Existed: 1964 – present North end: SR 900 in Renton Length 12.65 km County King County, Washington | South end: SR 516 in Kent Counties: King Constructed 1964 South end SR 516 in Kent | |
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State Route 515 (SR 515) is a 7.86-mile-long (12.65 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington serving King County. The highway travels north from SR 516 east of Kent to Renton, intersecting Interstate 405 (I-405) and ending at SR 900. Originally signed as Secondary State Highway 5C (SSH 5C) in 1937, the highway was established during the 1964 highway renumbering and expanded to its current four-lane width in the 1960s.
Contents
Map of WA-515, Washington, USA
Route description
SR 515 begins as 104th Avenue at an intersection with SR 516 east of Kent and Kent-Meridian High School. The four-lane highway travels north, parallel to the SR 167 freeway, into the census-designated place of East Hill-Meridian on 108th Avenue and passes Panther Lake. SR 515 turns northwest into Renton on Benson Drive and Talbot Road and descends from Talbot Hill, intersecting I-405 in an incomplete diamond interchange. In Downtown Renton, the highway travels northeast on Grady Way and north on Martin Avenue, paralleling I-405, before crossing a BNSF Railway line on Houser Way and ending at an intersection with 3rd Street, signed as SR 900.
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 average annual daily traffic (AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2011, WSDOT calculated that between 11,000 and 44,000 vehicles per day used the highway, mostly in Downtown Renton between I-405 and SR 900.
History
SR 515 was created during the 1964 highway renumbering as the successor to SSH 5C, which was established in 1937 and ran south from Renton to Kent. The highway was paved in the 1950s and expanded to the modern four-lane highway it is today in the 1960s. The interchange with I-405 in Renton was reconstructed in 2010 to add a flyover ramp over Benson Road from southbound I-405 to SR 515 and opened to traffic in 2011.
Major intersections
The entire highway is in King County.