Reconnect South Park
What's Happening Now?
In February 2023, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $1.6 million for Reconnect South Park, a neighborhood-based group that is developing a plan to remove or restructure State Route 99 through South Park.
In 2022, South Park residential, business, and industrial communities worked with a selected consultant team to develop the Community Vision Plan. The technical study will assess the current impacts of SR-99 in South Park and potential impacts of multiple alternative configurations. The studies will consider issues of mobility, safety, environmental quality, health, and economic opportunity.
After the consultant contracts are awarded, the selected neighborhood-based organization from the Duwamish Valley will engage community to develop goals and vision that inform which alternatives are studied and what evaluation methods are used. Sign up for updates to stay engaged in South Park planning efforts as the project develops.
Request for Proposals
- Community Vision Plan (submit by September 30)
- Technical Analysis (submit by October 14)
- Community Vision Plan presentation
- Techical Analysis presentation
South Park is a unique neighborhood and cultural community in the Duwamish Valley. The majority of South Park residents are people of color, and about 25 percent are recent immigrants. South Park also has the most youth per capita of any neighborhood in the city.
State Route 99 cuts diagonally across South Park’s street grid and divides the neighborhood in two. The highway contributes to public safety concerns and makes it difficult to walk or bike in the neighborhood. There is currently only one at-grade crossing point on a busy freight route and one pedestrian overpass.
Living near highways has been shown to be harmful to health and well-being, especially for youth and the elderly. Every place where neighborhood children congregate—the elementary school, two parks, the library, and the community center—is directly adjacent to State Route 99.
South Park residents face other significant environmental challenges, including pollution from nearby industrial activity, highways, and overhead flight paths. Cumulatively, these environmental burdens cause South Park residents to have a 13-year shorter life expectancy than residents of other Seattle neighborhoods.
In 2022, the Washington State Legislature adopted legislation to provide $600,000 to be administered by OPCD to study the removal or restructuring of State Route 99 through South Park. Community advocates sought the state funding to identify and address the current harms caused by State Route 99 and improve community health, well-being, and economic opportunity.
October 2022: Consultant contracts awarded
November 2022: Community engagement work begins
January 2025: Final consultant reports published