Outdated transportation infrastructure, Panama Canal challenges for Tacoma economy

The U.S. Open remains on Tacoma’s horizon, and while some are anticipating the action on Chambers Bay’s green fields, others are looking forward to the green cash that will come along with the event.

Seattle Time’s economic columnist John Talton told KIRO Radio’s Seattle Morning News that this is an opportunity for Tacoma.

“You have an enormous number of big wigs who come to the U.S. Open and they are going to be coming to the Tacoma area for the first time in many cases,” Talton said. “And this is where deals are done. The people who make decisions on deploying capitol worldwide, they’re there.”

But while those green bucks are coming down the road, that road may pose a problem for the Tacoma region. Part of Highway 167 is under construction, for example. But more than that, the region’s overall transportation system is behind the times, especially when it comes to rail, according to Talton. It’s an obstacle for Tacoma to take part in the region’s economic prosperity.

“Yes, we have a very backward transportation system,” Talton said. “And because there’s not enough rail service between Tacoma and Seattle, this is something that is keeping Tacoma from benefiting from the spillover effect that is happening in the Seattle area.”

The key to bringing dollars to the Tacoma area could be in the old adage: You have to spend money to make money. Investing in transportation around Tacoma could help consumers, investors and more bring their dollars to Tacoma.

In order to spend money in Tacoma, they have to be able to get there, according to Talton.

Talton notes that there is another economic threat to the region, for both Seattle and Tacoma. The Panama Canal is being widened. Much larger container ships will be flowing through the canal in the future. That could shift a balance of shipping goods to the waterways, instead of local rail. That’s a threat to both the Port of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle.

“What we considered to be huge container ships 10 years ago, are now obsolete,” Talton said. “They are going to be building these huge container ships. With the wider Panama Canal these ships can fit through it and take traffic direct to the Gulf Coast and the East Coast; traffic that used to come through here and go east on rail.”