December 26, 2017

Agency OKs $126M budget for Tacoma Dome Link design

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The Sound Transit Board last week approved the Tacoma Dome Link Extension and established a $125.7 million budget for preliminary engineering that includes a $10.3 million contract with HDR Engineering.

The board also applied for a $1.17 billion federal grant for the Lynnwood light rail extension, which is expected to break ground next year and open in 2024.

When it opens in 2030, the $2 billion South Sound project will extend light rail 9.7 miles to the cities of Federal Way, Milton, Fife and Tacoma, as well as the Puyallup Tribe.

The track will run primarily on an elevated guideway between the Federal Way Transit Center and a terminal at the Tacoma Dome.

New stations will be built in south Federal Way, Fife and East Tacoma in the vicinity of Portland Avenue. A new rail-only span will cross the Puyallup River. There also will be two parking garages — at the south Federal Way and Fife stations — and a pedestrian bridge connecting the Tacoma Dome Station to Freighthouse Square.

The project includes a light rail operations and maintenance facility at a to-be-determined location. While the facility will be part of the Tacoma Dome Link Extension, it will support operation of the entire Sound Transit Link system.

Sound Transit will start technical work next year for an environmental impact statement that is expected to be finished by mid-2019.

HDR will provide planning, engineering, environmental and community outreach. Its team includes Parametrix and EnviroIssues.

The extension is part of Sound Transit 3. A trip from Federal Way to the Tacoma Dome is expected to take 20 minutes.