East D Street, a major corridor for rail and motor freight entering and leaving the Port of Tacoma industrial area officially opened, providing freight, motorists and pedestrians better access to much of Tacoma's industrialized "Tideflats" area as well as the revitalized Thea Foss Waterway.

The overpass features wide sidewalks for pedestrians and bicyclists, Tacoma waterfront history placards and - built into the very architecture of the bridge - concrete silhouettes of historic Foss tugboats.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony, speakers acknowledged the accomplishments of the $24.5 million FAST (Freight Action Strategy for the Everett-Seattle-Tacoma Corridor) project and its funding partners.

"This project wonderfully blends Tacoma's rich maritime history with our present-day need to provide pedestrians and bicyclists access to recreational and commercial areas along the Foss Waterway," said Port of Tacoma Commissioner Clare Petrich. "At the same time, the overpass greatly improves freight mobility in and out of our region by separating rail and truck traffic. This is critical, because an efficient freight transportation system creates family-wage jobs for our community."

East D Street was once a busy at-grade crossing, used by dozens of long trains and hundreds of trucks each day. And nearby, a tight curve around the South end of the Thea Foss Waterway slowed trains entering and leaving the Port industrial area.

Today's completed overpass separates train and motor vehicle traffic by raising the roadway over the railroad tracks. This new infrastructure allowed the realignment of the tracks to ease the curve around the waterway - tripling rail capacity. Meanwhile, vehicle traffic - including motor freight - no longer waits for the trains that previously closed off D Street at grade.

The City of Tacoma was the lead agency on the Corridor project. Funding partners included:

  • BNSF Railway
  • City of Tacoma
  • Economic Development Administration
  • Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board
  • Port of Tacoma
  • Puget Sound Regional Council Surface Transportation Program
  • Sound Transit
  • State of Washington
  • State of Washington Transportation Improvement Board
  • Union Pacific Railroad