Matt Driscoll: Inching ever closer to Tacoma’s transit future

There was confetti. The city’s mayor was there, smiling for the cameras.

Residents who’d been waiting for this moment for years arrived by the thousands, eager to take a first trip on the light rail line that promises to forever alter the way many commute.

This was the scene March 19 in Seattle, as Sound Transit cut the ribbon on two new light rail stations, connecting Capitol Hill and the University of Washington campus.

In a city desperate for new transit options, the grand opening was a momentous occasion.

And Tacoma should take note.

Eager to finally move closer to our own transit future — beyond express buses, limited Sounder service and a Link light rail that serves only downtown and the Dome District (slated to reach Hilltop in the next five years) — we should file away the excitement in our collective memory bank.

We should remember exactly how the unveiling of the project looked and felt.

We’re due for our own light rail triumphs, and last week we inched incrementally closer to celebrating some.

Just five days after Sound Transit opened its latest rail stations in Seattle, the agency’s board unveiled the preliminary details of this fall’s Sound Transit 3 ballot measure.

Touted as “an ambitious program for an ambitious region,” by King County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chairman Dow Consantine, the $50 billion (gulp!), 25-year spending package aims to deliver substantial projects across the region — including connecting a light rail network that would feed 17 cities with 108 miles of track.

For Tacoma, the plan means the long-awaited connection between here and Sea-Tac Airport by 2033, the extension of light rail to Tacoma Community College by 2041 and a bolstering of bus service along Pacific Avenue.

Hopefully, by the time the dust settles, it’ll mean significantly increased Sounder service.

For the South Sound region, it likely means the extension of the Sounder to DuPont and a feasibility study of taking commuter rail all the way to Orting.

For all of us, it means a chance to finally realize the kind of functional mass transit system we deserve.

It’s worth noting that the details of the plan Sound Transit will take to voters in November are preliminary; specifics won’t be solidified until June, and the agency now embarks on an outreach campaign to gather public input.

Meanwhile, behind closed doors, the elected officials on Sound Transit’s board will ramp up the maneuvering and horse trading — all trying to deliver the biggest and quickest bang for their constituents’ would-be tax bucks. That’s what politicians do.

But even with tweaks to come, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland — a vice president on the Sound Transit board — tells me, “I don’t expect much to change,” for Pierce County.

Strickland says we’ve already waited long enough, and it’s hard not to agree. Plus, the fall ballot measure will need at least reasonable support from our area to succeed, so Pierce County’s needs can’t be completely ignored.

Of course, the preliminary sketch has garnered some immediate critics, which is to be expected with a plan of this magnitude..

In Tacoma and every other Sound Transit jurisdiction, people want their projects delivered faster. Tough to blame them. Waiting another 17 years to see light rail connect Tacoma to the north is a hard pill to swallow, and waiting 25 years to see a light rail reach TCC sounds almost comical.

And then there’s the money.

The $50 billion worth of new projects and services, to be paid for — in part — by $27 billion in new sales, vehicle excise and property taxes over the next 25 years, does have the ability to consume the oxygen in the room, as state Sen. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, aptly described it.

Still, at this point, what is the alternative? Building light rail isn’t getting any cheaper or less complicated, and traffic isn’t getting any better.

“We owe it to our region to deliver these projects as soon as possible,” Tacoma City Councilman Ryan Mello says. “What is not acceptable is for us to get overly frustrated … and to do nothing. That’s a sure-fire way to keep sitting in traffic and stalling the economy. Doing nothing is not the answer.”

He’s right. We’re stuck in gridlock because generations of the past failed us. We simply can’t make the same mistake.

But let’s not focus on the negatives. Instead, let’s look toward the future, and the possibilities.

“This is pretty cool,” 39-year-old Mike Fields told the Seattle Times on the day the Emerald City’s newest mass transit option opened for business. He’s hoping the new light rail will significantly shorten his wife’s long commute.

It’s time for Tacoma to know how that feels.

Or, as Strickland puts it: “When you look at great regions around the world, they have a few things in common. Having reliable, efficient transportation is so key to that.

“It’s time for us to catch up with the rest of the world and have something that’s remarkable.”

This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 2:26 AM with the headline "Matt Driscoll: Inching ever closer to Tacoma’s transit future."