PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — Sound Transit’s southernmost station on the Sounder line lies in Lakewood, and the accompanying bus stop is a lifeline for Zackery Malone.
“I would be homeless without it,” he said.
Malone works in Seattle and Issaquah, and doesn’t have a car. He said getting there by Uber would cost hundreds of dollars, but he’s not just relying on Sound Transit for work.
“I wouldn’t be able to get groceries,” he said. “I can’t visit any of the other towns without this bus stop, so I would be completely and utterly isolated here.”
Now Sound Transit is preparing to make substantial upgrades to the line’s Lakewood and south Tacoma stations.
“We want people to be able to get to the stations by walking or riding or rolling,” said David Jackson, public information officer for Sound Transit. “In some cases around the stations, the current streetscape is not very pedestrian friendly and these improvements will address that.”
Around $80 million was set aside for improvements back in 2008, but a global recession and the COVID-19 pandemic forced the agency to put the projects on hold.
The work can now begin to build wider sidewalks and bike lanes in nearby neighborhoods, so people have more choices when it comes to travel.
“Neighborhoods around these stations are full of working families and might need other transportation options and we aim to provide those,” Jackson said.
Improvement plans will go in front of the Sound Transit Board of Directors this spring to determine which specific projects will be done. The transit agency is also speaking with the City of Tacoma and Lakewood to figure out how the work will be divided between the three groups.
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