Tacoma’s Stadium Business District has announced its support of a future proposed ballot measure which includes an extension of the downtown LINK streetcar. In a letter to Sound Transit officials, business district Chair, Denny Faker, stated, “It is understood that in order to get out of downtown, any route extension would most likely pass through the Stadium District. We are excited about the prospects this brings as it would connect our goods and services directly with downtown. We see wider benefits too by having the ability for youth attending Stadium High School to have more transportation choices.” Copies of the letter were sent to Sound Transit, the City of Tacoma, and Tacoma Streetcar.
Last month, two neighborhood councils reaffirmed their support for a city-wide streetcar network and the desire to see a LINK extension on the next Sound Transit Ballot measure. In his letter to Sound Transit, Jonathan Phillips, Chair of the North End Neighborhood Council, wrote, “With the Failure of Proposition 1, we support Sound Transit placing an intracity streetcar network within the city and believe that this must be in the next Sound Transit proposal with prompt funding.”
Tacoma Streetcar sent a letter to Sound Transit in early February urging a 2008 ballot measure. In it, Tacoma Streetcar requested that any Sound Transit proposal contain an extension of Tacoma’s LINK and that it be constructed with an aggressive timeline, as opposed to 25 years as contained in the previous ballot measure which failed.