Kent accepts $4.7 million grant for Meeker Street Project

Get ready for a roundabout to be part of the city of Kent’s Meet Me on Meeker project.

The city’s plan for a promenade along Meeker Street to connect historic downtown on the east end with the Green River on the west end took another step when the City Council Feb. 21 accepted a $4.7 million federal grant distributed through the Puget Sound Regional Council.

That grant and another $1.3 million kicked in by the city for extension of the promenade between Thompson Avenue and the Interurban Trail will include a compact roundabout at West Meeker Street and Lincoln Avenue North, according to city documents. Other improvements include a two-way bicycle path on the south side of Meeker and enhanced pedestrian crossings. Meeker Street will be reduced to two lanes from four.

“The project will be built to the Meet Me on Meeker Street design standards adopted in 2016 through extensive public engagement,” according to city documents. “The improvements will support the link between neighborhoods and downtown Kent, and transportation users of all modes with pedestrian crossing facilities, lighting and separated bicycle facilities.”

Design is anticipated to begin in 2024 with a potential construction completion date of late 2025, according to city documents.

“This represents a very significant grant for the city and the region,” said David Paine, city transportation planner, in a Feb. 6 report to the council’s Public Works Committee. “The project marks a significant milestone for the city and it represents the vision from all of those involved to bring this to reality.”

City staff applied to the Puget Sound Regional Council in March 2022 for the Meet Me on Meeker grant. The city will use matching funds of $1.3 million from its street fund (supported by property taxes).

The project will provide approximately 775 feet of promenade connection along West Meeker Street between Washington Avenue North and the new roundabout at Lincoln Avenue, according to city documents. This project will improve the safety and comfort of both motorists and active transportation users as well as aesthetics and economic development along this important commercial corridor.

This marks another step as the city connects Meet Me on Meeker projects. A portion of West Meeker Street near Kent Elementary School will receive the same higher standard sidewalk/bicycle improvements as the rest of the Meet Me on Meeker project.

Earlier work included sidewalk improvements as part of the Ethos Apartments project across from the 18-hole Riverbend Golf Course; the driving range; and the Midtown 64 Apartments. The developers of the Ethos and Midtown 64 apartment complexes paid for the improvements along their property as part of a city requirement for the Meet Me on Meeker standards.