The Sound Transit Board approved a plan Thursday that keeps the light-rail extension to Tacoma on track for a scheduled 2035 completion, shaping the future of transit in Pierce County and the region.
Passed during a roughly six-hour meeting that included several amendments, the update to Sound Transit 3 (ST3) addressed a $34 billion funding gap in the 2016 ballot measure expanding regional transit. The lengthy board session, which prompted tough discussions about regional projects on the back-burner, featured no changes to Pierce County projects from the cost-cutting proposal presented in early May.
The Tacoma Dome Link Extension, currently estimated to cost $6.6 billion, is fully funded and anticipated to begin construction by 2030, according to the updated ST3 plan. The estimated $1.7-billion T Line expansion to Tacoma Community College is also fully funded and expected to open in 2043, two years later than previously scheduled…