Light Rail Will Reach Tacoma Dome 'Come Hell or High Water', Pierce County Leaders Say

With Sound Transit's system expansion plans up in the air, officials representing the south end of the transit district in Pierce County are making one thing clear: light rail will stay on track to reach Tacoma Dome if they have anything to say about it.

Well over 100 South Sounders packed into a University of Washington Tacoma meeting room this week for a townhall focused on the 2016 Sound Transit 3 ballot measure, organized by the advocacy group Transportation Choices Coalition. Moderated by Tacoma On The Go's Laura Svancarek, the panel included Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello and Tacoma Councilmember Kristina Walker, who are both members of the Sound Transit board. Both spoke with a united voice about the fact that extending the 1 Line from Federal Way to Tacoma Dome is their top priority as Sound Transit grapples with a $34.5 billion budget shortfall over the coming decades.

"We deserve to have the line down here in Pierce County," Mello said to significant applause in the room, as he referenced recent grand openings to Federal Way and between Seattle and Bellevue that have expanded the Sound Transit system from a fledgling line into a full network.

"In just the last five years, it's been like a rocket ship. We've doubled our miles of light rail service and doubled the amount of stations in just the last five years. So we are on a roll, and it's our job to keep ourselves on that really awesome trajectory," Mello said. "We're going to get light rail to Tacoma, come hell or high water. We will."

https://www.theurbanist.org/light-rail-will-reach-tacoma-dome-come-hell-or-high-water-pierce-county-leaders-say/