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PHOTO BY JOHN LARSON

LEVELED OUT. City crews will lower the elevation of this section of Mason Loop to make it easier to mow the grass.

Improvements planned for Mason Loop

By John Larson

Many North End residents enjoy walking or bicycling along Mason Loop, a wide area with paths and landscaping that runs down the middle of Mason Street. Several sections will soon undergo improvements.

Gary Foreman of Pierce County Master Gardeners gave a presentation on the topic during a board meeting of North End Neighborhood Council July 14.

Seven master gardeners have been studying parcels along block 9-10 and block 10-11, an area along Jefferson Elementary School, since March.

Foreman explained that Mason Loop began 11 years ago as a project of the Inside Bond. The city of Tacoma Grounds and Maintenance crews do the routine maintenance on the loop, and have provided some advice to the master gardeners.

Some new trees will be selected and will be smaller than some of the trees that grow elsewhere along the loop on the advice of Safe Streets for safety reasons. Smaller trees do not provide a place for muggers or other unsavory people to hide, Foreman explained.

Stan Smith, a member of the board, advised addressing what he described as current conditions that violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, since the project receives public funding. “It opens the city up to liability for legal action,” he remarked.

Foreman said that grounds and maintenance staff like large rocks in front of trees because they shield the trees from vehicles that stray off the road. There are currently such rocks farther north along the loop, and more will be brought in to the area that will undergo improvements.

Along block 10-11, city crews will reduce the elevation, because the current topography makes it difficult for them to mow the grass.

Work is scheduled to begin on the project in October. Foreman said the cost to make the improvements to the two blocks is currently slated to be between $8,750 and $10,000, although there is a possibility it will go somewhat higher. Block 9-10 has a price tag of $3,600 and Block 10-11 a price tag of $5,150.

The current estimate includes the cost of labor, beauty bark and TAGRO, a type of fertilizer produced by the city. The rocks will cost $150 each, which includes delivery.

Foreman noted a reason he likes such rocks – they force people who sit down on them for a rest to make eye contact and talk to each other.

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