The City has been working with the Federal Railroad Administration and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway for many years to try to qualify for a “Quiet Zone” for the downtown Kent area. In the summer of 2010, a Diagnostic Assessment Team was assembled including representatives from the City, the Utilities and Transportation Commission, BNSF Railway, and the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR).  This team conducted site visits and made recommendations at each of the downtown Kent railroad crossings that are included in the City’s proposed Railroad Quiet Zone. The Diagnostic Team conducted site visits and made recommendations for each railroad grade crossing that would allow Railroad Quiet Zones to be established on the BNSF and UP railroad mainline tracks through the City of Kent, effectively eliminating the routine sounding of locomotive horns within the City. 

The City is currently assessing a variety of engineering solutions for the crossings at each of the two railroad lines.  This currently unfunded project is estimated to cost between $1 million - $3 million (this estimate only includes construction costs.  It does not includecosts for engineering, design, inspection, permitting, contingencies, or ongoing maintenance.   

The multiple dead-ends in Kent are a result of development patterns that occurred in King County over the past decades, particularly during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, in areas that were subsequently annexed into Kent. The City will evaluate the possibility of connecting dead-end streets where it makes sense and does not too seriously impact property owners. A grid street system is often seen as beneficial because it allows traffic to flow more evenly, disperses traffic so there are fewer vehicles on each street, and allow better access for emergency vehicles.

The median separation between traffic directions on a roadway improves traffic congestion and safety. Medians are a common tool used to manage access points to a roadway. Though these barriers may seem frustrating to some drivers, they are a nationally accepted way to control the number of turns along a roadway corridor and improve safety. Traffic engineers decide where these medians should be located – generally where there is traffic congestion or safety is a problem.

If there is a street light in your area that is out, constantly on during the day, or is cycling on and off throughout the night, report the outage to Puget Sound Energy it will be repaired.  You can report the outage online at http://intolight.com/lightsout.html or you can report the outage toll free at 1(888) 225-5773.  If there is a streetlight emergency, such as a pole knock down, exposed wires, etc.; do not use the form, call 1 (888) 225-5773. 

The Transportation Master Plan (TMP) is a long-range plan that addresses the transportation needs of the City’s residents and business community for the next 20 years.

The TMP identifies potential solutions (such as improving safety and easing congestion through road widening, improving connectivity, or providing additional walking and biking routes), prioritizes solutions to improve the transportation system, and suggests a possible funding plan to make sure improvements happen over time.

Yes! Your input remains essential if the City’s transportation section is to maintain the most current understanding of transportation issues as they arise and change in all parts of the City. Please continue to submit questions and comments to Transportation staff, not just about the Transportation Master Plan but about any other transportation topic subject that’s on your mind. For general transportation comments, e-mail transportation@kentwa.gov. For Transportation Master Plan related comments, e-mail TMP@kentwa.gov.

The Transportation Master Plan recommendations for the bicycle system focus on safety and connecting cycling routes, east-west and north-south, and an important element of this is maximizing connection opportunities to the two longest and most-used existing bike facilities: the Green River and Interurban trails. Recommendations for connections to the two trails include a connector near the Puget Power Trail at about 222nd Street or 218th Street.

Among the Transportation Master Plan recommendations are projects to increase the number of east-west connections, ultimately making more connections to the Green River and Interurban trails, which can serve as a way to get north or south to any other bicycle facility. For example, the TMP recommends bike lanes on SE 248th from 94th Avenue SE all the way to 132nd Ave SE and on SE 256th Street from 132nd Ave SE to the city limits of Covington. It also recommends extending the shared travel lanes on SE 240th to connect existing bike lanes and completing the connection to the Interurban Trail. Planners will explore two possible paths for connecting the Green River Trail and the Interurban Trail near the Puget Power Trail. In addition, new north-south bike facilities will be designed into future street improvements on Military Road S, 116th Avenue SE, and 132nd Avenue SE.

The City of Kent has budgeted $250,000 to continue the existing community-based shuttle service: the Shopper Shuttle and the Commuter Shuttle (Routes 914, 916 and 918). In addition, the City budgeted another $2,600,000 for new transit service, the Route 913, as part of Transit Now. This new shuttle began in September of 2009 and circulates from the Kent Transit Center, through The Lakes and Riverview communities, through Kent Station, and back to the Kent Transit Center. Another Transit Now Partnership Agreement added new mid-day service on the Route 153 between Kent and Renton in September 2008.

We receive a lot of questions about the capacity, frequency, stops, and destinations of transit. Transit is important to a variety of transportation stakeholders. Commuters use it to get to work, businesses rely on it for their employees and customers, and some communities rely on transit as their primary source of transportation. Sound Transit and King County Metro Transit make decisions regarding routes, times, and frequency of bus and train service. Park-and-ride lots are also owned and operated by outside agencies like Sound Transit and King County Metro. However, the City of Kent has developed a Commute Trip Reduction plan that provides information and connections for worksites in Kent to a variety of alternative commute options, including flex schedules, compressed work weeks, teleworking, transit, and ridesharing. The City also actively coordinates with transit agencies and advocates for the service from Kent to meet the needs of Kent residents. However, with the passage of Transit Now, and based upon growth projections for the City, the Transportation Master Plan makes several recommendations for transit improvements, including increases in service to SeaTac, Renton, Bellevue, Auburn, Des Moines, and Federal Way, as well as increased east-west service along S 240th Street.

The population of Kent has nearly tripled in the last three decades, and this has required funding to improve and maintain the transportation system, as well as all the other infrastructure in the city. If population remained the same, we would have to implement far fewer improvements to the transportation system. However, the population of our city and of the region continues to expand, and the amount of traffic on the roads in Kent will only escalate. The transportation system in Kent has to change to meet this growing demand. There are a number of possible ways to pay for this, including using the funds that are already committed, applying for state and federal grants, establishing local improvement districts, development impact fees, business license fees, bonds, and other options. In all but the first case, these are new sources of revenue. It is important to note that the cost to implement the projects in the Transportation Master Plan is actually consistent with Kent’s investment in transportation over the past 11 years. If we continue to fund transportation projects during the next 20 years (the time span of the TMP) as we have for the past 11, we would be able to implement the TMP to meet the demands of our increasing growth.

Pedestrian recommendations in the Transportation Master Plan (TMP) include new sidewalks and sidewalk repair, and many of these recommendations are for neighborhood sidewalks and for pedestrian facilities near schools and parks. The priorities are divided into highest priorities, high priorities, and medium priorities. Also, while it’s not shown on the TMP, when new housing developments in Kent are built, the developers are required to meet certain criteria before the City will grant permission to build. Among these requirements are sidewalks, crosswalks, and lighting to provide safe environments for pedestrians. Installing sidewalks in existing neighborhoods, where there are currently no sidewalks, would require finding a new revenue source.