Another decade-long project will connect Highway 509 to I-5
Oct 6, 2016, 5:29 AM
We highlighted the completion of Highway 167 between Puyallup and Tacoma earlier this week. Now, we’re turning our attention to the second half of what’s called the Gateway Project: the completion of Highway 509.
It’s not the original design that planners had wanted. The Washington State Department of Transportation originally wanted to take 509 from Seattle to Tacoma on a parallel track to I-5. It was never carried through and development went forward in Federal Way, killing the plans for an extended I-5 alternative. WSDOT is going to extend 509 to I-5, but just not as far south as originally intended.
Currently, Highway 509 ends at the southwest corner of Sea-Tac Airport at 188th. The Gateway Project will extend 509 from there to I-5 just north of Kent-Des Moines Road. This would give trucks from the Port of Seattle the option of heading to I-5 much further south, rather than fighting through Seattle traffic to get to the freeway.
The project would also provide a much-needed and long-planned south approach to Sea-Tac Airport.
“They’ll be able to come up 509 and get off at an interchange and drive right into the drive system,” said Craig Stone, Gateway Project manager. “If you’ve ever looked at the drive system for the airport, there are actually stub-outs. They have always planned to have south access there. It’s just taken a while to get there.”
The project also includes improvements to the Kent-Des Moines Road, Veteran’s Drive and other roads leading into the Kent Valley.
The new Highway 509 extension would be a tolled facility if the Legislature approves the idea. Stone said the preliminary data shows a variable toll of between $0.30 and $2.
This project has the same timeline as the Highway 167 portion of the plan — 10 to 15 years.
