Sound Transit selects Walsh Construction to build Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension

Construction to begin as early as this fall on 2.4 mile extension to the Hilltop including seven new stations

The Sound Transit Board of Directors today selected Walsh Construction Company II, LLC to build the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension and construct seven new platform stations. The project will extend the rail line from the Theater District in downtown Tacoma to the Stadium District and Hilltop neighborhoods.

“We couldn’t be more excited to finally break ground and begin construction on this expansion of Tacoma Link to the Hilltop,” said Sound Transit Boardmember and Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards. “This project has already generated economic growth in the Hilltop district and we anticipate future development that will draw more people who want to live and work in downtown Tacoma in the coming years.”

The $108 million contract includes relocation of utilities, construction of five traction power stations, an overhead contact system, new traffic signals, new ADA curb ramps, roadway restoration and expansion of the existing Tacoma Link Operations and Maintenance Facility and rail yard. The project is also procuring five new light rail vehicles to add to the Tacoma Link fleet.

The $217 million Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension project expands the existing Tacoma Link system an additional 2.4 miles up Stadium Way, 1st Street, Division Avenue and down Martin Luther King Jr. Way to S. 19th Street. This project is funded through a partnership between Sound Transit, the City of Tacoma and a $75 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration which received support from the region’s Congressional delegation.

Service on the new extension is schedule to begin in 2022. A future voter-approved extension of Tacoma Link will extend this neighborhood-scale service to Tacoma Community College by 2039.

More information on the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension is available at www.soundtransit.org/htlink.