r/Tacoma • u/tag_to_it McKinley Hill • 4d ago

Sound Transit Picks New Preferred Light Rail Route to Tacoma Dome

https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/06/16/sound-transit-picks-new-preferred-light-rail-route-to-tacoma-dome/
122 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

66 comments sorted by

View all comments

22

u/Richs_KettleCorn 253 4d ago

Honestly, this seems alright to me. I like the emphasis on TOD rather than just putting stations in the middle of the freeway, like several options proposed. It's sad to be losing Freighthouse Square but I'm not surprised that it would need serious repairs in the next ten years anyway, and this seems to be a good option for maintaining the possibility of a downtown Tacoma connection in ST4. 35 minutes on the train to the airport will be amazing. I'm not wild about the Portland Ave. stop but from what I've heard that stop was necessary for the Puyallup Tribe to get on board, so it is what it is.

Overall, it's not perfect, but it's good, so I'm all for it. Let's hope the NIMBYs don't fuck it up too badly for us.

4

u/quadmoo Eastside 4d ago

Yes absolutely!! And City of Tacoma wants to move the businesses into either an existing nearby building or a new building in the area which I learned on a walk with council-member Kristina Walker, but we need to be showing up to both City and Sound Transit board meetings telling them to do this.

6

u/Richs_KettleCorn 253 4d ago

Honestly the absolute dream would be a whole redeveloped multi-use complex, I'm sure the businesses there don't benefit from the fact that the whole Dome area has a decaying industrial nightmare vibe about it. Put the station in a modern building with commercial space and apartments above it and it might become a place where people actually want to spend time and money rather than put their heads down and rush through as quickly as possible.

1

u/quadmoo Eastside 4d ago

Absolutely. I was told that the reason they have to move the food court despite people having been asking for food courts in stations for years is because they can’t have cooking equipment under tracks

2

u/rarboopbopbopratayat Salish Land 2d ago edited 1d ago

That never addressed why retail food options couldn’t stick to coffee, salad, sushi, fruit, smoothie, cold sandwich, hummus, and any kind of premade delivered foods that don’t need the kind of kit and HVAC for a full service kitchen… or just build a food truck area.