New Plans for the Prairie Line Trail, UWT Station
At this week’s City Council study session we got a look at the new design plans for the Prairie Line Trail – UWT Station.
About a year ago, we saw the first set of proposed designs for the project, which UWT was calling the “Hood Corridor.” Those designs (and the name) met with some challenges over bikeability and historic character. The University changed the project name to the “Prairie Line Trail, UWT Station,” and took some time to reconsider the designs. Ultimately they came back with the plans presented this week.
The new design makes changes to improve bicycle access and to better honoring the area’s industrial past and the historical significance of the railroad terminus. The bike corridor looks more like a true corridor, running straight through the space, rather than taking jogs around other design elements.
The rails remaining from the train line that gives the trail its name take a prominent place in the design, with plans showing surrounding landscaping and paving brought to their level, but not covering the metal. Rails run through simple concrete pavers, through grass, and through rain gardens.
Images from the presentation available on the UWT project page show rails with railroad ties running through a series of rain gardens at various levels of fullness.
21st Street Crossing
Another challenge related to this project is figuring out how the Prairie Line Trail will cross 21st Street in a way that is safe for bikes, pedestrians, and drivers, while minimizing the disruption to both the bike corridor and the major arterial street. We saw several suggested solutions presented back in May of last year, and this week we see a plan for preferred alternatives in three phases. Phase one looks like it would basically maintain the flashing light crossing we’ve got now, which is far from ideal.
Phase two would implement a “double median,” shrinking vehicle traffic to three lanes, and allowing bicycles and pedestrians to cross at the mid-block Prairie Line Crossing with a couple of protective medians. It looks a little like a game of frogger.
Phase three is a ways off, and would require some significant construction, but the ultimate goal is a tunnel for bikes and pedestrians to cross under 21st Street. The tunnel option was ruled out last we heard, but it looks like it’s back in.
UPDATED: A source with knowledge of the project that wishes to remain anonymous has told us that “the City is leaning toward long-term road diet as the likely long-term solution. The “pie in the sky” of the future would be the grade separation. Tunnel has zero very little support.”
Download the UWT design team presentation to Council here (pdf).
Download the presentation with a few different images from the UWT project page here (BIG pdf).
Filed under: Downtown Tacoma, Transportation, Biking, Neighborhoods, UWT, City Projects, Colleges & Universities, Prairie Line Trail
4 comments
J Jake January 25, 2013
21st is already a mess and gets backed up. What happens when UWT expands and 19th is closed to traffic and the main arterial shifts to 21st between Tacoma and Jefferson Ave?
D Dan H. January 25, 2013
25th, or 17th will both get you to Jefferson, or Market even in a future senario where UW is built out, but my guess is that you will want to park around the edges of campus and use the substantial pedestrian walkways they are going to build to get around on campus. The thing I like least is the design of the future tunnel, is having the road so far above the sidewalks. Instead, they should pay Holiday Inn and the building owner up the hill to modify their buildings so the roadway is retained against the building wall and the sidewalk will be at the same level as the road, with ramps and stairs to connect it to the trail through the tunnel below.
A anonymous January 26, 2013
I just reviewed the presentation packet and the new UWT corridor designs (both phase 1 and masterplan) look great – maintaining the continuity of the rail as a design element, allowing through traffic as well as places to gather, and artfully incorporating stormwater. These themes should be extended to the portions of the corridor outside of the UWT footprint. I am also pleased to see the 21st street crossing advanced as a phased approach that acknowledges the difficulty of the street slope and the importance of a future grade separated crossing at this busy street. Previous versions of this crossing I had seen showed what I’ll call a bridge design as opposed to a tunnel portal. A rail tunnel seems more appropriate. I agree with the other comments that note the sidewalks should stay with the raised 21st street, requiring adjustments to the buildings south of 21st. These improvements should likely be timed with the buildout of of new buildings north of 21st in the UWT footprint, which hopefully can happen soon.
B Brent January 28, 2013
Traffic could be better if the morons who built the new SR-16 let you go North to I-5 from Sprague. Morons!!
You can’t speak down on what UWT has done for this city. I give them a free pass to do whatever they desire.
They changed Tacoma for the better, that is the best part of downtown to even be around.