Washington State Route 516

{{Short description|State highway in King County, Washington, US}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox road |state=WA |type=SR |route=516 |spur_type=I |spur_of=5 |section=710 |map=Washington State Route 516.svg |map_notes=SR&nbsp;516 highlighted in red |length_mi=16.49 |length_round=2 |length_ref=<ref name="log">{{WSDOT State Highway Log |year=2012 |pages=1586–1598 |link=yes |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> |established=1964<ref name="RCW">{{cite web |url=http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=47.17.710 |title=47.17.710: State route No. 516 |year=1970 |work=Revised Code of Washington |publisher=Washington State Legislature |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> |direction_a=West |terminus_a={{jct|state=WA|SR|509}} in Des Moines |junction={{plainlist| *{{jct|state=WA|SR|99|SR|509}} in Kent *{{jct|state=WA|I|5}} in Kent *{{jct|state=WA|SR|167}} in Kent *{{jct|state=WA|SR|515}} in Kent *{{jct|state=WA|SR|18}} in Covington }} |direction_b=East |terminus_b={{jct|state=WA|SR|169}} in Maple Valley |county=King |previous_type=SR |previous_route=515 |next_type=SR |next_route=518 }}

'''State Route&nbsp;516''' ('''SR&nbsp;516''') is a {{convert|16.49|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, serving communities in southern King County. The highway travels east as the Kent-Des Moines Road and the Kent-Kangley Road from a concurrency with SR&nbsp;509 in Des Moines through Kent and Covington to an intersection with SR&nbsp;169 in Maple Valley. SR&nbsp;516, designated as part of the National Highway System within Kent, intersects three major freeways in the area: Interstate&nbsp;5 (I-5) in western Kent, SR&nbsp;167 in downtown Kent, and SR&nbsp;18 in Covington. The roadway, built in the 1890s, was codified in 1937 as Secondary State Highway&nbsp;1K (SSH&nbsp;1K) from Des Moines to Kent and SSH&nbsp;5A from Kent to Maple Valley. The two highways were combined during the 1964 highway renumbering to form SR&nbsp;516 on its current route.

==Route description== [[File:I-5 south at WA-516, Kent.jpg|thumb|left|I-5 southbound approaching its interchange with SR&nbsp;516 in Kent.]]

SR&nbsp;516 begins in Des Moines at Marine View Drive as SR&nbsp;509 turns north towards Burien near the East Passage of Puget Sound. The two concurrent highways travel east on the Kent-Des Moines Road past Highline Community College and Mount Rainier High School to an intersection with SR&nbsp;99 in western Kent, where SR&nbsp;509 turns south towards Tacoma. SR&nbsp;516 then intersects I-5 at a partial cloverleaf interchange and continues east onto a four-lane divided highway over the Green River and its pedestrian and bicycle trail into downtown Kent.<ref name="int5">{{cite web |date=October 19, 2010 |title=SR 5 - Exit 149: Junction SR 516 |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/tools/InterchangeViewer/pdf/SR005/005X149.pdf |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref><ref name="bike-map2010">{{cite map |publisher=King County |year=2010 |title=Bicycling in King County |url=http://your.kingcounty.gov/kcdot/roads/wcms/bike/BikeMapSouth2010.pdf |format=PDF |access-date=February 23, 2013 |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305024455/http://your.kingcounty.gov/kcdot/roads/wcms/bike/BikeMapSouth2010.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The highway serves as the southern terminus of SR&nbsp;181 before intersecting SR&nbsp;167 in a diamond interchange at the western edge of downtown Kent.<ref name="int167">{{cite web |date=August 3, 2011 |title=SR 167: Junction SR 516/Willis St |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/tools/InterchangeViewer/pdf/SR167/167X019.pdf |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> SR&nbsp;516 shifts south onto Willis Street and crosses the Interurban Trail and a BNSF rail line before turning north onto Central Avenue and east onto Smith Street near Kent Station.<ref name="bike-map2010"/><ref name="rail-2012">{{cite map |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |title=2011 Washington State Rail System |date=January 2012 |url=http://wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/FDBE2AB4-E504-4AC5-9E30-6A2CC4FAAD34/0/2011Ownership.pdf |format=PDF |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> The highway travels southeast along Mill Creek onto the Kent-Kangley Road and serves as the southern terminus of SR&nbsp;515 at Kent-Meridian High School before leaving Kent for Covington. SR&nbsp;516 passes Lake Meridian as 272nd Street and intersects SR&nbsp;18 at a diamond interchange located in Covington.<ref name="int18">{{cite web |date=September 21, 2004 |title=SR 18: Junction SR 516 |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/tools/InterchangeViewer/pdf/SR018/018X011.pdf |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> The highway continues east past Pipe Lake and into Maple Valley before crossing the Cedar to Green River Trail and ending at an intersection with SR&nbsp;169.<ref name="log"/><ref name="bike-map2010"/><ref name="google">{{google maps |title=State Route 516 |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=S+Kent+Des+Moines+Rd&daddr=47.3915903,-122.2907944+to:SE+Kent+Kangley+Rd&hl=en&ll=47.34266,-122.172355&spn=0.124462,0.338173&sll=47.360979,-122.021129&sspn=0.001944,0.005284&geocode=FZU40wIdvHy1-A%3BFWYj0wIdlv21-CmlNnKBuVuQVDGm6fvgW0y7cQ%3BFYat0gIdvRu6-A&mra=me&mrsp=1,0&sz=18&t=m&z=12&via=1 |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref>

Every year, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2011, WSDOT calculated that the busiest section of the highway was between SR&nbsp;181 and the SR&nbsp;167 interchange, serving 38,000 vehicles, while the least busiest section was its western terminus at SR&nbsp;509, serving 8,900 vehicles.<ref name="ATR">{{cite web |author=Staff |year=2011 |title=2011 Annual Traffic Report |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/Annual_Traffic_Report_2011.pdf |pages=194–195 |access-date=February 23, 2013 |archive-date=June 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613043942/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/Annual_Traffic_Report_2011.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> SR&nbsp;516 between I-5 and SR&nbsp;167 within western Kent is designated as part of the National Highway System,<ref name="NHS">{{cite map |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |title=National Highway System: Seattle, WA |url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/nhs_maps/washington/seattle_wa.pdf |date=October 1, 2012 |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> which includes roadways important to the national economy, defense, and mobility.<ref name="NHS-about">{{cite web |title=What is the National Highway System? |url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/ |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |date=September 26, 2012 |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref>

==History==

The Kent-Kangley Road was built as a wagon road by King County by the late 1890s and was upgraded to a paved highway after being codified as two highways during the creation of the primary and secondary state highways system in 1937: SSH&nbsp;1K and SSH&nbsp;5A.<ref name="usgs-1900">{{cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Washington: Tacoma Quadrangle |date=March 1900 |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/washington/txu-pclmaps-topo-wa-tacoma-1895.jpg |scale=1:250,000 |format=JPG |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name="law1937">{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |edition=1937 |date=March 18, 1937 |access-date=February 24, 2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dcQ4AAAAIAAJ |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia, Washington |chapter=Chapter 207: Classification of Public Highways |pages=996, 1002}}</ref> SSH&nbsp;1K traveled {{convert|12.76|mi|km|2}} south from U.S. Route&nbsp;99 and Primary State Highway&nbsp;1 (PSH&nbsp;1) through Burien and east through Des Moines to US&nbsp;99 and PSH&nbsp;1 in Midway. SSH&nbsp;5A traveled {{convert|14.50|mi|km|2}} east from US&nbsp;99 and PSH&nbsp;1 in Midway across the Green River into Kent, intersecting SSH&nbsp;5M, PSH&nbsp;5, and SSH&nbsp;5C, before ending at the Enumclaw–Renton branch of PSH&nbsp;5 in Maple Valley.<ref name="ATR-1960">{{cite web |author=Staff |year=1960 |title=Annual Traffic Report, 1960 |publisher=Washington State Highway Commission, Department of Highways |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/1960_ATR.pdf |pages=156, 181–182 |access-date=February 23, 2013 |archive-date=March 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110313165044/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/1960_ATR.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="usgs-1958">{{cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Seattle, 1958 |year=1958 |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-seattle-1958.jpg |scale=1:250,000 |format=JPG |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> The two highways were combined during the 1964 highway renumbering to form SR&nbsp;516 and codified into law in 1970.<ref name="RCW"/><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, Department of Highways |date=December 1, 1965 |access-date=February 23, 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 highway traveled east from SR&nbsp;509 in Des Moines through I-5 at Midway, SR&nbsp;167 in Kent, and SR&nbsp;18 in Covington to SR&nbsp;169 in Maple Valley.<ref name="usgs-1965">{{cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Seattle, 1965 |year=1965 |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-seattle-1965.jpg |scale=1:250,000 |format=JPG |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> SR&nbsp;509 was re-aligned in 1991 onto SR&nbsp;516 and SR&nbsp;99, forming new concurrencies, until the completion of a new north–south freeway.<ref name="RCW-509">{{cite web |url=http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=47.17.680 |title=47.17.680: State route No. 509 |orig-year=1970 |year=1991 |edition= |work=Revised Code of Washington |publisher=Washington State Legislature |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name="wsdot2011/12-map">{{cite map |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |title=Washington State Highways, 2011–2012 |year=2011 |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/14A6187A-B266-4340-A351-D668F89AC231/0/TouristMapFront_withHillshade.pdf |format=PDF |scale=1:842,000 |access-date=February 24, 2013 |archive-date=July 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726042334/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/14A6187A-B266-4340-A351-D668F89AC231/0/TouristMapFront_withHillshade.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Major intersections== [[File:I-5 and WA-516 interchange aerial.jpg|thumb|right|An aerial view of Des Moines and Kent looking east as SR&nbsp;516 intersects SR&nbsp;99 and I-5]] {{WAinttop|county=King|length_ref=<ref name="log"/>}} {{WAint |location=Des Moines |mile=0.00 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|509|name1=Marine View Drive|dir1=north|city1=Burien}} |type=concur |notes=Western terminus, west end of SR&nbsp;509 overlap}} {{WAint |location=Kent |lspan=5 |mile=1.79 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|99|name1=Pacific Highway|SR|509|dir2=south|city1=Federal Way|city2=SeaTac}} |type=concur |notes=East end of SR&nbsp;509 overlap}} {{WAint |mile=2.02 |road={{jct|state=WA|I|5|city1=Seattle|location2=Portland}} |notes=Interchange}} {{WAint |mile=4.79 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|181|name1=Valley Highway|dir1=north}} |notes=}} {{WAint |mile=4.92 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|167|city1=Renton|city2=Auburn}} |notes=Interchange}} {{WAint |mile=7.61 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|515|name1=104th Avenue|dir1=north}} |notes=}} {{WAint |location=Covington |mile=11.73 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|18|city1=Auburn|city2=North Bend}} |notes=Interchange}} {{WAint |location=Maple Valley |mile=16.49 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|169|city1=Renton|city2=Enumclaw}} |notes=Eastern terminus}} {{Jctbtm|keys=concur}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{AttachedKML|display=title,inline}}

*[https://www.angelfire.com/wa2/hwysofwastate/sr516.html Highways of Washington State]

{{State highways in Washington related to I-5}} {{Authority control}} {{Good article}}

516 Category:Transportation in King County, Washington