Amtrak passenger trains will zip through three Pierce County cities at up to 79 mph on a new route within three to four years, officials say.
Allowing up to 16 Amtrak trains per day through South Tacoma, Lakewood and DuPont is part of a $60 million railroad track improvement program that the state Department of Transportation is overseeing.
Most trains run between Eugene, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. Locally, 10 trains a day now take the scenic route along the Puget Sound shoreline, around Point Defiance, through Ruston and the area near the Port of Tacoma. They drop off and pick up passengers at a station on Puyallup Avenue.
But plans call for the Amtrak cars to travel at 79 mph on an improved route just north of the Thurston County line all the way to South 38th Street in Tacoma. They will slow to about 35 mph before stopping at the Tacoma Dome station, said Kevin Jeffers, state rail engineering manager.
The route change and increased speed through urban areas make some local residents nervous. Possible drawbacks include safety and noise.
“There’s an awful lot of crossings in South Tacoma,” Skip Vaughn of the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council said Tuesday. “It’s got to be safe. That’s the biggest thing.”
But neighbors and city officials can’t do much about the federal and state plan, other than request safety and other improvements.
Point Defiance, WA bypass project
#1
Posted 15 November 2006 - 04:58 AM
#3
Posted 03 October 2008 - 01:38 PM
#4
Posted 04 October 2008 - 12:50 AM
map-look for 41 st division drive
#5
Posted 05 March 2013 - 09:51 AM
With this approval, WSDOT’s project team will advance design work to reroute passenger trains from the BNSF Railway main line near Point Defiance to an existing, and less congested, rail line that travels through south Tacoma, Lakewood and DuPont. WSDOT expects construction to begin in 2015 and open the new route to service in 2017.
http://www.wsdot.wa....ONSI_issued.htm
#6
Posted 25 April 2014 - 10:48 AM
Here is the latest.
Sound Transit OKs agreements with state, Amtrak to improve service
Sound Transit's board yesterday approved agreements with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Amtrak to proceed with passenger-rail service improvements between Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Kevin Korell
OTOL Board Leader
Lakewood, NJ
#7
Posted 31 July 2014 - 08:36 AM
Amtrak station advisory committee recommends approval of mid-Freighthouse location for Tacoma station
The state is building a new Amtrak station as part of an $89 million “Point Defiance Bypass” project. That project will reroute passenger trains from the present route along Puget Sound to a track that passes through South Tacoma, Lakewood and DuPont on the way to rejoining the mainline near Nisqually.
http://www.thenewstr...tml?sp=/99/261/
#8
Posted 26 November 2016 - 12:59 PM
I took my roundtrip to Lakewood yesterday. As predicted, the trip southbound was entirely in daylight. Coming back, it was dusk until about Puyallup when total darkness descended. But I was most interested in really getting a good look at the segment from Tacoma to Lakewood via South Tacoma. Of course once the entire cutoff project is completed, which I think is scheduled for sometime next year, and at some point thereafter, Amtrak Cascade and Coast Starlight trains will be re-routed onto the cutoff and away from the Point Defiance main line. The positive: The trip time from Seattle to Portland will be shortened somewhat, not earthshakingly, but even fifteen minutes would be a good thing; no interference from BNSF mainline freight traffic (though there is and will continue to be minimal Tacoma Rail freight traffic--such a train was parked at a siding near South Tacoma station yesterday); plenty of newly laid or upgraded track making for a smooth ride. The negative: magnificent scenery along Puget Sound including the iconic twin suspension Tacoma Narrows bridges will be a thing of the past; the cutoff route, at least between Tacoma Freighthouse and Lakewood goes through godawful ugly environs. I'm talking about an old, decrepit industrial area, with abandoned factories, plenty of warehouses, and toward Lakewood, huge expanses of parked cars along South Tacoma's auto row. Current Amtrak riders will be disappointed, to say the least, with this route, at least as far as Lakewood. Farther south it might get "somewhat" better as the route enters more suburban and rural territory, even with the southern part of the cutoff paralleling and "hugging" Interstate 5. As to the new freighthouse Square Amtrak station, I didn't have time to get any pix, but a portion of the old freighthouse has been razed to the ground and that's where is now--no real construction yet. Work is unfolding apace for the new concrete trestle on the eastern approaches to the station, which will replace the age-old wooden one, most inadequate for future services.
#9
Posted 19 January 2017 - 01:56 PM
Jan. 19, 2017
Track stabilization and signal testing starts Saturday
This weekend, starting on Saturday, Jan. 21, Sound Transit will begin the track stabilization and signal-testing portion for the Point Defiance Bypass project between South 66th Street and Nisqually Junction.
This phase of the testing involves running a Tacoma Rail freight train at speeds between 10 mph and 40 mph, so please use extreme caution whenever you are near the railroad right of way.
To ensure public safety, police officers will control each at-grade intersection during the testing period.
What to expect:
Testing trains will operate Saturday, Jan. 21, between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 22, between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Potential traffic delays if a train is crossing at the following at-grade intersections:
- South 66th Street
- South 74th Street
- Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest
- 100th Street Southwest
- 108th Street Southwest
- Bridgeport Way Southwest
- Clover Creek Drive Southwest
- North Thorne Lane Southwest
- Berkeley Avenue Southwest
- 41st Division Drive
- DuPont-Steilacoom Road
For more information
- soundtransit.org/point-defiance-bypass
- Track Work construction questions: Corrie Adams, Sound Transit, 206-903-7414 or corrie.adams@soundtransit.org
- 24-hour construction hotline: 888-298-2395
- All other project questions: Janet Matkin, WSDOT Rail Division, 360-705-7966
#10
Posted 02 February 2017 - 07:57 PM
Construction alert:
Point Defiance Bypass Track and Signal Work
Feb. 2, 2017
High-speed signal testing starts soon
Between Feb. 7 and Feb. 15, Sound Transit will begin the high-speed signal-testing portion for the Point Defiance Bypass project between the Tacoma Dome station and the Nisqually Junction. This phase of the testing involves running an Amtrak Talgo train at speeds up to 79 mph, between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., so please use extreme caution whenever you are near the railroad right of way.
Upcoming testing dates:
- Feb. 25-26
To ensure public safety, police officers will control each at-grade intersection during the testing period.
What to expect:
Testing trains will operate between Feb. 7 and Feb. 15 between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Potential traffic delays if a train is crossing at the following at-grade intersections:
- South 66th Street
- South 74th Street
- Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest
- 100th Street SW
- 108th Street SW
- Bridgeport Way Southwest
- Clover Creek Drive Southwest
- North Thorne Lane Southwest
- Berkeley Avenue Southwest
- 41st Division Drive
- DuPont-Steilacoom Road
For more information
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