Groundbreaking Event: SW 27th, Strander Connection

Travel in Renton is about to get a little easier. The air may get a little cleaner, too.

Until now there’s been no easy way to travel from SW 27th Street in Renton to Strander Boulevard in Tukwila. That’ll change over the next few years.

On Tuesday, Jan. 31 Mayor Denis Law and Renton City Council members will join Karen Schmidt, Executive Director, Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board (FMSIB); Steve Gorcester, Executive Director, Transportation Improvement Board (TIB); and representatives from Sound Transit and The Boeing Company for the groundbreaking of the SW 27th/Strander Boulevard Street connection. The event will take place at 10 a.m. at SW 27th Street at Naches Avenue SW, just north of the Federal Reserve Bank.

This project is expected to promote the use of public transit, and lead to improved air quality in the region due to more convenient public access to the Sounder commuter rail from the east and supporting use of Sounder, Amtrak and other mass transit modes.

A collaboration of the cities of Renton and Tukwila, The Boeing Company, Amtrak, BNSF Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, Sound Transit, the State of Washington, the Washington State Department of Transportation, and the US Department of Transportation, the connection will provide “a critical east/west connection that is missing between SW 27th Street in Renton and Strander Boulevard in Tukwila, and provide an alternate route to I-405 between I-5 and SR-167,” according to a statement from the City.

Construction will begin in late January 2012 and is expected to wrap up by the summer of 2014.

Event Details:
What: SW 27th/Strander Boulevard Street Connection Groundbreaking
Where: Intersection of SW 27th Street with Naches Avenue SW
When: 10 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 31