Prairie Line Trail: City Open House

Now that the City is in the process of acquiring the property for the Prairie Line Trail, attention is turning to the design process. Staff will be gathering public input at an open house this Thursday, March 14 at the Tacoma Art Museum.

Design work for the portion of the trail that runs through the UWT campus is done, complete with functional bike and walking trail, public gathering spaces, public art, and rain gardens. The design process for that portion – the Prairie Line Trail: UWT Station – was an interesting one, with the University responding to public concerns that the initial plans didn’t sufficiently address either the history or the bikeability of the bike corridor along the path to the historic railroad terminus. The final product brings both of those elements more to the front, showcasing the existing rails, and carving a more bike-friendly path through campus.

The trail is intended to serve as a connector for bike and pedestrian traffic; this portion will connect the Brewery District and UW Tacoma to the Foss waterfront.)

Tacoma has a $465,000 grant from the Puget Sound Regional Council to fund design and preliminary engineering work for the project to transform the former rail corridor on either side of UWT into a linear park featuring a bicycle and pedestrian-friendly trail. When the public design process wraps up this summer, the City will seek funding for construction.

As plans for the City-owned portion of the trail evolve, it will be interesting to see how closely they align with the UWT plans. One issue that will need to be addressed is the fact that the actual rails in the segment that runs by the Tacoma Art Museum are on property that will remain in BNSF’s hands, and not on the strip designated for the City. And there’s a certain billboard that could prove an obstacle.

Tacoma doesn’t have the most spotless record when it comes to designing attractive and functional public spaces, and the UWT design process wasn’t without missteps (and we haven’t seen the finished project yet) …

What elements would you like to see in the design for this strip of the trail – either from the UWT plan, or not? What unique considerations should be taken into account as the trail passes through the brewery district and then past Pacific under I-705?

For more on the Prairie Line Trail visit www.cityoftacoma.org/planning or download the Prairie Line Trail presentation from February 4, 2013 (pdf), and check out past Exit133 coverage of the Prairie Line Trail.