Sound Transit unveiled two new hybrid alternatives yesterday at their Tacoma Link open house at Tacoma Dome Station.

Tacoma City Councilmember David Boe and the Streetcar Stakeholders group respectively proposed the two corridors. Boe's alternative (dubbed H1) combines a portion of the Salishan alternative from 29th and Portland Avenue at the proposed Emerald Queen Casino complex and proceeds up 25th Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Way.  The second hybrid (H2) would link St. Joseph Hospital, Tacoma General and the Stadium District via MLK Way, Division and Stadium Way and along to 29th and Portland Avenue. Costs for Boe's H1 are calculated at roughly $199 million, with H2 coming in at $170 million.  According to engineers on the project, funds to add double tracking along South 25th and on Pacific Avenue is not included in these cost estimates. Ridership on these two corridors is projected to be lower than the Hilltop or Sixth Avenue corridors at 2.5-3.0 million riders per year, but higher than the Salishan corridor.

One panel from Sound Transit indicates that grades along all streets leading East-West up to Tacoma Avenue from Pacific Avenue exceed the grade tolerance for streetcar and would make operations impractical. The H1 alignment, for instance, has grades between 8 percent and 16 percent along South 25th Street. Streetcars are generally able to traverse grades of less than 8 percent.

The tone of public comments for the new hybrid alternatives was harsh.  "The engineering challenges of [the H1] approach seem insurmountable at reasonable cost," one attendee wrote. "I can't believe we held up the process for this," one wrote about the H2 corridor. Another person added, "If the casino wants to pay for it, let them."

Many are hoping that this open house will mark the end of what has been a nine-year stretch of feasibility and corridor studies that began in 2004, shortly after Tacoma Link opened for service.

The Tacoma City Council is scheduled to be briefed on the results of Sound Transit's analysis of the hybrid alternatives at next Tuesday's study session, April 16.  A recommendation to Sound Transit expected in the following weeks.