WSDOT says that for years, travelers could only access Des Moines Memorial Drive through city streets and a westbound SR 518 off-ramp. Drivers headed eastbound on SR 518 had to exit the highway and use local streets to access Des Moines Memorial Drive – streets that weren’t designed for the heavy vehicle and truck traffic.
WSDOT adds:

“This new ramp will channel traffic away from those local streets and provide a more direct route for vehicles and trucks moving goods between the city of Burien’s Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA), the Port of Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region.
“This is one of the first Connecting Washington projects to be completed in western Washington. Connecting Washington is a 16-year, $16 billion program designed to enhance and maintain the state’s transportation system. Projects are scheduled through 2031.”

“We are on our way to creating a significantly better experience for our arriving international visitors and residents here at Sea-Tac and providing a much more welcoming facility reflective of our region’s quality,” said Port of Seattle Commission President Courtney Gregoire. “We appreciate the effort from all of our partners to come together and get this done for the benefit of passengers. This is another step in making it all a reality soon!”

The final structural roof beam was raised by a crane and safely put in place Tuesday, marking the latest construction milestone of the new IAF at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. From left to right: Port of Seattle Commissioner Fred Felleman; POS Commission President Courtney Gregoire; Monte Anderson, Executive Secretary, Seattle Building & Construction Trades Council; Steve Metruck, Port of Seattle Executive Director; POS Commissioner Peter Steinbrueck; POS Commissioner Ryan Calkins; Sea-Tac Airport Managing Director Lance Lyttle; Delta Air Lines Vice President-Seattle Tony Gonchar; Clark Construction VP and Project Director Brian Ahern; All Nippon Airways VP and General Manager Gary Weiss; POS Commissioner Stephanie Bowman; and Alaska Airlines Vice President of External Relations Diana Birkett Rakow.

Sea-Tac continues to see significant growth in the number of international airlines. In 2018, three new airlines began service, with three more scheduled for 2019. Over the last decade, the number of passengers requiring U.S. Customs clearance at Sea-Tac doubled. Passenger volume during peak periods climbs well above the levels the current facility was meant to hold. As a result, passengers often must wait in airplanes at the gate, or in current hallways, before going through customs or picking up luggage.
“Like the other stakeholders of this region, Delta long ago saw the potential for Sea-Tac to expand its reach and become a truly world-class international gateway,” said Tony Gonchar, Delta’s Vice President-Seattle. “Today’s milestone brings us closer to that vision. As Seattle’s largest global airline and the largest future user of this facility, we know our customers and this region are ready for the benefits to come.”
“We look forward to the successful and timely completion of the new International Arrivals Facility to serve this dynamic region. We are proud to work with Sea-Tac Airport and Alaska Global Partners to offer our Mileage Plan members more opportunities for international travel than ever before,” said Diana Birkett Rakow, Alaska Airlines Vice President of external relations. “By next summer, our partners will offer upwards of 80 flights per week out of Sea-Tac – more than any other airline or alliance group.”
“As Chair of the International Station Managers here at Sea-Tac, and on behalf of the international carriers serving the airport, we are very excited to reach this construction milestone. We can’t wait to share this facility with our incoming guests,” said All Nippon Airways VP and General Manager, Gary Weiss.
The International Arrivals Facility Program is expected to support approximately 10,600 jobs, including 500 jobs a day during a months-long peak construction period.

Tradesmen shake hands after guiding the final beam into place on the International Arrivals Facility at Sea-Tac Airport Tuesday.

“With this incredible economic boom the Seattle region is experiencing, we hear a lot about the historic records being broken on jobs and the number of construction cranes in the sky. But what we don’t hear enough about is the human upside: beneath all of the hardhats are real, local people who are working hard day in and day out for this economy,” said Monty Anderson, Executive Secretary, Seattle Building & Construction Trades Council. “The investments here at the airport are creating thousands of good, family-wage jobs from our local communities and will help build the next generation of construction workers, opening new doors through apprenticeships for women, people of color, veterans, and others who are disadvantaged.”
The IAF is the most complex capital development program in the history of the 69-year-old airport that includes the main IAF facility for baggage claim and customs processing, an 85-foot high aerial walkway that will connect passengers from the South Satellite, and a new security corridor that will allow dual use of gates on Concourse A for both international and domestic arriving flights.
“The Topping Off Ceremony is a time to reflect on the progress we’ve made on this project – and we are incredibly proud of what our collective team has accomplished to date. It is also an opportunity to look ahead at what we have yet to achieve and reaffirm our commitment to delivering a project of which all stakeholders can be proud,” said Brian Ahern, Clark Construction Vice President and Project Director in charge of construction of the IAF. “We look forward to continuing the spirit of collaboration that has been established on site and working side-by-side with Port of Seattle and airline representatives to deliver the IAF safely, swiftly, and successfully.”
Construction is scheduled to be complete by May 31, 2020 with facility activation and testing to follow for public use opening in the fall of 2020.
You can find more information on the IAF project online as well as a time-lapse video of the current construction on the Port of Seattle’s YouTube channel.

Here’s a live Facebook feed courtesy the Port:

THE BRIEFING PROJECT EPISODE 13

The Lost Cause – November 13, 2018

Thank you. I’m Steve Edmiston for The Briefing Project. Today’s comment is inspired by the “lost cause” speech from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, for two reasons. First, no surprise, I’m often told this project is a lost cause because of the Port’s economic growth ambitions and the disparity in our respective level of influence. Second, in film-speak, today reveals the list of actual project quests, meaning, here, the specific actions that will, “lost cause” or not, quantify success.
I’ve titled these actions the “Port of Seattle Airport Neighbor Community Accords.” The Accords are designed to provide cities and citizens a simple, ongoing, public measurement – a gradebook, or scorecard, if you will, of how each of you act, or fail to act, respond or fail to respond, to the information provided and the actions requested. Any one of you can introduce these actions as policy, to be advocated for and implemented to the extent permitted by law, just as you did on immigration, and on climate change. They are legal. They are within your authority. They reflect choices. I have the full text for the Clerk; I’ll read the Accord headings now.

First: The Health of Humans and the Environment is a Paramount Duty and Pre-Condition to Increased Frequency of Aircraft Operations (requiring reversal of the Port’s 2018 bylaw amendment deleting the commitment to community quality of life).

Second: Transparency Is a Core Value Requiring Independent Audit of Historical Mitigation Expenditures. 

Third: Trust is a Core Value Requiring Non-Interference with Independent Health and Environmental Studies. 

Fourth: Tax Levy Funds Shall Be Prioritized for Airport Neighbor Community Mitigation.

Fifth: Establishing a Nighttime Curfew to Protect Human Health Shall Be a Policy Priority Supported by Port Resources. 

Sixth: Fully Remediating the Failed Commitments for 3^rd Runway Usage Shall be a Policy Priority. 

Seventh: Establishing Increased Glide Slopes for All Runways to Reduce Noise and Protect Human Health Shall Be a Policy Priority Supported by Port Resources. 

Eighth: Establishing a Regional Airport to Preserve Statewide Economic Growth and Simultaneously Reduce the Unfair Burden on Airport Neighbor Communities Shall be a Policy Priority Supported by Port Resources.

Ninth: Citizen Complaint Processes Shall be Reformed to Provide Meaningful Engagement and Solutions. 

Tenth: A Moratorium Shall be Placed on Capital Projects That Expand Aircraft Operation Capacity Until a Comprehensive Plan Developed in Collaboration with Airport Neighbor Communities to Protect Health and the Environment is Achieved.

It’s a big list. Perhaps certainly, a “lost cause” list. But as Jimmy Stewart’s Mr. Smith said, “they’re the only causes worth fighting for.”

Much later in the meeting, as part of the 2019 Budget Resolution discussion, Commissioner Peter Steinbrueck introduced:

“…a proposal that I believe has been vetted by staff and law department and Commissioners to create an airport communities fund with an initial endowment of $10 million for five years. And the purpose is to “strategically address airport growth and the environmental impacts or effects associated with that including noise, pollution and health, potentially, and the concerns that have been raise publicly from various voices in the communities.” Commissioner Steinbrueck acknowledged that use of federal aviation funds within the 65 dB boundary is restricted, and “the intent here is to address some of the unfunded abatement measures.”
The Commissioner added “it would not be difficult to identify high priority uses over five years for this amount of money.”

In response to Steinbrueck’s proposal, Edmiston responded:

“I greatly appreciate this proposal for potential action – and leadership – offered by Commissioner Steinbrueck. This is moving the needle in the right direction. I hope that this type of action reflects the beginning of a long-term commitment that will require a much more significant investment. I agree with Commissioner Felleman’s comment that ‘my really my only concern is that the needs are so much greater than the fund and that we create an unreasonable expectation about all that could be accomplished with this sort of resource. But I’m ultimately tremendously sympathetic I’m bearing a disproportional brunt of this regional asset.’”

About The Briefing Project
The Briefing Project is a social media and documentary film project that merges journalism, editorial commentary, citizen activism, and the ‘it’s happening before our eyes’ elements of a reality-show, all serving an anticipated documentary about five elected officials with a choice to make to continue, stop, or mitigate, the harms caused to humans and the environment by noise and emissions from overflight operations. He has committed to spend no more time than the Commissioners provided to the FAA and to the Port’s own staff for a briefing in 2017: forty-three minutes. The project’s twist? As a citizen, Edmiston must provide his briefing during two-minute public-comment segments, as provided by Port bylaws. He estimates it will take a year to complete.
About Steve Edmiston
Steve is a business, intellectual property, and entertainment lawyer. He is also a screenwriter and independent film producer. He has written and produced award-winning feature-length and short films (including “Crimes of the Past,” “A Relative Thing,” “Farewell to Harry,” “The Day My Parents Became Cool,” “The Periphery Project,” and “The Maury Island Incident”). He serves on the Port Townsend Film Festival Board of Directors, and has taught screenwriting and producing at Seattle University, University of Washington, and Seattle Film Institute. 
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