Existing Conditions

Allentown has an incompatible mix of homes and an intermodal rail yard, resulting in high numbers of heavy trucks driving through the neighborhood. Trucks also use this road to access Baker Commodities as 50th Pl. S is the only access to the rendering plant. S 50th Pl provides cut-thru access to the Skyway neighborhood. Allentown is mostly residential with a few exceptions, including the Tukwila Community Center and BNSF facility. The combination of heavy trucks and cut-through traffic, along with chronic speeding, has resulted in the enrollment in the NTCP. An EIS, nearly complete, is studying truck access options to the BNSF yard. A traffic calming study identified intersection improvements to control speeds, improve safety, and address pedestrian access. The City and neighborhood have prioritized the S 124th St/50th Pl S intersection reconfiguration. The intersection is a 3-way stop controlled except for the EB right turn slip lane. The speed limit is 25mph with known speeding on both roads. Speeds increase near Codiga Park, likely influenced by the no-stop right turn. Anecdotes suggest drivers making right-turns onto 50th Pl S often swerve into the oncoming lane and create near-miss situations at the S 125th St intersection. No ped facilities exist at the intersection, but walkways/widened shoulders exist on the north side of S 124th St west of 49th Ave S and both sides of 50th Place S, south of S 125th St. There is no marked pedestrian crossing at the intersection.