{{Short description|State highway in King County, Washington, US}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Good article}} {{Infobox road |state=WA |type=SR |route=515 |spur_type=I |spur_of=5 |section=705 |map={{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|frame-height=310|frame-lat=47.427|frame-long=-122.203|zoom=11|type=line|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Washington State Route 515}}}} |map_custom=yes |map_notes=A map of Kent and Renton with SR 515 highlighted in red |length_mi=7.86 |length_round=2 |length_ref=<ref name="log">{{WSDOT State Highway Log |year=2017 |pages=1507–1512 |link=yes |access-date=August 31, 2018}}</ref> |established=1964 |direction_a=South |terminus_a={{jct|state=WA|SR|516}} in Kent |junction={{jct|state=WA|I|405}} in Renton |direction_b=North |terminus_b={{jct|state=WA|SR|900}} in Renton |county=King |previous_type=SR |previous_route=513 |next_type=SR |next_route=516 }}
'''State Route 515''' ('''SR 515''') is a state highway in the U.S. state of Washington serving suburban King County. The highway travels {{convert|8|mi|km|1}} north from SR 516 in eastern Kent to Renton, where it intersects Interstate 405 (I-405) and SR 900. It has carried the memorial designation of Martin Luther King Jr. Way since December 2025.<ref name="MLK-2025">{{cite news |last=Hunter |first=Steve |date=December 28, 2025 |title=MLK Jr. Way street name to extend to Renton, Kent from Seattle |url=https://www.rentonreporter.com/news/mlk-jr-way-street-name-to-extend-to-renton-kent-from-seattle/ |work=Renton Reporter |access-date=December 29, 2025}}</ref>
The highway was originally built by the county government in the 1910s as a winding gravel road connecting local coal mines. It was straightened and paved in the 1920s and was designated as Secondary State Highway 5C (SSH 5C) in 1937. SSH 5C was replaced by SR 515 in the 1964 state highway renumbering and extended north into downtown Renton after the construction of I-405. A section of the highway on Talbot Highway was moved to a new bypass road in 1982 and other sections in Kent were widened to four lanes in 1991. The I-405 underpass was rebuilt as a half diamond interchange in 2010.
==Route description==
SR 515 begins at an intersection with SR 516 east of downtown Kent, in the business district of the East Hill neighborhood. The highway travels north on a four-lane section of 104th Avenue Southeast, passing Kent-Meridian High School and several suburban neighborhoods. SR 515 then diverts northeast onto 108th Avenue and crosses Harrison Creek, leaving Kent city limits near Panther Lake.<ref name="WSDOT-Map">{{cite map |author=Washington State Department of Transportation |year=2014 |title=Washington State Highways, 2014–2015 |url=https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2006/06/13/TouristMapFront_withoutHillshade.pdf |inset=[https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2017/08/31/highway-map-PugetSound_Full.pdf Puget Sound] |location=Olympia |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |access-date=August 31, 2018 |archive-date=February 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221194441/https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/2D10703F-9ADF-4A95-A14E-2A36FEAF1C20/0/Statewide2014NoHillshade.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The highway enters Renton and continues north through suburban neighborhoods along the east edge of the SR 167 freeway. It passes the Valley Medical Center at Carr Road and turns northwest onto Benson Road. SR 515 then descends from Talbot Hill and passes under a pedestrian overpass at Thomas Teasdale Park.<ref name="googlemaps">{{google maps |title=State Route 515 |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/47.3725398,-122.202393/47.4812258,-122.2041839/@47.4268983,-122.2728197,12z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m11!4m10!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-122.2072458!2d47.4633165!3s0x54905d469d57b1cf:0xcca6d2f297d87d7b!1m0!2m1!1b1!3e0 |access-date=August 30, 2018}}</ref>
The highway then supersedes a section of Talbot Road and crosses under I-405, which it intersects in a half diamond interchange at the south edge of downtown Renton.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 21, 2016 |title=SR 405 – Exit 3: Junction SR 515 |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/tools/InterchangeViewer/pdf/SR405/405x003.pdf |access-date=August 31, 2018}}</ref> Talbot Road continues into downtown Renton, passing several big-box stores and SR 515 turns northeast onto Grady Way near the city hall. Grady Way turns into Main Street and travels north along an embanked section of I-405 towards the center of downtown Renton. SR 515 terminates at two intersections with SR 900, which is split between a pair of one-way streets: Houser Way, which also carries a street running railroad, and Bronson Way one block from the Cedar River and the Renton Public Library.<ref name="googlemaps"/><ref name="int-900">{{cite web |date=July 25, 2018 |title=SR 900: Junction SR 900 CO 2nd Street |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/tools/InterchangeViewer/pdf/SR900/900X010.pdf |access-date=August 31, 2018}}</ref>
SR 515 is used by King County Metro route 160, which provides bus connections to areas between Kent's train station and Downtown Renton.<ref>{{cite map |date=March 2021 |title=Route 160 |url=https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/schedules-maps/route/160.aspx#route-map |publisher=King County Metro |access-date=March 27, 2021}}</ref> The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) conducts an annual survey of traffic volumes on state highways measured in terms of annual average daily traffic. Traffic volumes on SR 515 range from a minimum of 7,900 vehicles in downtown Renton to a maximum of 31,000 vehicles in northern Kent.<ref>{{cite report |year=2017 |title=2016 Annual Traffic Report |pages=198–199 |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/Annual_Traffic_Report_2016.pdf |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |access-date=August 31, 2018 |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109083720/https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/Annual_Traffic_Report_2016.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==History==
Benson Road, connecting Kent to Renton over the Benson and Talbot hills, was constructed in the 1910s as a gravel road serving local coal mines.<ref name="DAHP">{{cite web |date=January 2014 |title=Washington State's Historic State Roads: Historic Context for Island, Snohomish, King, Pierce, and Kitsap Counties |pages=184–185 |url=https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/Roads%20Historic%20Context.pdf |publisher=Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation |access-date=August 30, 2018}}</ref> The road was straightened and paved by the county government in the mid-1920s, with all but {{convert|1|mi|km|1|spell=in}} completed by 1928.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 3, 1928 |title=Evans Makes Fight To Straighten Road |page=2 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> Benson Road was added to the state highway system in 1937 as Secondary State Highway 5C (SSH 5C), which connected Primary State Highway 2 (PSH 2) in Renton to SSH 5A east of Kent.<ref>{{cite book |date=March 18, 1937 |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington, 1937 |chapter=Chapter 207: Classification of Public Highways |pages=1004–1005 |chapter-url=http://leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/documents/sessionlaw/1937c207.pdf |publisher=Washington State Legislature |access-date=August 31, 2018}}</ref>
SR 515 was created during the 1964 state highway renumbering to replace SSH 5C, while PSH 2 became SR 900 and SSH 5A became SR 516.<ref name="sr">{{cite web |last=Prahl |first=C. G. |title=Identification of State Highways |url=https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2005/04/26/Identification-of-state-highways.pdf |publisher=Washington State Highway Commission |date=December 1, 1965 |access-date=February 5, 2013 |archive-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217112902/https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/6836215D-E301-43F3-895A-472BD2FDE86A/0/Identification.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Renton Freeway (I-405) opened to traffic in 1965 and crossed under SR 515 without intersecting it.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 31, 1965 |title=3 Miles Of Renton Freeway Opened |page=6 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> SR 515 was subsequently extended further north into downtown Renton over the former alignment of SR 405.<ref>{{cite map |year=1949 |orig-year=revised 1968 |title=Renton Quadrangle, Washington—King Co. |type=Topographic map |scale=1:24,000 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |url=https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/img4/ht_icons/Browse/WA/WA_Renton_243421_1949_24000.jpg |access-date=October 5, 2018}}</ref> Suburban development of the Kent and Renton areas in the 1960s and 1970s brought higher traffic volumes to the highway, necessitating an expansion project.<ref>{{cite book |date=April 1971 |title=SR 515, SE 196th St to Grady Way: Draft Environmental Impact Statement |pages=1–6 |publisher=Washington State Highway Commission |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=57Y2AQAAMAAJ |via=Google Books |access-date=October 6, 2018}}</ref> The project, which would construct a {{convert|1.5|mi|km|adj=mid}} bypass of Benson Road between Carr Road and I-405, was opposed by local residents and was frequently cut and revived due to limited availability of state funds.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pryne |first=Eric |date=June 29, 1977 |title=Victoria Park residents fight proposed highway |page=H3 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Pryne |first=Eric |date=May 24, 1978 |title=Roadblocks still loom for highway |page=H7 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> The $4.5 million, four-lane road was approved by the state government in 1981 as part of a new gas tax and was completed the following year.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 9, 1981 |title=State OK's road projects for Renton and Kent |page=F8 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Corsaletti |first=Louis T. |date=August 18, 1982 |title=Road progress frustrates south Renton residents |page=F1 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> The remaining section of SR 515 in eastern Kent was widened by the city government in 1991 using funds approved by the state legislature.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 29, 1991 |title=Two stretches of road to be widened or fixed |page=E3 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hatch |first=Walter |date=May 8, 1987 |title=Senate OK's road budget, boosts fees, taxes |page=B1 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref>
As part of a $84 million project to widen I-405 through Renton, a new interchange with SR 515 was constructed and opened to traffic in December 2010.<ref name="RR-2010">{{cite news |last=Radford |first=Dean |date=December 22, 2010 |title=New I-405 onramp, offramp at Talbot Road in Renton to open Tuesday afternoon |url=http://www.rentonreporter.com/news/new-i-405-onramp-offramp-at-talbot-road-in-renton-to-open-tuesday-afternoon/ |work=Renton Reporter |access-date=October 6, 2018}}</ref> The half diamond interchange consists of an onramp to northbound I-405 and an offramp from southbound I-405 and was intended to siphon traffic from the nearby SR 167 interchange.<ref name="RR-2010"/><ref>{{cite press release |date=December 21, 2010 |title=WSDOT opens new interchange in Renton ahead of schedule |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2010/12/21_405NewInterchangeOpens.htm |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005175303/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2010/12/21_405NewInterchangeOpens.htm |archive-date=October 5, 2011 |access-date=October 6, 2018}}</ref>
==Major intersections== {{WAinttop|county=King|length_ref=<ref name="log"/>}} {{WAint |location=Kent |mile=0.00 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|516|name1=SE 256th Street|city1=Kent}} |notes=Southern terminus, continues as 104th Avenue Southeast}} {{WAint |location=Renton |lspan=2 |mile=6.90 |road={{jct|state=WA|I|405|dir1=north|city1=Bellevue}} |notes=Interchange, northbound entrance and southbound exit |type=incomplete}} {{WAint |mile=7.86 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|900|dir1=east|name1=S 3rd Street|city1=Issaquah}} |notes=Northern terminus}} {{jctbtm|keys=incomplete}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{AttachedKML|display=title,inline}}
*[https://www.angelfire.com/wa2/hwysofwastate/sr515.html Highways of Washington State]
{{State highways in Washington related to I-5}} {{Authority control}}
515 Category:Transportation in King County, Washington