TACOMA, Wash. — Sound Transit has approved plans to build a new Tacoma Dome station for its Link light rail system, a plan which would require the demolition of the Freighhouse Square market dating to 1909.
The choice was part of the Sound Transit board’s selection of a final route for its Tacoma Dome Link Extension light rail project, made at a meeting last week.
The station site was chosen because of its proximity to the Tacoma stations for Amtrak and Sound Transit’s Sounder commuter trains. It was a unanimous choice of the Sound Transit board and had also been recommended by Tacoma’s city council.
The project will displace 43 businesses; the Tacoma News Tribune reports those businesses will be eligible for up to $200,000 in reestablishment costs, plus moving expenses. The exact amount for each business “will vary based on type of business and its requirements,” Sound Transit spokesman David Jackson said in an email to the newspaper.
Sound Transit board member and Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello told the newspaper that the transit agency is considering ways to support businesses by possibly including a food hall in the new station, and will work with the city and its Landmarks Preservation Commission to preserve elements of Freighthouse Square in the station design. A design won’t be ready for final approval until 2027; construction won’t be completed until 2035.
Light rail extension
The Tacoma Dome Link Extension is a $4.7 billion, 10-mile, four-station route that will build an elevated line connecting to Sound Transit’s light rail 1 line at Federal Way, Wash. Tacoma currently has a separate light rail route, the T Line, that terminates at Freighthouse Square.
The selection of a preferred route came last week, and sets in motion the Environmental Impact Statement process, expected to be completed in 2027.
“This vote marks a major milestone toward establishing light rail service to all three counties in the Sound Transit district,” Sound Transit Board Chair Dave Somers said in a press release. “It’s also another step forward in building the regional light rail spine that voters approved.”
Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine said the vote “brings us one step closer to delivering our shared vision of a world-class, three-county light rail system. The Tacoma Dome extension will seamlessly connect Pierce County to SeaTac, Seattle, the Eastside, Lynnwood and, ultimately, Everett. It will transform regional travel so fundamentally that we’ll wonder how we ever did without it.”
The motion approved by the board includes detailed information on the route. More on the project is available here.
