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Rep. Smith Secures Funding for King County’s Eastrail Wilburton Critical Crossing

June 30, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) secured $1,680,000 as part of the INVEST in America Act for the Eastrail Wilburton Critical Crossing in King County.

“Our growing regional trail network benefits people, the economy, and our environment,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “I want to thank Congressman Smith for supporting this north-south regional trail from Renton through Bellevue’s Wilburton neighborhood, including connections to Sound Transit light rail, as well as investments in Eastrail – the 42-mile corridor that links Renton with Woodinville.”  

The Eastrail Wilburton Critical Crossing Project will develop a high-quality signalized crossing at a complex road crossing. The includes a new traffic signal to allow safe crossing of SE 1st Street in Bellevue. This crossing is a missing link that would connect already-funded segments of trail to the north and south and is anticipated to support public use rivaling that of any other trail segment in the regional trail system.  Once complete, this project would allow connection of the last gap in a continuous 12-mile section of the Eastrail trail—an uninterrupted 42-mile trail that will connect the eastside communities of Renton, Bellevue, Kirkland, Woodinville, Snohomish, and Redmond. The Eastrail trail is anticipated, once fully connected, to become the most heavily used trail in the regional trail system. 

Eastrail is a critical piece of the Puget Sound region's transportation strategy to increase multi-model options to help manage congestion and growth. This project is located in the Wilburton Area, a key area for redevelopment and growth near the City of Bellevue's downtown core, hospital district, light rail line, and the Bel-Red Corridor (a two-mile-long series of compact, mixed-use transit-accessible neighborhoods currently being developed). In addition to providing expanded options for recreation and commuting, the trail segment also connects to two Sound Transit light rail stations—the Wilburton Station and East Main Station in Bellevue—as well as the South Kirkland Park and Ride, offering convenient options for multi-modal transportation across the region.

Click here for more information about member-designated transportation and infrastructure projects.

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Rep. Smith Secures Funding for Complete Street Improvements on the Puyallup Avenue Corridor

June 30, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) secured $2,000,000 as part of the INVEST in America Act for the Puyallup Avenue Transit/Complete Street Improvements Project in the City of Tacoma.

“The Puyallup Avenue corridor improvements in Tacoma will bring this segment of crucial infrastructure into the 21st century,” said City of Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards. “Our plan to renovate the roadway to accommodate multi-modal transportation, mass transit, and heavy haul traffic all in one facility will help facilitate transit-oriented development near Tacoma Dome Station, while also addressing freight needs serving the Port of Tacoma. The City of Tacoma is excited to see our project included in this important legislation and we thank Congressman Smith for being our champion.”

This project would reconstruct 1.2 miles of Puyallup Avenue from S. C Street to Portland Avenue, to include heavy haul asphalt and concrete pavement, new signals, bicycle facilities, sidewalks/curb ramps, crosswalks, lighting, and other complete street elements. As this project supports one of the largest Transit Oriented Districts in the State, it will include Tacoma’s first HOV/Transit lane running eastbound from Pacific Avenue to Portland Avenue.

The Tacoma Dome Transit Station, located on Puyallup Avenue, provides connections with Sound Transit (Express buses, Tacoma LINK Light Rail, the Sounder Express train, and the future light rail to Sea-Tac airport, Pierce Transit, Greyhound, Intercity Transit, and Amtrak). Project improvements will support access to these local, regional, and nationwide services.

The project will provide defined and planned multi-modal access across the corridor. This includes providing bicycle facilities and bicycle signals where there are none today, widened sidewalks, improved ADA access, pedestrian scale lighting, and improved pedestrian movement at both signalized and uncontrolled and mid-block crossings. These facilities will tie into local and regional facilities that serve the city, Port of Tacoma, and multi-county trail systems.

Click here for more information about member-designated transportation and infrastructure projects.

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Rep. Smith Secures Funding for the Tukwila International Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit Station

June 30, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) secured $2,000,000 as part of the INVEST in America Act for the Tukwila International Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit Station Project.

“Sound Transit’s Stride bus rapid transit system will improve the speed, frequency and reliability of service and enable riders to move easily to and from Link light rail at locations including Tukwila International Boulevard Station,” said Sound Transit Board Chair and City of University Place Councilmember Kent Keel. “This important transit hub serves diverse communities, and the federal funding Congressman Smith is seeking will help us provide our riders with fast and seamless connections.” 

Project funding will be used for the construction of a new freeway Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) station that connects to the existing Tukwila International Boulevard light rail station via a new pedestrian bridge. This will provide an easy transfer for BRT riders looking to use light rail travel to Downtown Seattle, Lynnwood, and Federal Way.

The new BRT station is part of Sound Transit’s I-405 BRT project, called “Stride,” that will serve King and Snohomish counties. Sound Transit is currently implementing the most ambitious transit expansion in the nation: building clean energy mobility options for the future, delivering transit services for essential workers, and providing thousands of family-wage jobs.

Fast, frequent I-405 BRT service will increase access to jobs and other services and can reduce the burden of vehicle ownership. The TIB BRT Station can help improve health conditions for residents in surrounding communities by reducing air pollutant emissions, including diesel, through the reduced vehicle trips.

Click here for more information about member-designated transportation and infrastructure projects.

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Rep. Smith Secures Funding for World Relief Seattle’s Teaching & Commercial Kitchen

June 25, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) secured $673,000 in the 2022 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill for World Relief Seattle’s Entrepreneurship Incubation Hub: Teaching & Commercial Kitchen located in Kent, Washington.

“World Relief Seattle has been welcoming our newest neighbors from immigrant and refugee backgrounds, for the past 40 years,” said Chitra Hanstad, World Relief Seattle Executive Director. “We have long wondered how we can support our communities beyond the first few months of the resettlement period. In conversations with our community and the help of Adam Smith's office, we hope to open a commercial/teaching kitchen. We will pair this with an Immigrant Entrepreneurship Academy which will give our community economic freedom and bolster the State's economy with new jobs!"

This funding will help World Relief Seattle develop a teaching and commercial kitchen that will be a 1,215 sq. ft. multi-impact community space serving Washington’s King County refugee and immigrant community. This space will be used as an entrepreneurship and small business incubation hub to launch and promote local businesses, particularly food-based businesses, and train refugee and immigrant entrepreneurs through an Entrepreneurship Academy hosted in the space.

The project will promote entrepreneurship and successful small business ownership within historically underserved communities; advance community based economic empowerment through promoting food related businesses and income-generating initiatives; and simultaneously increase food security and sovereignty for refugee and immigrant communities.

In April, Congressman Smith submitted World Relief Seattle’s project as one of his ten Community Project Funding requests to the House Appropriations Committee. The rest of the Community Project Funding requests will be announced in July.

Click here for more information about this project and here for information about other Community Project Funding requests submitted by Congressman Smith.

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Rep. Smith on Sexual Assault in the Military: Serious Action is Overdue, Time to Act is Now

June 23, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, today issued the following statement after Representatives Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and Mike Turner (R-Ohio) introduced the Vanessa Guillén Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act. 

“After trying, and failing, to address sexual assault in the military for years, the time has come to take the prosecution of sexual assault crimes out of the chain of command. There is broad support for this idea in Congress, the Department of Defense, and the Biden-Harris administration, and momentum continues to build. This bipartisan and bicameral consensus means the question before us is not whether to update the UCMJ, but how to update the UCMJ.

“Two solutions have been proposed: removing all felony-like crimes from the chain of command, or removing all crimes relating to sexual assault from the chain of command. There will be much debate about this differentiation, and I welcome that debate so that we can identify the best possible policy solution for our service members, but the bottom line remains the same: Significant action is required and the time to act is now.

“As Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, I intend to give this issue the attention it deserves – that means marking up pertinent legislation like the Vanessa Guillén Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act. This issue is far too important to risk failure, which is why I will aggressively pursue every legislative option available.”

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