded by the need to put them on an embankment rising from C Street to carry the trains over Pacific Avenue.

Unfortunately, there are no real alternatives short of denying rail service to Lakewood and South Tacoma – service they’ve been paying for since 1996 and were originally supposed to get in 2001.

The only other option – hypothetically – would be electric light rail, like the Sound Transit line that already runs northward from the Dome District through downtown Tacoma.

This doesn’t work for the Tacoma-to-Lakewood corridor for several reasons, not least the fact that switching to light rail would add hundreds of millions of dollars to a project that will already cost about $220 million.

So the heavy rails must be laid. But they shouldn’t be laid over the grave of the Dome District.

Sound Transit and the City of Tacoma must collaborate to do everything possible to soften the impact of those tracks.

City Council members for the most part appear to recognize that the commuter rail line must be extended. But they are rightly asking for an agreement with Sound Transit that will address, at least in general terms, the need for design elements that will minimize any negative impacts on the Dome District.

Many things are possible. Minimal countermeasures include park-like landscaping and walkways along the tracks, attractive public spaces and anything necessary to prevent the embankment from becoming an ugly utilitarian berm. The bridge carrying the tracks across a lowered Pacific Avenue must be a design signature rather than an embarrassment.

The best ideas will come from the people who will have to live with the results. As it proceeds, Sound Transit should rely heavily on affected citizens and urban design experts. It must also cede air rights between G Street and Pacific to keep options open for potential development over the tracks.

The agency’s board will be voting to approve the project in mid-December; before then, the agency will be negotiating terms with the city. This term should top the list: Do right by the Dome District.

Originally published: December 2nd, 2007 01:24 AM (PST)