Project overview
This project will rehabilitate the existing pavement and preserve the roadway surface and bring curb ramps that are impacted by resurfacing work up to meet current ADA accessibility criteria.
Crews will grind and inlay new Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA), perform pavement repair, striping and traffic control.
This project is subject to WSDOT’s Complete Streets and Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act requirements. WSDOT will work with its partners and members of the community to evaluate the complete streets needs for SR 516.
What to expect
During construction, crews will grind the road surface and inlay new HMA. Work will primarily be performed at night. Throughout the project, travelers can expect directional and double-lane closures along SR 516. Single-lane closures at some locations for curb ramp construction are possible.
A vicinity map of the project limits on State Route 516 in Kent. The project limits are marked with an orange line.
The roadway that would become SR 516 began as the Kent-Kangley wagon road in the 1890s. It was first paved in 1937 and was considered two separate highways; its eastern and western segments were treated as separate facilities until a renumbering in 1964 established both as components of a single continuous highway 516.
Now, nearly 28,500 vehicles travel on this roadway daily. Both directions of SR 516, from SR 181 to SR 515, are deteriorating and are past their 2019 replacement deadline.
Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act
This project is subject to Washington's environmental justice law, known as the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act. Environmental justice in Washington State, as provided in the HEAL Act, addresses disproportionate environmental and health impacts in all laws, rules, and policies by prioritizing vulnerable populations and overburdened communities, the equitable distribution of resources and benefits, and eliminating harm (RCW 70A.02.010).
Complete Streets
Complete Streets means planning, designing and operating transportation facilities that meet the needs of all modes of transportation. Using WSDOT’s Complete Streets approach, this project will go through a pre-design phase to develop alternatives that enable comfortable and convenient access for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users traveling along and across SR 516. The pre-design phase of the project will include community engagement to understand the needs of tribes, overburdened communities, multimodal users, residents and other interested parties in the area.
The objective of the pre-design phase is to develop a vision for the corridor that accommodates all modes of travel, and to identify improvements for inclusion in the paving project that will expand options for non-drivers, making travel more predictable for all users.
Agency/partner coordination and meetings
We intend to establish working groups with agencies and partners to provide technical feedback and to inform WSDOT during the Complete Streets pre-design process.
Community engagement
Community engagement will be conducted throughout the project. Specific engagement opportunities will be updated as the project advances.