Tacoma Link extension needs $35 million more after underground problems eat up budget
Sound Transit needs an extra $35 million before it can finish Tacoma’s Link light rail extension, the project manager said Thursday. The shortfall came after the project ran into problems while relocating underground utilities.
The regional transit authority’s System Expansion Committee voted to ask the board of directors for the money Thursday afternoon after a presentation by Madeleine Greathouse. The original budget of $217 million would now increase to $252 million, a 16 percent increase.
The 2.4-mile extension is about 60 percent complete, said Sound Transit spokesman Scott Thompson.
The project broke ground in 2018 and is still on track for completion and operation sometime in 2022. In between those dates, construction crews ran into trouble underground.
Before track can be laid along the route, any underground utility the track would run over must be removed. That includes sewer, water, electricity, gas and communications.
“If anything happens to (the utilities), then they’d have to get in there and tear up all the track,” Thompson said.
Despite possessing utility schematics and doing its own investigations, workers found some utility lines weren’t where they were supposed to be, he said. In addition, contaminated soils were discovered and needed to be removed.
That lead to additional design work.
“That slows down the construction and just eats up time,” he said.
A contingency fund was built into the budget to handle overruns.
“We felt like we had enough there to meet the need, but it hasn’t worked out that way,” Thompson said.
The extra money will go mainly to the construction budget as well as design consultants.
Not all of the utility work is complete, but as of last week 25,000 feet of pipes and cables have been relocated for the project.
Passing the halfway point
A tour along the route this week showed areas that looked nearly complete, with rails set in concrete, to sections that had only patched asphalt.
None of the overhead poles and lines that power the streetcars are in place. The six stations are taking shape. One existing station, in Tacoma’s Theater District, will be moved further north and onto the extension.
This week, the line’s busiest construction spot was the Stadium District station and connecting lines. Crews were ripping up asphalt, laying concrete and setting rail. A construction worker with general contractor Walsh Construction Co. told The News Tribune it was a high priority spot.
Business owners complained about construction and the resulting loss of income in summer 2019.
Tracks were first laid in June 2019 along Stadium Way. Today, 41 percent of track has been laid for the inbound and outbound tracks. That equates to 11,000 feet of track.
All the track should be in by spring of 2021. More custom built curved track in front of Stadium High School should be installed this summer.
The system requires the installation of 300 power poles that will hold overhead lines to power the cars. Three new substations also are being built to power the system.
An expanded operations and maintenance facility near Freighthouse Square should open in 2021.
Five new streetcars are being built for the line and should arrive in 2021.
Whether a fare will be charged on Tacoma Link when the extension opens hasn’t been decided yet, Thompson said. The current system is free.
The current 1.6-mile line runs from Freighthouse Square/Tacoma Dome Station to just past South 9th Street on Commerce Street.
Tacoma’s Link system is separate from Central Link, which is currently being extended to Federal Way in 2024 and is scheduled to reach Tacoma in 2030.
Tacoma Link is the only Sound Transit service that has not had reductions since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, Thompson said.
