HomeMy WebLinkAboutC_Public Comment_Becker_251209.pdfProject name/number: Renton High School Replacement and Site Expansion
Public Hearing scheduled for 12/9/2025
Public comment submission:
Traffic study conclusion may not accurately reflect the impact of vacating Tobin
Street:
1) homeowners live close to downtown and transit, may not be driving since
everything is walking distance, therefore not impacting traffic study
2) students in the homes are walking to school, not impacting traffic study
3) some home owners work from home, again not driving during peak drive
times and not impacting traffic study
4) only 12 of the demolished homes lined Tobin street, the other 25 homes
lined either Airport Way or Login Ave. Only those 12-homes would require
homeowner/residents to drive Tobin to get to their home
5) on that note, over half of the businesses and residents forced out of their
homes lived on Login or Airport access – or through the Tillicum alley –
therefore would not impact the traffic study
Therefore, I request another traffic study now that only three homes and one
business remain. This will give a more accurate count of traffic patterns and how
closing Tobin will adversely affect traffic on Airport Way
Currently, it is my estimate that most of the traffic counted using Tobin accesses
Tobin as a shortcut to avoid the traffic back-ups on Airport way. People enter from
Rainier Ave heading westbound on Tobin, and turn right into the Downtown core.
If Tobin is closed to through traffic, Airport Way traffic will be highly impacted.
Many people use Airport way to skirt traffic back-ups on I-405 and S 3rd street. And
due to the high volume on Airport Way, people use Tobin to get through to
downtown Renton.
Page 46 of the traffic study claims there will be ‘negligible effects on the
surrounding roadways’, along with ‘minimal effects on the surrounding roadways.’
I contest this claim and feel it does not accurately reflect the increase in congestion
that will occur on Airport Way – mainly eastbound – and strongly request that
the street remain open as a throughway to ease traffic congestion in the
downtown core.
Sincerely,
Sarah Becker
Renton resident
beckersarah92@gmail.com