Station Art Features:
Artwork at this station reflects the train yards just across
Puyallup Avenue, the history of Freighthouse Square as an actual
freighthouse for the Milwaukee Road, and the various sawmills that used to be
in this area. Seats that look like railroad spikes and a footbridge that look
like a trestle reflect the influence of the railroad. Sculptures on top of the
building that holds the clock look like dust collectors from a sawmill.
This is also the first multimodal station in the Puget Sound. From
here riders can choose between Link, Sounder rail to Seattle and Everett,
express and local buses, and national Greyhound buses. Plus, a 2,400 stall free
garage supports riders of all these systems. The Amtrak station is just down the street, and will eventually move to Freighthouse Square.
Station Design:
Single track. Platform on North side of the street (next to
garage), across from Freighthouse Square.
Links:
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Clock, Tacoma Dome
Station
Map of Tacoma Dome Station (click to enlarge)
area
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Area Links:
- Freighthouse Square
- Sounder Platform
- Tacoma Dome Station (buses) / Greyhound
- Link Maintenance Base
- Tacoma Dome
Ben's Thoughts
This station shows how to design a end point for a transit system.
A large parking garage allows users to park here and ride Link into downtown,
where parking is limited and expensive. Furthermore, riders can transition to
and from buses, including regional and national lines here, as well as to and
from the regional Sounder system. In fact, across the street and down a couple
of blocks is an Amtrak station, allowing access to the national rail
system.
On the other side of the street is Freighthouse Square. This is a
large indoor mall with restaurants, food court and shops. Considering that the
Link stations run past a college, businesses, hotels and a conference center
this allows people using those facilities to ride down to Freighthouse for
lunch or to do some quick shopping. Furthermore a couple blocks up the hill is
the Tacoma Dome, which hosts concerts, sporting events and exhibitions.
If I were working in downtown Tacoma near a Link station I would
normally park here and ride Link to my job. If I were living downtown and
working in Seattle, I would take Link to this station to either catch a bus or
Sounder to my job. I have started all my rides on Link from this station and
would always use it to visit businesses downtown rather than paying to park or
fighting over a space
History
This area of town used to have several sawmills in it, like much
of the Northwest. That is why the artwork reflects these mills. Freighthouse
Square had been a freighthouse for the Milwaukee Road, and the former tracks
running past it are now the tracks that Sounder runs on. These tracks are
currently also used by Tacoma Rail. My main memory of
the Dome area itself is a large grassy field with a large building, a former
Indian school, in it. I had not been to Freighthouse Square until a couple
years ago. It is actually a pretty interesting place with many options for food
and shopping.
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