New Veterans Drive tunnel under I-5 in Kent to open to traffic
Published 12:01 pm Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Drivers will have another option to drive through the busy Interstate 5 and State Route 516 interchange when the new Veterans Drive tunnel in Kent opens to traffic at 5 a.m. Wednesday, July 16.
The tunnel runs beneath I-5 just north of the SR 516 underpass, linking Veterans Drive to the southbound I-5 off-ramp and the northbound I-5 on-ramp, according to a July 15 Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) travel advisory. It also links to Veterans Drive, which was extended across Military Road South. This new tunnel creates a convenient alternative to Kent-Des Moines Road/SR 516 by allowing people to travel between the Kent Valley and I-5 with fewer turns.
The Veterans Drive tunnel is part of the SR 509 Completion Project. The cost for the the SR 509 Completion Project in King County and the SR 167 Completion Project in Pierce County is $2.69 billion, according to WSDOT.
The SR 509 Completion Project builds 3 miles of new tolled highway between I-5 and South 188th Street near the south end of Sea-Tac Airport. The new highway will be completed in stages. The portion between I-5 and 24th Avenue South in SeaTac opened earlier this summer.
The final stage builds the remaining 2 miles of the expressway between 24th Avenue South and South 188th Street in SeaTac. The entire project is planned for completion by 2029. The new portion of SR 509 will be tolled, according to WSDOT. Rates have not yet been set.
Construction on the Veterans Drive tunnel kicked off in 2021, with crews excavating more than 100,000 cubic yards of soil to make room for the tunnel which has two lanes in each direction and is 187 feet long and 23 feet tall, according to WSDOT.
