Lakewood Residents Skeptical About Amtrak Project

Some were convinced but most Lakewood area residents were skeptical about the Point Defiance Bypass Project.

The Washington State Department of Transportation held a public open house at the Tillicum Community Center Monday night and were available to answer questions or address concerns.

According to WSDOT, the Point Defiance Bypass project is a capital rail project proposing to reroute passenger trains from the BNSF Railway main line that runs near Point Defiance and along southern Puget Sound to an existing rail line that runs along west of I-5 through south Tacoma, Lakewood, Ft. Lewis and DuPont.

Patch spoke to a number of residents to gauge their thoughts on the project. Most of them were against it, citing safety, noise, increased traffic as the main issues. But Tony Rzewnicki said he lives about 70 yards within the railroad tracks and believes it's a good project.

"Transportation is big to economic development," Rzewnicki said. "This is an opportunity to take advantage of efficient transportation."

WSDOT said the existing rail line under consideration is located along an 18-mile lightly used freight corridor owned by Sound Transit and part of the bypass route is the same route that Sound Transit will use to extend Sounder commuter rail to Lakewood.

Virginia Gonnason, Lakewood resident, doesn't see a reason for it.

"Don't take it through high (population) density places," Gonnason said.

Amtrak Cascades faces a reliability problem amid record ridership. Passengers are arriving late to their destination because of the elongated route. Melanie Coon, Cascades media relations manager, said WSDOT has to show they are mitigating the issues being addressed by the residents.

"Community input is a huge part of this," she said. "Tillicum is a high priority."

Still, residents like Angela Chatmon aren't sold on increasing train trips through her neighborhood. With traffic already an issue during rush hour, she's afraid this will only add to the congestion.

"I work at the McChord field and I cross the tracks every morning," she said. "It seems like a traffic nightmare."

WSDOT anticipates the completion of the traffic analysis and environmentaly impact statement of the bypass project to be done by summer of 2012. The project needs approval from the Federal Railroad Administration.