The focus of this project is a short, redundant, and isolated segment of SR-99 located between the I-5/SR-599 connection in Tukwila and South Park. This route never fulfilled its original purpose and was demoted from a Federal, to a State Highway merely 6 years after its construction. We are seeking an alternative future for the area of land from Cecil Moses Memorial Park to the SPU South Transfer Station, and reconnect the neighborhood spaces between. And yes! Even without the SR-99 you can still get to the airport, because that is Highway 509, which is currently undergoing connectivity improvements to I-5.

The future of SR-99 involves numerous stakeholders and the fate of the section under study is presently unknown. While the goal of many South Park residents is highway removal to restore neighborhood connectivity, Washington State approved this feasibility study by Reconnect South Park that will consider several alternatives such as rerouting, lidding/undergrounding, and partial removal. This feasibility study will inform a community vision plan and ultimate decision making by the many Agencies Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) over this highway corridor...

Not necessarily. The vision plan is specifically being created for community to generate and address needs, concerns, ideas and visions of how an opportunity like this may benefit the community of South Park. It is your engagement that will direct, frame and create this important vision of what can and should be done if an opportunity to remove the freeway should be actualized in the future. All identified concerns will be assessed in the feasibility study, which determines how decommissioning would affect traffic through, and around the neighborhood, with the well-being of Duwamish Valley residents as our primary goal. Preliminary traffic counts indicate that traffic volumes in this section of SR-99 wouldn’t overwhelm neighboring SR-509, I-5, or other existing freight corridors.

Our team is comprised of fellow neighbors and regional advocates, including representatives from local organizations, community organizers, writers, film-makers, design professionals, engineers, affordable housing experts, and beyond; all who have committed to collecting the puzzle pieces to assemble a vision guided by your input. The team is divided into two roles: Community Convener and Technical Advisory groups. Read about us here!

Additionally, RSP is supported by the Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD), realizing the bigger picture through interagency collaboration between local, state, and national leaders. You can read up on their involvement, progress, and project background on the OPCD RSP Page!

Cultivate South Park and Coté Soerens initiated the original RSP study, and were critical in questioning what if, becoming the “chief believer” of an alternate future for the SR-99 corridor. We celebrate her contributions to the South Park community, and could not have arrived at this moment without her advocacy.

Great question, with a somewhat complicated* answer…Reconnect South Park began through volunteered time, garnering community interest, and eventual support by Justice40 and the City of Seattle - which in September 2022, the Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) requested proposals for two separate, but related bodies of work on the potential removal or restructuring of SR-99 through South Park: 1) the development of a Community Vision Plan by neighborhood-based organizations active in the Duwamish Valley, and 2) technical analysis of current conditions and the potential impacts of multiple alternative configurations by consultant teams with expertise in urban planning, environmental analysis, and related disciplines. In March 2023, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation awarded the City of Seattle funding for future phases of Reconnect South Park via the new Reconnecting Communities Program, which will likely become available sometime in 2024. For OPCD Information, contact project manager Cayce James, cayce.james@seattle.gov.

*Community-based, and non-profit organizations apply for grants and solicit for donations to fulfill their missions, and are commonly required to be registered as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization under the IRS. While many of our coalition members fall under this category, the team agreed to utilize a fiscal sponsor, Watershed Community Development based in Georgetown, to apply for and receive grants, equitize funding, and ensure accountability of the member organizations. We are always looking for additional funding and support mechanisms; if you have suggestions let us know!

These concerns are front and center to our team, and is the reason why RSP is a community-led vision plan. In working with the larger community, the plan will include measures that safeguard long-time residents and provide opportunities along the way to ensure that this will not happen. We are also excited that the city received federal funding to look further into this issue with the South Park community and will seek to put together a community driven Equitable Development Plan, an anti-displacement development strategy. Please get involved and help us hold accountability as the project progresses!

There are many other projects being planned and implemented in and around the South Park neighborhood specifically addressing these issues of pollution, crime, housing, economic opportunity, and sea-level rise infrastructure. Our team believes that the RSP Vision Plan will help further identify various solutions for these inter-related issues, while bringing together Duwamish Valley neighbors. It is our hope that visioning alternative futures will add to a collective positive impact, overcoming the environmental injustices, and fragmentation that has too long divided the neighborhood in two.

This project is overseen by the City of Seattle Office of Planning & Community Development (OPCD). Click here to visit OPCD’s website which has additional information on project status, funding, and timelines…

Additionally, the RSP coalition is always looking to improve communications through central newsletters, this website, and outreach engagements throughout South Park and adjacent neighborhoods. We invite you sign up for newsletters to remain informed, email us if you have questions, participate in the meetings, and recognize that this visioning plan requires your engagement to maintain. Involvement is key and we look forward to your active participation! It is your community and your vision that will Reconnect South Park.

There has never been any connection, financial or otherwise, between the Reconnect South Park project and any religious organization or institution. Since applying for, and receiving the RSP Community Envisioning grant award from Seattle OPCD, neither Coté, nor any of the alleged affiliated church groups have contributed or received funds, been granted special access, nor decision-making in this process. Our coalition reflects the diversity of cultures, beliefs, and perspectives which exist in the Duwamish Valley, and we take the stance that ALL community members have an equal say in contributing to this visioning process.