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Businesses Remain Open During Construction

Business owners surpass the construction’s disruptions to keep their businesses open to the people of Tacoma.

Construction workers in bright, yellow helmets roam the streets of South 25th and South 27th Street. Large cranes plow and transport enormous amounts of debris from one location to the other. Bright, diamond-shaped, orange signs read ‘detour’ and ‘sidewalk closed’.

In June, Pacific Avenue closed between South 25th Street and South 27th Street for an 11-month construction, D-to-M Street Project. This project will bring streets to new grades and construct an overpass that will allow the Sounder Train to extend service to Lakewood. Detour routes are available and, in order to keep South Tacoma Way traffic moving, Sound Transit built a special bypass road.

Although the construction expects to continue through May 2011, businesses remain open. The businesses affected by the construction, such as: Freighthouse Square, Alfred’s Café, Celebrity Cake Studio, The Melting Pot, Crystal Voyage, Stanley & Seaforts, and the Tacoma Dome want the community to know that they are open for business.

Find information and detour maps online on Sound Transit’s D-M Street Project page.

Planter Basket Repairs

The City of Tacoma’s Streets and Grounds will be repairing the planter baskets that are currently hanging on Pacific Avenue and A Street. The baskets will be removed by the vendor and may remain down for a week or two before they are all repaired and returned to their proper places. The repairs will include replacing the wire hangers which have become a safety concern as they are too lightweight, are stretching and in some cases breaking.

Questions can be directed to Rob McNair-Huff, City of Tacoma Community Relations Manager, at 253-591-5054.

D-to-M Project Moves Forward - Pacific Avenue Closure Begins Next Week

The week of June 6 marks the beginning of an 11-month closure of Pacific Avenue to bring streets to new grades and construct an overpass that will allow the Sounder Train to extend service to Lakewood. The closure will affect Pacific Avenue between South 25th Street and South 27th Street.

To minimize disruption to the community, Sound Transit is building a special bypass road to keep South Tacoma Way traffic moving, installing temporary signalization to improve traffic flow, making road improvements to new detour routes, communicating with the public about traffic impacts, and constantly working to efficiently complete the required Pacific Avenue work.

For more information on the project, detour routes, or to sign up to receive notices, please visit the D-to-M Streets Project Page.

9th Street Improvement Project

The 9th Street Improvement Project in downtown Tacoma will improve intersections for pedestrian travel at the intersections of South 9th Street at Broadway, St Helens and Market streets. Design will include all current ADA standards. Work will include new cement concrete sidewalks, concrete crossings, curb and gutter, and street reconstruction work.

The city met with the public in May to gather feedback about the scheduling, sequencing and detour routes for the improvement project. Construction is scheduled to start this July.

Project Schedule:
Advertise: May 2011
Construction Start: July 2011
Project Completion: October 2011

For more information contact: Dan Soderlind, Project Engineer at 253‐591‐5263 or dsoderli@cityoftacoma.org.

Freighthouse Square Train Extravaganza and Sound Transit Open House

Date: May 14 and 15 (Saturday and Sunday)

Time: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Location: Freighthouse Square (2501 East D Street, Tacoma 98421)

Train fans, you won’t want to miss a weekend of train-related events in Tacoma! From special tours of a modern Sounder train to excursions on a restored vintage steam engine train to model train layouts, there’s something fun planned for the whole family! Sound Transit is partnering with the Tacoma Northwestern Model Railroad Show & Swap Meet, Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad, and Freighthouse Square to put on this exciting community event.

Please see the website for additional schedule and admission information.

http://www.soundtransit.org/About-Sound-Transit/News-and-events/Calendar/Freighthouse-Square-51411.xml

Record Number of Attendees at Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center

The Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center (GTCTC) welcomes three major conventions in May, resulting in record numbers for the GTCTC: The Infant and Early Childhood Conference, Washington Education Association and the Boeing Company. Along with other events held in between these groups, the economic impact to the local community is estimated to be over $2,361,000. With the exception of two, one-day meetings, all of the events will take place within the first twenty-two days of May.

The total attendance for all events in May will be over 17,030. This will result in more than 4,375 guest room nights for Tacoma area hotels.

Local businesses are encouraged to welcome attendees into their establishments by printing welcome signs which are always available on the GTCTC's website, gtctc.org, by selecting the Resource tab, then Media Newsroom page.

For more information, contact the GTCTC at 1-888-227-3705 or online at gtctc.org or facebook.com/gtctc.