TACOMA, Wash. — Tacomans hoping to ride the light rail from downtown to the Hilltop are now going to have wait a little longer.
Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm announced in a blog post on Thursday that the agency won’t be able to meet its spring 2023 deadline.
This project was originally scheduled to open next spring, but that opening date has now been pushed back to next fall. Once finished, it will connect downtown Tacoma with the Stadium District and the Hilltop neighborhood.
Timm said a new issue was found last week dealing with track geometry, so experts are being brought in to take a look.
This isn’t the first time this project has been delayed, and Alvaro Juarez, Programs Manager of Second Cycle, calls it a missed opportunity for the summer.
“I feel like as a program manager here who has youth coming into this space, I can just see the lack of youth or a decreased number of youth coming into this space and accessing Second Cycle next year, so it’s just a huge miss,” Juarez said.
Juarez says that he and his colleagues have tried to work around the construction as best they could, dealing with noise pollution, a lack of parking, and sometimes not even being able to get to the shop.
“Sometimes, we can’t access the front door of this space because of various street closures,” he recalled. “Accessibility is a major issue for us.”
However, Juarez remained hopeful, because shops like Second Cycle rely on busy summer months to get them through slower periods when the weather turns.
“We are a bike shop in the winter, we need the revenue in the summer to remain sustainable in the winter,” Juarez explained. “All of the street closures this past winter, we’re seeing the effects now because we’re not doing super great.”
But it looks like that won’t happen, and after seeing other businesses shut down, Juarez is concerned.
He’s trying to stay positive because he sees the value of the light rail, and hopes the bike shop can ride out this latest delay.
“It’s like watching paint dry, just ten times worse,” Juarez exclaimed.
Sound Transit public information officer David Jackson said Sound Transit understands the frustrations local business owners have and that this work has been challenging for the entire community, and they appreciate everyone’s patience.
Right now, there isn’t a new date for the opening, but Sound Transit promises that they working to the line open as soon as possible.