The state Department of Transportation needs one more puzzle piece to finalize the Tacoma to Puyallup Regional Trail: public input.
Residents have until Tuesday, July 12 to provide feedback to WSDOT. There is a virtual survey people can take through the agency’s website at bit.ly/3OGT73u. The website provides information on the trail and asks survey participants to choose between two options.
One of the options would bring the trail south of Pacific Highway East and west of Alexander Avenue East. The other option would bring the trail west of Port of Tacoma Road and south of state Route 509.
Trail users may have to navigate around stopped vehicles on driveways – blocking their path – if they choose the first option. The second option will give people a faster and more direct route but they’ll hear traffic noise from state Route 509.
Both options will connect the trail from the Pacific Highway East and Port of Tacoma Road intersection to the state Route 509 and Alexander Avenue East intersection.
WSDOT and other stakeholders will choose participants’ favorite option and finalize the route. WSDOT has been accepting feedback since June 15. Information on the website is available in English, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese.
People can also comment via phone at 253-238-0398.
The trail will connect downtown Puyallup to Fife and downtown Tacoma. A majority of the trail will be next to the yet-to-be-done state Route 167 expressway – about eight miles long between Puyallup and state Route 509 near the Port of Tacoma.
Certain parts of the trail will have features such as benches, wayfinding signs and bike racks. ADA spaces next to benches will also be implemented. Garbage and recycling bins can also be found throughout the area.
The trail is expected to help people who reside nearby have another way to travel without needing a car or motorized vehicle. This trail will fill “a major gap in the Pierce County trail network,” according to WSDOT’s news release.
A parking lot at the Interurban South trailhead and part of the trail are already built along Wapato Way East in Fife, across Interstate 5 to state Route 99, according to WSDOT. Construction on a section of the trail from the new trailhead to state Route 509 and Alexander Avenue East is expected to be finished in 2026.
Construction on the part of the project that will finish the trail from the new trailhead to Puyallup is scheduled for 2024 to 2029, according to WSDOT. The agency got funding this year to extend the path into downtown Tacoma, and is still finalizing a route and timeline for that part of the project.
This story was originally published in The News Tribune.