Atkinson Construction is progressing on the Veterans Drive tunnel within the SR 509 Completion Project, enhancing Washington's highway network. The tunnel will improve access to Kent Valley's manufacturing industries and alleviate congestion on SR 516. The project, funded at $2.68 billion, aims to provide an alternative north-south route to I-5, benefitting freight mobility and regional transportation. Stage 1A is complete, with Stage 2 and Stage 1B underway for future completion.
Photo courtesy of Washington Department of Transportation
Atkinson Construction is building a a new Veterans Drive tunnel under SR 509, part of the nearly $3 billion SR 509 Completion Project in King County, Wash.
Atkinson Construction is making steady progress on the new Veterans Drive tunnel as part of the SR 509 Completion Project.
This portion of work is part of the overall Puget Sound Gateway Program, which aims to build critical connection points in Washington's highway and freight network.
In August, crews began shifting northbound I-5 traffic to the left over a recently completed section of the Veterans Drive tunnel near SR 516 in SeaTac so work could continue.
Photo courtesy of Washington Department of Transportation
The tunnel runs east-west under I-5 and will provide more direct access to manufacturing industries in the Kent Valley, allowing freight to bypass the busy SR 516 interchange. The tunnel is made of steel arches and will carry two lanes of traffic in each direction.
"Finishing SR 509 will improve freight mobility to and from our ports and provide an important north-south alternative to I-5 between Seattle and south King County," said Gateway Program Administrator John White. "Atkinson Construction has a long history of successfully delivering complex highway projects for WSDOT. We're looking forward to working with them to complete the design and construction of the final 2 miles of SR 509."
The SR 509 Completion Project in King County is part of the Puget Sound Gateway Program, which also includes the SR 167 Completion Project in Pierce County. Together, these projects complete two of the Puget Sound region's most critical freight corridors and improve access to I-5, the ports of Tacoma and Seattle and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The SR 509 Completion Project builds a new four-lane expressway between I-5 and SR 509's current end near Sea-Tac Airport, builds new I-5 ramps, improves I-5 interchanges in south King County and constructs new bridges. When complete, the project will create an important north-south alternative to the congested I-5 corridor between Seattle and south King County.
A total of $2.68 billion funds both the SR 509 Completion Project in King County and the SR 167 Completion Project in Pierce County.
Stage 1A — Open
For Stage 1a of the SR 509 Completion Project, WSDOT partnered with Sound Transit's Federal Way Link Extension project to build a new SR 99 bridge near South 208th Street and new walls to reduce noise to nearby neighborhoods. The partnership reduces construction impacts by building both projects at the same time. The SR 99 bridge was opened to traffic in July 2022.
Second Stage
The SR 509 Stage 2 project includes two lanes in each direction of the future expressway. It rebuilds the interchanges at South 160th Street on the existing portion of SR 509 in Burien and South 188th Street in SeaTac, where SR 509 currently ends. It also builds a southbound I-5 auxiliary lane between SR 516 and South 272nd Street in Kent. In Des Moines, the project will improve 14 acres of land near Barnes Creek off Des Moines Memorial Drive.
Stage 2 is a design-build contract, which combines project final design and construction into a single contract. Atkinson Construction will spend most of 2024 completing design and planning work. Construction is expected to begin in late 2024 or early 2025, with the new expressway scheduled to open to traffic in 2028.
SR 509 Stage 1B – I-5 to 24th Avenue South
Stage 1b of the SR 509 Completion Project is under way after beginning construction in 2021. It builds the first mile of the new expressway between I-5 and 24th Avenue South. Stage 1b also includes a northbound I-5 flyover ramp to SR 509, a reconfigured I-5/SR 516 interchange, a new Veterans Drive tunnel under the interstate and a new South 216th Street bridge. This stage of construction is expected to be complete in 2025.
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