Thursday, December 14, 2006

100 Dock St. Parking Spaces About to Disappear

Work will begin in late January or early February on a project to widen Dock St. from S. 11th to S. 15th. The project will rebuild the roadway to add curb/gutter/sidewalk and improve utility service to parcels being developed along the Thea Foss Waterway.

The project will permanently displace about 100 angled parking spaces currently used by downtown employees at no cost. The BIA is encouraging employers to begin working right now with impacted employees to identify alternate parking spots or to explore use of transit.

Dock St. will remain open during construction, but traffic will be restricted with flaggers controlling access through the project area. Access will remain open to local businesses for customers as well as for deliveries.

For more details about the Dock St. project and related parking impacts, please contact Karrie Spitzer at the City of Tacoma.

4 comments:

  1. Bad news on a rainy day. I cannot afford to pay in the downtown. Transit: too slow (extra 5 minutes to drive to Tacoma Dome parking, 5 more minutes driving in circles in parking garage, up to 10 minute wait for train, train takes 10 minutes, 5 minute walk to office = extra 35 minutes to each part of my commute not to mention all the riff-raff on the trains) and no stops near my downtown workplace. What is the hurry to put sidewalks in on Dock Street? It has sidewalks now. Isn't development of that area at least a few years away??...besides, I need the exercise I get running up those darn stairs every morning on the Murray Morgan...

    I'm willing to make sacrifices for 'progress' but I fail to see any progress in this project.

    --Thomas

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  2. The train leaves the station every 10 minutes, the riff raff, as you say, dont bother a soul and there just trying to get some where too. Usually your raff is riding the train in the evening. keep an open mind.

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  4. Thomas, the pay lots on Dock Street are pretty darn cheap. There is no reason we should expect to find all-day parking for free anywhere remotely close to downtown, so count on all the free stuff going away (Dock Street, St. Helens/Lower Broadway, and maybe eventually even the Dome lot...)

    And don't forget about the bus, they stop much more frequently downtown and maybe you can even catch it from close to home.

    But if you want to park for free and are willing to walk a little bit further (but still up those stairs), head out to the northern reaches of Dock Street and use the angle parking by The Dock building. There, I've share my little secret from the rare occasions I drive to work...

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