The tunnel will be filled with dirt and the new Ruston Way constructed connecting the bottom of 51st across the base of Stack Hill - at a higher elevation than the current road. The detour directs traffic up Pearl to 46th, then down Ferdinand to Ruston Way.
Businesses along 51st Street will loose most of their commuter traffic, but remain open during this months-long process. Please be sure to visit your local shops during the next 9 months to help ensure their survival. The sewer construction starts in July as well, so traffic will be a challenge.
I think we all understand this is a necessary step, despite the pressures on our local community and businesses. The closing of tunnel marks the completion of an era for Ruston. The tunnel is the last remaining structure related to the smelter that built this town. Regardless of your views on the smelter, no one can deny we started as a proud blue collar town who forged our own way despite the odds.
No one expected Ruston to survive after Asarco closed its Tacoma Plant, yet here we are.... very different than our founding fathers but still standing. I for one appreciate our history and the hard-working families that built this community. So many of them have moved or passed on. I wish they could all be here to watch this final piece of town history be buried with us. It's their faces I see as we mark the end of this era....
Karen
2 comments:
Everyone be sure to drive through one last time and honk your horn! It's a tradition.
OMG can't we have a R.I.P. party ASAP?
This is an end of an era & I feel a need to celebrate the new growth. Any ideas?
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