Surface traffic also a problem area

Originally published Saturday, November 29, 1997

By SCOTT SUNDE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Traffic can be atrocious at the south end of Sea-Tac. People driving to the airport from Tacoma and other points in the south -- about a third of Sea-Tac's customers come from that direction -- find themselves driving off Interstate 5 and onto city streets.

Not the least of the problems is that Highway 509, typically an unclogged freeway for travelers from north of the airport, ends at Sea-Tac's southwest corner.

A solution would be to continue 509 to I-5, though the money for that project, which would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, doesn't seem easily available.

The city does have an added source of revenue to study and begin to fix the problem. Under an agreement with the Port of Seattle, the city increased from 50 cents to $1 the flat tax it charges all people who use parking lots in SeaTac, says City Manager Calvin Hoggard.

That agreement resulted from the port's plans to build not only a third runway but other improvements at the airport, including a new terminal and additional parking.

The city could have stood in the way of those improvements, asserting its right to control development inside its borders. Instead, it agreed to work with the port.

At the same time, the city squeezed money out of the port to soften the effects of expansion.

The port has agreed, for example, to provide $6 million for a moving sidewalk or similar system that will move people from the terminals to the town's center.

First, however, SeaTac must find its center. The city will launch a study to identify what its center should be and where it should be.

Hoggard figures it will mean the creation of a retail and housing complex near City Hall, which is south of South 176th Street at International Boulevard. That's also where the Regional Transit Authority will likely put a light-rail station, Hoggard says.

"You go to communities around other airports, there's nothing to identify it," he says.

The entire agreement with the Port of Seattle reflects a longstanding philososphy by the city, says Brennan, the city councilman.

SeaTac officials don't want the third runway. But they say they believe lawsuits are destined to fail.

"Mitigation sure beats the hell out of litigation," Brennan says. "If the FAA says the third runway is going to be built there, it's going to be built there. The feds have eminent domain. So guess what's going to happen?"

Continued:

• Welcome to city of planes, pains and automobiles
• Airport is a noisy fact of life