Downtown Tacoma is undergoing a vital infrastructure upgrade that will significantly improve the quality of life on our Hood Streets. The City of Tacoma is diligently working on a major stormwater improvement project designed to reduce flooding and ensure sustainable growth for the future. This project, spearheaded by James W. Fowler Co. and Kennedy/Jenks Consultants, has reached significant milestones and is on track to completion in Fall 2022. Let’s delve into the details of how this project is enhancing our hood street environment.
This ambitious undertaking addresses critical issues affecting our hood streets and the wider downtown area. The primary goals of the project are multifaceted and aimed at long-term benefits for Tacoma residents and businesses:
- Flood Mitigation in Downtown: The project directly tackles the persistent flooding issues in lower downtown, caused by the limitations of the existing stormwater system. By increasing capacity, it promises drier and safer hood streets during heavy rainfall.
- Future Growth Capacity: Anticipating Tacoma’s continued development, the new stormwater system is designed to handle increased runoff, ensuring that future growth doesn’t exacerbate flooding on our hood streets.
- Best Value for Ratepayers: The City is committed to delivering these essential improvements in a cost-effective manner, ensuring that Tacoma’s surface water ratepayers receive the maximum benefit from this investment in their hood streets and infrastructure.
- Minimizing Community Impact: Construction projects can be disruptive, especially in a bustling downtown area. This project prioritizes minimizing these impacts on local businesses and the public, ensuring that improvements to our hood streets come with as little disruption as possible.
Benefits to Our Hood Streets and Downtown Tacoma
The benefits of this stormwater project extend far beyond just preventing floods. It’s about creating a more resilient and sustainable downtown core, starting right at our hood streets. By replacing and upgrading the aging infrastructure, the City is making a proactive investment in the future of Tacoma. Improved stormwater management translates to:
- Reduced Flood Events: Fewer and less severe flooding incidents mean safer and more accessible hood streets for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers alike.
- Enhanced Infrastructure Capacity: The new system will efficiently manage stormwater, preventing backups and overflows that can damage property and disrupt daily life on our hood streets.
- Sustainable Downtown Growth: With a robust stormwater system in place, Tacoma can confidently accommodate future growth without compromising the integrity of its infrastructure or the quality of life on its hood streets.
For a visual overview of the project and its benefits, you can watch the project video available on the City of Tacoma website.
Project Locations Across Our Hood Streets
Construction is strategically located throughout downtown Tacoma, targeting key areas to maximize the project’s effectiveness in improving drainage across our hood streets. The work zones include:
- S. 19th Street
- Jefferson Avenue
- S. 17th Street and Prairie Line Trail
- S. 15th Street and A Street
- Dock Street
All construction activities are contained within the city’s right-of-way, minimizing impact on private properties while maximizing improvements to public hood streets and infrastructure.
Construction Methods: Minimizing Disruption on Hood Streets
The project employs a combination of construction methods, carefully chosen to suit the specific location and minimize disruption to our hood streets:
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Open-Cut Construction: The majority of the new sewer pipe is being installed using the traditional open-cut method. This involves excavating from the surface, laying the pipe, and then restoring the street surface. While it requires temporary street closures, it’s an efficient method for large-scale pipeline installation on many of our hood streets.
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Trenchless or Microtunneling: In certain sensitive areas, such as under Dock Street, railroad tracks, and the Pacific Avenue/Link Light Rail crossing, trenchless methods are employed. This innovative technique minimizes surface disruption, preserving the integrity of these critical transportation corridors while still upgrading the underlying stormwater infrastructure crucial for the surrounding hood streets. This method involves creating shafts at either end of the pipe run and using specialized machinery to tunnel and install the pipe underground, ensuring minimal impact on surface traffic and daily life on adjacent hood streets.
Construction Impacts and What to Expect on Our Hood Streets
While the long-term benefits are significant, residents and businesses can expect some temporary impacts during construction. The City is committed to keeping these disruptions to a minimum on our hood streets:
- Weekday Work Hours: Work is primarily scheduled during weekdays, from 7 AM to 5 PM, to minimize noise and inconvenience during evenings and weekends on our hood streets. Minimal night or weekend work may be necessary on occasion.
- Construction Noise, Dirt, and Vibrations: As with any major construction project, some noise, dust, and vibrations are unavoidable. The City is taking measures to mitigate these impacts as much as possible on our hood streets and surrounding areas.
- Lane Restrictions and Street Closures: Temporary lane restrictions and street closures are necessary to facilitate the work. However, local access is always maintained to ensure residents and businesses can still access their properties on affected hood streets.
- Pedestrian Detours: Pedestrian detours are in place to ensure safety around construction zones, guiding foot traffic safely through and around work areas on our hood streets.
- Parking and Delivery Restrictions: Parking and delivery access may be temporarily restricted in immediate construction zones. Advanced notice is given whenever possible to minimize inconvenience for businesses and residents on impacted hood streets.
Please note: Construction schedules are subject to change due to permitting, weather, and unforeseen circumstances. For the most up-to-date information, residents are encouraged to sign up for project news and updates through the link provided at the end of this article.
Construction Update: Progress on Our Hood Streets (August 2022)
South 19th St. and Jefferson Ave.: Significant progress is being made in this area, a vital artery of our hood streets network. As of August 22, 2022, daytime closures at the intersection of S. 19th St. and Market St. are in effect (7 AM to 5 PM) to facilitate the installation of a large 60-inch surface water pipe. Outside of work hours, the intersection reopens to traffic, ensuring continued access through these hood streets. Storm drain and watermain installation continues along Jefferson Ave. and S. 19th St., with work expected to continue through November 2022, further enhancing the infrastructure of these key hood streets. During the Market St. and S. 19th St. intersection closure, detours are clearly marked, utilizing S. 17th Street, Pacific Ave., and S. 21st St., minimizing disruption to the flow of traffic on surrounding hood streets. Pedestrian detours are also in place for safety.
South 17th Street (Pacific Avenue to Commerce Street): Tunnel boring is complete in this section, representing a major milestone in improving drainage for these hood streets. Crews are now focused on backfilling and pavement restoration. The detour at S. 17th St. and Pacific Ave. reopened on August 22nd, restoring normal traffic flow to these hood streets. Storm drain tie-in and grouting near Prairie Line Trail are finished, and restoration of this area is underway, anticipated to be complete by Fall 2022, further enhancing the environment of these hood streets.
1147 Dock Street: A major achievement has been reached at Dock Street with the completion of the new stormwater pipeline and outfall, which will discharge into the Thea Foss Waterway. This new outfall significantly increases Tacoma’s stormwater drainage capacity, directly benefiting the surrounding hood streets. Crews are now working on permanent site restoration, including removing sheet piles and restoring the grassy knoll area near 15th and Dock Street. Restoration in this area is also expected to be completed by Fall 2022, improving the aesthetic and functional aspects of these hood streets.
Picture of project outfall
The new outfall is designed to handle an impressive stormwater flow of over 90,000 gallons per minute. To put this into perspective, it could fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in approximately seven minutes, showcasing the scale of improvement to our hood streets‘ drainage capacity.
Stay Informed About Our Hood Street Improvements
For more detailed information about the Downtown Tacoma Stormwater Project and its ongoing progress in enhancing our hood streets, please contact the project hotline at (253) 279-5509 or email the project team at [email protected]. To receive regular project news and updates directly to your inbox and stay informed about how these improvements are impacting your hood streets, sign up for the project newsletter here.
