October 3, 2019

$1.96B Puget Sound Gateway starts, will upgrade highways 167 and 509

Images from WSDOT [enlarge]

The first stage of construction on SR 167 will include this bridge over I-5 in the city of Fife.

[enlarge]

Early work on SR 509 will include this bridge over the highway in the city of SeaTac.

Washington State Department of Transportation held a ceremony this week to kick off construction of the initial work on the $1.96 billion Puget Sound Gateway program.

The program connects two highways — state Route 509 in King County and state Route 167 in Pierce County — to ports in Seattle and Tacoma, as well as manufacturing and industrial centers.

“By completing SR 167 and SR 509, we are closing two of the state's major transportation gaps,” said Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar in a news release.

Work has been separated into three parts for each highway: stages 1a, 1b and 2. Two contracts have been awarded for stage 1a work: Atkinson Construction has a $40.9 million design-build contract for work on SR 167; and Kiewit Construction is doing work on SR 509 as part of its $1.4 billion design-build contract with Sound Transit to build the 7.8-mile Federal Way Link light rail extension.

WSDOT is kicking in $41 million for Kiewit's work, which includes a new $17 million bridge carrying state Route 99 over SR 509 in SeaTac and new retaining walls as part of the SR 509 stage 1a contract.

Atkinson could start construction early next year on its SR 167 stage 1a contract. This job involves a new 70th Avenue East bridge over Interstate 5 in Fife with a path for pedestrians and bicycles. Atkinson also will build a roundabout and widen SR 99 for left-turn channelization, bike lanes, drainage, planter strips, sidewalk and a new traffic signal. Other work will add a waterline from 20th Street to SR 99, and construct new trailhead parking for the Interurban Trail along with several hundred feet of new trail.

WSDOT wants to have the bridge over I-5 open in mid-2021.

WSDOT last month issued a request for qualifications for the SR 509 stage 1b design-build contract, which is estimated between $310 million and $350 million. This project will build a new section of SR 509 from I-5 to the 24th Avenue South interchange, including ramps to 24th Avenue and a tunnel below I-5.

Other elements of SR 509 stage 1b will:

• Reconstruct the SR 516 interchange

• Add a new northbound auxiliary lane from the I-5/SR 516 interchange to a new I-5/SR 509 interchange

• Add a new southbound auxiliary lane from the South 200th Street interchange southbound I-5 on-ramp to the SR 516 off-ramp from southbound I-5

• Add a new southbound collector/distributor from the I-5/SR 509 interchange to the I-5/SR 516 interchange

• Reconstruct the 216th Street bridge over I-5

• Restore the South 208th Street connection to SR 99

• Build 34th Avenue South to connect South 204th and 208th streets

Statements of qualification are due Nov. 1 for the SR 509 job, followed by a request for proposals on Jan. 21. WSDOT expects to pick a best value proposer in June. Construction would start afterward and finish in June 2025.

Stage 2 of the SR 509 project will build new highway from South 188th where SR 509 ends near Sea-Tac Airport down to 24th Avenue South, where it will connect with the beginning of SR 509 that will be built in stage 1b.

Stage 1b of the SR 167 project will build two miles of new highway between I-5 and the Port of Tacoma. Construction is scheduled to start in 2021 and take five years to finish. This stage is estimated at $300 million.

Stage 2 of the SR 167 project will build four miles of new highway between Meridian Avenue and I-5, as well as several new interchanges. WSDOT anticipates construction will start in early 2024 and will take 4.5 years to complete.

WSDOT is pursuing an $89 million federal grant for phase one work and doesn't have any funding for phase two, which would add a third lane in each direction of both projects.

For the overall Puget Sound Gateway Program, $1.57 billion will come from the Connecting Washington revenue package, $180 million from tolling revenue and $130 million from local jurisdictions.