Testing and final touches continue in January

Sound Transit announcement.

Construction and testing are happening throughout the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension project area. Crews are continuing the roadway restoration and station finishes, adjusting utilities, striping paint on the street, testing systems, installing crosswalks, and cutting decorative sidewalks in various locations. The contractor is also working on final checklist items, which come up at the end of a project, correcting any issues along the project area.

The construction and work schedule are dependent on weather. Please allow for extra travel time to get to your destination and follow detour signage. For details of the traffic control effects, please scroll down to the “Where” section.

Access to hospitals, medical centers and the emergency department will remain open during construction.

Please support your local businesses during construction. Let’s stay Loyal to the Local!

What

Continued construction and traffic restrictions along Stadium Way, N. 2nd Street, Division Avenue, Martin Luther King Jr. Way and the Dome District. More details specific to neighborhoods are provided below.

When

Jan. 13 update: Work will occur throughout both the day and nighttime hours.

Where

Entire project area:

• Light rail train and track testing along the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension project continues. In January and February, the contractor will continue to perform various system and vehicle testing. They will be testing our new Brookville vehicles next week, on the 17th and 18th, during the nighttime hours.
  • One of the other tests will require three different T Line vehicles pulling away from three stations at the same time (Convention Center, Union Station, and Stadium District). This test specifically ensures that the system can handle operations with the new extension. Traffic control will be in place where necessary to ease travel strain during this work. This construction is scheduled to occur between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
• Daytime and nighttime track and light rail vehicle testing, electrical testing, traffic signal modifications, decorative sidewalk cutting, channeling revisions, completing final touches in stations, and finishing overhead wiring work for the future light rail system will happen in various locations along the alignment during the week (Commerce St., Stadium Way, N. 1st St., Division Ave. and MLK Jr. Way).
• This construction will involve work at night and on weekends. The contractor has obtained a nighttime/weekend noise variance, a permit that allows them to make more noise than is typically allowed. They will need to temporarily remove parking and shift traffic to maintain a safe working area. Work will occur at night during the week and start at 8 a.m. on the weekends. The noise variance will be in place until the end of January.
  • The contractor will be located at the Old City Hall Station, NE 4th Station, Stadium District Station and Tacoma General Station to finish installation of handrails at the stations. This work is expected to be completed, at all stations, as early as Jan. 20. The work will have a noise impact of 77 decibels, a moderate noise level, like a garbage disposal. This work will occur from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekends, with 8 a.m. starts on Saturdays and Sundays. The stations at 6th Avenue, Hilltop District, and St. Joseph will be completed in January.
  • Directional street closures will occur between MLK, N. 1st, Stadium and Division at certain station locations for gutter and downspout installation. Parking will need to be removed in the area during these closures. The work will have a noise impact of 60 decibels, which is about the level of a conversation in restaurant or office.
  • There will be revisions to the channelization, or the use of secondary roads to separate certain flows of traffic from the main traffic lanes, will happen at Division and Yakima intersection, Division and I Street, and N. 1st at Thriftway. This work will be completed at night and will have a noise impact of 73 decibels, a similar level to music being played in a living room.
• The overhead wires are now fully energized. Although we have wanted the public to treat the wires as if they are live since the installation, the wires are now officially live. Please be aware and coordinate with our project team and operations about any work that needs to happen near the trackway wires.
• The T Line terminus will be at the Commerce Street Station. The train will temporarily turn back at S. 7th Street and Commerce until we start testing in 2023. Please make sure to stay within the parking lanes to not impede T Line vehicle access.
• The T Line will be on a modified Sunday schedule for the MLK holiday, on Jan. 16.
• Due to the winter weather, final road and parking lane striping in various areas will occur later in the year. Crews will schedule striping when the weather allows.

Dome District

• No civil work planned related to the project

Commerce/Stadium Way:

• Pacific Avenue at S. 7th St. is now open.
• North and southbound Commerce St. at 7th St. will close as early as Jan. 15 for track switch work. This will be a one day closure and will require the contractor to work at night. A noise variance will be in place so this work can take place outside of operating hours.
• Southbound N. 1st St./N. E Street/Stadium Way (Stadium Curve) from Tacoma Avenue to Division Ave. will fully close as early as Jan. 17 for rail grinding. This work will occur between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. through Jan. 20. The public can expect grinding noise and sparks when the crews are using the specialized equipment to grind the rails.
• Northbound Stadium Way, from I-705 to S. 4th Street, will be closed as early as Jan. 17 through Jan. 19, to finish work on the overhead contact system poles (poles that energize the light rail system).
• See entire project area information for nighttime and weekend work.
• Future street closures:
  • Stadium and S. 4th Street, 7th and Commerce Avenue outbound, North 1st Street and G Street, Division and I Street will all have closures for survey monument raising as early as Jan. 16 through Jan. 17. This work will be completed at night.
  • 7th and Commerce to I-705 inbound (southbound) will be closed as early as Jan. 23 for final corrections.
  • 7th and Commerce to I-705 outbound (northbound) will be closed as early as Jan. 30 for final corrections.

Stadium District (N. E St., N. 1st St., Division Ave.):

• Broadway will have directional closures between Division and S. 4th Street. The crews will be working on Broadway just north of the S. 4th St. intersection. Local access will remain on Broadway to maintain parking. A U-turn lane will be available during the southbound closure of Broadway S. This work is for road restoration and sidewalk repairs. Crews are scheduled to return as early as Jan. 23 to complete this work. It is scheduled to take about 2 weeks to complete.
• Westbound N. 1st St., from G Street to Division Ave., is now open.
• Tacoma Ave. and N. 1st St. will close for roadway restoration as early as Jan. 17. This work is dependent on final corrections on Division Ave. from MLK to Yakima Avenue and is expected to take about 1 week.
• Yakima Ave. and Division Ave. Northeast corner closed on Jan. 13 and is expected to be completed Jan. 17 for the vaulted sidewalk repair.
• Future street closures:
  • Northbound I Street, at the west side of 2nd Street, will fully close for roadway restoration in mid-March and on the east side of 2nd St in late March. This work is dependent on final corrections on Division Avenue, from MLK to Yakima Avenue.
  • Westbound N. 1st St., from Broadway to Yakima, will close as early as Feb. 4 for final repairs.
  • Eastbound N. 1st St., from Yakima to Broadway, will close as early as Feb. 10 for final repairs.
  • Tacoma Ave and N. 1st St. will have a corner closure for the removal of a diesel storage tank as early as Feb. 2.
  • The Yakima intersection at 2nd St. will fully close for roadway restoration in late March 2023.
  • Eastbound/Westbound Division Ave. and I St. to Yakima with Eastbound N. 1st St. will close as early as Jan. 24 for final corrections.

Hilltop/MLK Jr. Way:

• The city and Sound Transit walked the project area and have found some final issues that need repair, requiring directional closures of MLK. The contractor has scheduled the work in sections from 6th Street to 9th Street, 9th St. to 12th Street, and 15th Street to 19th Street, in each direction. Each section will take about four days to complete. Signage will be posted to show the areas of closures with dates. Work will include track slab repair, sidewalk repair and other types of concrete repair. The contractor will keep traffic open where space allows.
• Northbound MLK Jr. Way from Earnest Brazill Street to South 11th Street is now open.
• Future street closures:
  • Crews will be working on MLK Jr. Way and Earnest S. Brazill St., installing drainage along the future light rail trackway. Work will require a full closure of the intersection. This will take about six days of work, to begin in early 2023.
  • The intersection at MLK Jr. Way and 13th St. is scheduled for track repair, including demolition of some track, clean-up and potential replacement of rail in early 2023. This work will take two weeks to complete.