6th Avenue is a major east–west
street
A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of di ...
in
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...
, United States. It runs for across the city, connecting
Tacoma Community College to the
North End and
downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...
.
6th Avenue defines the directional north/south prefixes for streets.
State Route 16 and its predecessors followed 6th Avenue between the
Tacoma Narrows Bridge and downtown until the construction of a freeway in the 1980s. The historic business district of 6th Avenue from approximately State to Alder remains one of the most active business districts in the city. An elected
chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ...
called the Sixth Avenue Business District manages activities in the neighborhood.
Street description
6th Avenue begins as a continuation of South Wilton Road on the south side of the
Tacoma Narrows
The Tacoma Narrows (or the Narrows), a strait, is part of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. A navigable maritime waterway between glacial landforms, the Narrows separates the Kitsap Peninsula from the city of Tacoma.
The Narrows i ...
near
Titlow Park and Day Island. The street crosses over a double-tracked railroad and briefly turns north around the park while climbing a hill. After another brief curve at Jackson Avenue, 6th Avenue turns due east and runs through a commercial area north of
Tacoma Community College and south of
State Route 16 (SR 16). The street reaches an interchange with SR 16 at Pearl Street (part of
SR 163), which travels north to
Point Defiance. 6th Avenue continues east across northern Tacoma, passing the
University of Puget Sound
The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional ...
campus and a linear business district named for the street. At Sprague Avenue, it turns northeasterly and splits away from Division Avenue, passing south of the city's hospitals and
Wright Park. 6th Avenue then enters downtown Tacoma and terminates at Broadway, which overlooks
Commencement Bay
Commencement Bay is a bay of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The city of Tacoma is located on the bay, with the Port of Tacoma occupying the southeastern end. A line drawn from Point Defiance in the southwest to Browns Point in ...
.
References
External links
Sixth Avenue Business DistrictFormer Sixth Avenue on Tacoma's Neighborhood Business Districts WebsiteArt on the Ave website
Transportation in Tacoma, Washington
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