Changes will be coming next year to the busy intersection of Willis Street and 74th Avenue South in Kent.
The Kent City Council on Oct. 15 approved a $2.03 million low bid by Strickland & Sons Excavation, of Buckley, for the rechannelization of the intersection at Willis Street (aka State Route 516)) and 74th Avenue South, including roadway construction, signal, illumination, storm drainage and other utility work.
“We expect work to start right after the first of the year, with completion next summer,” City Public Works Director Chad Bieren said in an Oct. 18 email.
The primary change for drivers will be anyone heading northbound on 74th Avenue will have to turn right (east) on Willis Street. If drivers want to go left (west) on Willis, as many do to access State Route 167, they will need to use the Fourth Avenue South roundabout just down the road and turnaround.
“I tested it and it took about a minute without traffic,” Bieren said to the council.
Bieren said drivers must now wait for the left-turn signal to access Willis Street and head west. The westbound and eastbound Willis Street turning movements to southbound 74th Ave South will remain unchanged.
The reasoning behind the project is to reduce congestion and create future access for Naden Avenue South to Willis from Meeker Street, all part of a major plan by the city to sell its nearby 7.7 acres to a developer. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), because Willis Street is a state highway, required the city to install a roundabout at Fourth Avenue and this latest 74th Avenue project in order for the city to create access to the Naden property.
“We started asking WSDOT for access to Willis Street for the city’s Naden property about 20 years ago when Mayor (Jim) White was here and I was a young engineer,” Bieren said.
The city began to purchase the Naden properties in 2002 with plans for an aquatic center. But city leaders later abandoned that plan because of the high costs and then agreed to partner with the YMCA to build a fitness facility on the East Hill that opened in 2019.
Over the last several years the city has been trying to sell the land to a developer. A proposal for a hotel on a portion of the property fell through in 2020. A plan for a technology complex stalled. The city’s marketing of the property continues. The property sits just north of Willis Street, south of West Meeker Street and east of Highway 167.
Strickland and Sons submitted the lowest of six bids for the project.
“The bids were all pretty tight,” Bieren said. “We’re excited to have this going forward.”
The cost of the project will be covered by funds the city received from the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic, known as the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to combat the cost impacts of the pandemic, which included lost revenue. Cities must obligate ARPA funds by Dec. 31, 2024, and spend them by Dec. 31, 2026. Kent received $28 million in federal relief.
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A graphic shows where a new Naden Avenue South would enter Willis Street and that drivers heading north on 74th Avenue South must turn right on Willis Street. COURTESY GRAPHIC, City of Kent
