Can a delay for Sound Transit mean better agency collaboration?

This morning I noticed something I had previously skipped over - WSDOT has a quarterly report up from December of 2005 for the Point Defiance Bypass project. Some of the comments made in this report are fairly harsh:

The lack of coordinated investments will cause Sound Transit to design and build only for its needs. When WSDOT funding becomes available, major components of the Sound Transit work will need to be redone to provide for both Sounder commuter service and Amtrak Cascades intercity service.

The new project, which I've discussed on my other blog, would move Amtrak Cascades service to new track, cutting six minutes off of the Seattle-Portland trip, and allow for further upgrades to reduce that time by at least another five minutes. It starts at Freighthouse Square in Tacoma, currently the terminus for Sounder service, and continues up the Tacoma Rail Lakeview line to Nisqually. A few weeks ago, we learned in the Seattle Times that the F59PHI locomotives in service for Sounder (and presumably those in service for Amtrak Cascades) can't climb the 3.1% grade to that line from a dead stop in wet weather.

This is a problem. The first proposed solution is one that's been discussed in the past: To build a bridge over Pacific Avenue to fully grade-separate the line. This would solve an existing issue - trains crossing South Tacoma Way and Pacific Avenue would pose a significant safety risk very regularly during busy commute times - and an overpass would allow the grade to be only 2.8%, which the locomotives should be able to start on even in bad conditions.

This solution would also reduce the likelihood of the neighborhood and commuters becoming opposed to the system - I can see 18 crossings for Sounder and the proposed 26 eventual crossings for Cascades (from their 20 year plan) being less than pleasant for traffic. A diagonal crossing such as the one originally proposed would be quite dangerous in heavy traffic - last November, a METRA train in Chicago destroyed and damaged cars who failed to heed warning signs and lights. Despite clear markings, gates, signs and lights, drivers still stop on tracks.

But, here's the problem. This track is in two parts - Sound Transit is to build a single track halfway along the alignment, to Lakewood. WSDOT is to build a track from 66th St in South Tacoma all the way to Nisqually, but plans to build a second track along the entire alignment for Phase 2. Sound Transit originally planned to have their section done by the end of 2007, and WSDOT didn't get their first large chunk of funding until 2009. This was a major issue - it meant that Sound Transit would have to build their project completely without engineering work or preliminary construction work for WSDOT's extension, and WSDOT would have to significantly change work ST had done, wasting money.

But! The State Legislature has just pushed up WSDOT's funding for the project so that they will receive nearly all of it in 2007, rather than most of it in 2009 and 2011. If Sound Transit chooses grade separation and can wait until this money becomes available, the cost savings of a shared project could free up funds to help pay for the overpass alternative. If Sound Transit and WSDOT money is pooled, the embankments leading up to the overpass can also simply be built wider for a later second bridge.

We need this project. It benefits both intercity and commuter rail, and not only expands commuter rail service to Lakewood and South Tacoma, but opens a path to Dupont. It allows for the addition of expanded Amtrak Cascades service - I was on a 250-seat train with 260 people on it last weekend, both the bistro and dining cars had people sitting in them. More service is necessary for the growth of our urban areas and to keep traffic congestion from increasing on I-5.

I propose that Sound Transit work with WSDOT to estimate what the cost savings would be to build both projects concurrently. With that savings as ammunition, a double-pronged approach could work. Talk to the communities in Tacoma and Lakewood to gather support for grade separation through education about the danger of a diagonal crossing, and perhaps secure some funding through the City of Tacoma to that end. Ask for help from the Legislature and the Transportation Committee to prioritize this project above others or to secure additional funding given the cost savings of doing both projects at once.