Washington State Route 704

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This article or section contains information about a planned or expected future road.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the road's construction and/or completion approaches and more information becomes available.

State Route 704

Number based on

SR 7

RCW 47.17.818

Length:

6 mi (10 km)

West end:

I-5 in Lakewood

East end:

SR 7 in Spanaway

Washington State Routes

State Route 704 (known as SR-704 or the Cross-Base Highway) is a future six-mile long highway which will originate at Interstate 5 in the Tillicum neighborhood of Lakewood, WA, and will end in Spanaway, WA at State Route 7 at S. 176th St. A multi-lane freeway its entire length, SR-704 will improve access to and between the military installations by providing an exclusive roadway between Fort Lewis Military Reservation and McChord Air Force Base.

As of December 2006, design of the storm water treatment plan is underway, with soil testing about 50% complete. Land surveying is 95% complete.

The Washington Department of Transportation puts the current price tag for the highway at $289 million in 2006 dollars. However, only $41 million has been funded, requiring an additional $250 million to complete the project.

These figures are expected to increase due to rising costs of construction materials and fuel.

The highway project has drawn some local controversy because it would bisect the largest remnant oak woodland-prairie left in Puget Sound. The US Fish and Wildlife Service believes^{[citation needed]} that the remaining South Puget Sound prairies may be possibly the rarest habitat in North America, home to at least 29 species of federal and/or state threatened, endangered, candidate, and sensitive plant and animal species of concern, 18 of which are in the immediate vicinity of the proposed highway.

On November 28, 2006 a coalition of local businesses, conservation organizations, and equestrian clubs filed a notice of intent to file a lawsuit against the proposed highway, contending that the agencies failed to follow the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy act, and failed to adequately consider reasonable alternatives.^{[citation needed]}