Washington State Route 704

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

State Route 704
Auxiliary route of

SR 7

Defined by RCW 47.17.818, maintained by WSDOT

Length:

6 mi^[1] (10 km)

West end:

I-5 in Lakewood

East end:

SR 7 in Spanaway

State highways in Washington
< SR 702		I-705 >
Lists: current - Interstates - 1937-70 - 1964 renumbering

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, Washington, and will end in Spanaway at State Route 7 at S. 176th St. A four-lane, divided highway with four intersections over its entire length,^[2] 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. It will also connect the developing industrial areas of DuPont and Frederickson as well as provide an east-west alternate thoroughfare to overcrowded State Route 512.

On March 31, 2008, the Washington State Department of Transportation placed the project out for for public bids, with the scheduled bid opening on April 30.^[3] Assistant Project Engineer John Ho says that improvements to the eastern end of the route are expected to begin in 2008, and that the project is scheduled to be completed by 2017 at the earliest.^[4]

The WSDOT puts the current price tag for the highway at $453 million. However, only $43 million has been funded, requiring an additional $410 million to complete the project.^[1]. A spokesman for the local Regional Transit Improvement District, however, says that the funding gap is $150 million. Of this gap, $50 million had been expected to be funded by a failed 2007 ballot initiative which in the end did not include the project.^[5]

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

[edit] Potential lawsuit

On November 28, 2006, a coalition^[6] 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.^[7] The coalition claims that the proposed highway would bisect the largest remnant oak woodland-prairie left in the Puget Sound area, and that this is the rarest type of habitat in the state of Washington. ^[6] The group in fact claims that the US Fish and Wildlife Service believes that the area "is possibly the rarest habitat in North America,"^[7] 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.^[6]

In response to the lawsuit's concern over damage to the environment, the project's Environmental Impact Statement states,

“

None of the areas affected by the project are quality prairie habitat; most of the grasslands are non-native. The alignment was purposely placed to avoid wetlands. The Douglas-fir forest habitat is all second-growth; most is in even-aged stands with little structural diversity and is considered to be invasive to oak woodland and prairie habitats. The grassland habitats with some native prairie species intersected by the proposed alignment occur at two locations. The first is a mowed field with few native plants west of Lake Mondress that is also heavily used as a practice arena by equestrian enthusiasts. The second location is southeast of Lake Mondress, where the alignment skirts the northern edge of a prairie habitat mostly invaded by Scot’s broom. The intersection point is at a disturbed railway junction. Both locations support remnant patches of degraded prairie habitat. The remaining areas are disturbed fields dominated by weedy Scot’s broom. In summary, the project does not affect grasslands or prairie of the type referred to in this comment.^[8]

”

In addition, Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg alleges that it would be "environmentally irresponsible not to build that highway,"^[9] because SR 704 will lessen development in the Puyallup Valley farmlands.