Greenroads Certified Silver

Alaska Street Arterial Improvement

 

Summary

Owner: City of Tacoma, WA

Allocated Construction Cost: $3.72 million

Funders/Stakeholders: City of Tacoma Environmental Services, Washington Department of Ecology, Tacoma Water, Transportation Improvement Board

Design: City of Tacoma

Contractor: Miles Resources

Functional Class: Collector

Length: 1.10 miles (2.20 lane-miles)

Greenroads Version: v1.5

Description

The Alaska Street Arterial Improvement project, from S 72nd St. to S 56th St. completed the Alaska St. corridor and served the southeast vicinity of Tacoma. Project features included much improved bike and pedestrian access and more efficient motorized vehicle transportation. The project is a collector running between Interstate 5 to the west and Wapato Lake and Wapato Park to the east. The finished corridor has improved utility systems, reduces pollutant loading to the adjacent lake, and has enhanced amenities for active transportation modes following the guidelines of the complete streets program.

Features

Project features included significantly improved bike and pedestrian access and more efficient motorized vehicle transportation. The project reduced pollutant loading into Wapato Lake by improving drainage capacity through storm sewer improvements and porous pavement infiltration. Highlights of the project included:

• Widened sidewalks, curb ramps, and pedestrian islands
• Bike lanes added over entire project length
• Replacement of outdated sanitary sewer system
• Use of pervious pavement and connection to storm sewer to eliminate untreated stormwater runoff into Wapato Lake
• Traffic signals connected to centralized controls to improve traffic flow
• Lighting upgrades certified by the Illuminating Engineering Society to reduce light pollution