Planning 2013-05-23 Complete Transportation Background Report

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City of Tukwila: Background Report for the Transport Transportation Analysis and 2030 Improvement Recommerid' 1 jr CHAPTER 2. EXISTING TRANSPORTATION CONDITIONS As part of developing a comprehensive transportation network for the City of Tukwila, it is important to understand the existing conditions of the transportation system. The most recent Transportation Element was updated as a part of the Comprehensive Plan update in 2005. Since that time there have been several major changes in Tukwila, including the approval and annexation of Tukwila South, a major development area along Southcenter Parkway south of S 180th Street and substantial retail development in the Southcenter area. The purpose of this chapter is to document how the changes to local and regional land use patterns have affected the transportation system as of 2011. This chapter summarizes the current operations of the transportation network for all modes: vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, and transit. STUDY AREA The study area is the entire City of Tukwila, as shown in Figure 1. In some cases, the analysis is focused on the Southcenter area of the City, which is defined as the area bounded by 1 -405 to the north, S 180th Street to the south, 1 -5 to the west and SR 181 (W Valley Highway) to the east. Much of the future residential and employment growth within Tukwila is planned for this area, and it has unique traffic characteristics due to the concentration of commercial activity. STREET CLASSIFICATION The roadway network within the City of Tukwila is composed of freeways, principal, minor, and collector arterials, and local access streets as shown in Figure 2. North /south freeways include Interstate 5 (1 -5), State Route (SR) 599 and a portion of SR 99. East -west freeways include 1 -405 which runs east from 1 -5 into Renton and SR 518, which serves as a westerly extension of 1 -405 between 1 -5 and Burien. Figure 3 displays the speed limits along the main roadways within Tukwila. Although not exhaustive, the following list summarizes the main arterials throughout the city. North /South Arterials The following arterials run through Tukwila: • East Marginal Way S (principal and minor arterial) • Martin Luther King Jr. Way S (principal arterial) • Tukwila International Boulevard /Pacific Highway S (principal arterial) • W Valley Highway (principal arterial /state route) • Klickitat Drive (minor arterial) • Southcenter Parkway (minor arterial) • Andover Park West (minor arterial) • Andover Park East (minor arterial) East/West Arterials • S Boeing Access Road (principal arterial) • Southcenter Boulevard (principal and minor arterial) • Tukwila Parkway (minor arterial) • Strander Boulevard (minor arterial) • S 180th Street (principal and minor arterial) 111111111111111 I I " 11111 11111111