Truck and car drivers no longer have to wait for trains along South 228th Street at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks.
Kent city officials Tuesday opened the South 228th Street overpass between 84th Avenue South and 76th Avenue South. The street had been closed for 18 months as construction crews completed the $20 million project.
But it could be a while before commuters and truck drivers see another new project to separate vehicle lanes from railroad tracks.
“We have challenges ahead of us to find money for projects like this,” Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday to open the four-lane overpass above the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) tracks.
Workers hauled nearly 50,000 cubic yards of fill material from the West Hill of Kent to build the embankment for the overpass. The bridge is approximately 120 feet long and 30 feet high.
City officials tracked down five funding partners for the South 228th project, including $7 million from the federal government, $5 million from the state, $3 million from the Washington State Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, $1 million from the Port of Seattle and $1 million from BNSF. The city spent $3 million.
But no city funds exist at this time for proposed railroad-street separation projects, estimated at anywhere from $25 million to $35 million each. Those projects include two along Willis Street, two on South 212th and the Union Pacific tracks on South 228th, just west of the new overpass.
The two projects to separate vehicles from trains along Willis Street are designed to build bridges for the trains with a four-lane roadway under the bridges, similar to the under-crossing at South 180th Street.
“Our next project is Willis Street because of the backup of traffic on Highway 167,” Cooke said.
As many as 12,000 to 15,000 vehicles per day will use the new South 228th overpass.
Terry Finn, BNSF government affairs director and a freight mobility board member, said trains no longer have to slow for the crossing and drivers of trucks and cars no longer need to stop.
“It’s a real benefit for the public because they no longer have to wait at the crossing,” Finn said.
Nearly 50 freight, Amtrak and Sounder trains use the BNSF tracks daily. Another dozen or so freight trains use the Union Pacific tracks.
Bill Bryant, a Port of Seattle commissioner, spoke at the event about the benefits of the overpass. The Port of Seattle paid about $1.3 million toward the project.
“Residents can move more easily and freight can move more easily,” Bryant said. “This is good for jobs in Kent, King County, Pierce County and across the state.”
Cooke said faster travel on roads through the city remains a high priority because Kent has nearly 40 million square feet of warehouse and manufacturing space.
“About one-third of the Port of Seattle truck trips use roads in the Kent Valley,” Cooke said.
The primary freight corridors through the valley include South 180th Street, South 196th Street, South 212th Street, South 228th Street, Willis Street and South 277th Street.
Construction crews have completed railroad-street separation projects over the last nine years in Kent along South 277th Street, South 196th Street and South 180th Street. The city of Auburn helped pay for the South 277th Street project on the southern border of Kent while the cities of Tukwila and Renton funded a large piece of the South 180th Street project on the northern border of Kent.
Construction started in June 2008 on the South 228th project.
South 228th Street funding
• Federal: $7 million
• State: $5 million
• City of Kent: $3 million
• State freight mobility board: $3 million
• Port of Seattle: $1 million
• BNSF: $1 million
• Total cost: $20 million
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