The resurfacing of South 19th street has not been without its share of complications. With this being one of two main streets which provide access for an ever growing Tacoma Community College, the need for unobstructed roadways is of vital importance. Tacoma Community College for example, has an enrollment of 14,000 students per year. Many students who attend Tacoma Community College, either rely on personal transportation or Pierce Transit Bus Service to get them to and from their classes.

Recently construction started on resurfacing of Mildred street. This project is estimated to be completed in late September 2014 with access to Tacoma Community College’s Mildred facing parking lots being restricted for the duration of the project and left turns onto our Mildred facing parking lots will be restricted. Concrete barriers have been installed on Mildred from Eleventh Street to South Nineteenth to ensure smooth flow of traffic during construction and to eliminate the possibility of migration into oncoming traffic by vehicles in either lane.

With the closure of Mildred for the re-surfacing of the road bed, this has also led to the re-routing of all Pierce Transit buses which use the Transit Facility which is located at the corner of Nineteenth and Mildred. This re-routing has led to schedule delays for most of the buses which operate in and out of this transit facility. Additionally this has meant most of the routes currently servicing this location are constantly late as this requires the buses to travel an extra 10 miles in detours which at 1 minute per mile, this accounts for an additional 10 minutes added to each trip. According to Pierce Transits own website, the cost for running these buses ranges from, depending upon the year model of the bus, ranges from $0.66 per mile vs $ 0.36 per mile. With multiple muses making these detour routes 7 days a week for the duration of this construction project and with the primary entrance to the transit facility, which is currently up graded and ready for use, remaining closed; these detours are causing mounting fees that Pierce Transit has to absorb in addition to current budget issues.

With these routes being re-routed means that in some cases connections which have been possible in the past are no longer possible. Students who rely solely on this transportation system to be able to get to and from class successfully must either make other arrangements or be late to class.The General contractor for this project is the City of Tacoma. Information available from other unnamed sources states that the main entrance which is on the Mildred side had been ready and functional which would eliminate the continued need for re-routes and the additional costs associated with this construction. Tax payers are paying for all this added expense which could be lessened by the restoring of traffic through the main Mildred entrance to the Transit Facility.

By Johnny R. Finley

Sources:
TCC