King County uses federal stimulus money for
walkway project connecting White Center community

The project is a small piece of the larger White Center neighborhood plan and supports the vision identified and promoted by the White Center Community Development Association and dozens of community groups and participants. It estimated that 20-30 jobs will be created from this construction project.

“One-quarter mile of sidewalk can do a lot for a community,” said King County Executive Kurt Triplett. “When it is completed, residents from the 1,000-plus units at Greenbridge will be able to walk, ride, scooter, and roll to more than 130 businesses and the transit hub in the White Center business district.”

The new pathway will be constructed at the intersection of Southwest 98th Street and 12th Avenue Southwest. Currently, a steep wooden stairway connects the Greenbridge development with Southwest 98th Street. The stairway will be replaced, and the county will build an accessible paved ramp that gradually slopes down the hillside. Both feature safety lighting, landscaping, and artistic elements composed by local artist Andy Cao.

In designing the walkway, the King County Road Services Division considered safety, aesthetic, and environmental factors to create a pathway that best serves the community and reflect the wealth of diversity that White Center has to offer.

Triplett said the walkway builds upon efforts to spur private investment and foster a vibrant, healthy, mixed-income community here. It also supports King County’s Healthscape objectives by reducing automobile dependency with more opportunities to be physically active and improve air quality.

Total construction cost for the project is $1.4 million, with $1.27 million coming in federal dollars. Construction will begin the week of July 20 and take approximately four months to complete.

The project plan was initiated and overseen by a community steering committee. Design and preliminary engineering for the project was made possible by contributions from King County Road Services, King County Parks and King County Water and Land Resources Division, King County Housing Development Authority, 4 Culture, and Feet First.