08.10.06

Cantwell, Local Transportation Leaders Break Ground on New Transit Facility

More than $6 million secured by Cantwell for innovative regional transit project and downtown development that will relieve congestion, create jobs, and spur economic growth

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA – Thursday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and local leaders broke ground on a new regional transit facility that will relieve congestion, improve freight mobility, and enhance interconnectivity between University Place, Lakewood, downtown Tacoma, Tacoma Community College, and a future light rail station. Cantwell secured $3.25 million for the new transit facility, which will serve an estimated 700 to 1,300 riders daily and is part of a major University Place initiative to revitalize the city’s downtown area. Cantwell also helped secure $2.8 million for streetscape improvements for the new University Place Uptown Center. The Center will create an urban village atmosphere in downtown University Place, delivering 2,300 jobs and $7.6 million in annual revenue.

“With a new transit hub in Pierce County, we can decrease congestion while increasing positive economic development to help keep our economy growing and commuters moving,” said Cantwell. “This important project means a better future for University Place, Tacoma, Pierce County, and the entire Puget Sound region because it will expand economic opportunity, smooth commutes, and boost commerce. Moving forward on this project shows we’re setting clear priorities to confront our transportation needs and invest in them wisely.”

The new inter-modal transit facility is a key component of the Uptown Center project, which will help strengthen the University Place community and its citizens. Located on Pierce Transit Route 2—one of the system’s busiest routes—the transit facility project includes the construction of a new parking garage with 100 new stalls, an expanded park-and-ride lot with 300 news stalls, improved bus stops, and a pedestrian plaza. In addition to the funding already approved, Cantwell supported $750,000 for the parking garage in the Senate version of a pending transportation appropriations bill. The entire transit center project is expected to cost $24 million, and has the full support of the City of University Place, Tacoma’s Mayor, Pierce County Executive Landenburg, the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, the Puget Sound Regional Council, and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).

An estimated 12,000 vehicles travel through University Place from State Route 16 each day, and congestion between Tacoma and Gig Harbor has been a growing impediment to freight mobility. According to WSDOT, 85,000 to 90,000 vehicles use the SR-16/I-5 corridor each day. By 2020, use of the freeway is estimated to increase to 120,000 vehicles per day. The agency and local officials estimate that 10 percent of the 12,000 daily travelers through University Place will use the new transit facility, improving freight mobility between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor, and reducing motor vehicle emissions as well as energy consumption.

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