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Renton street closures aim to control illegal street racing

By KIRO 7 News Staff and David Solano
By KIRO 7 News Staff and David Solano

Starting Friday, police said they will be closing streets in Renton in an effort to curb illegal street racing.

The closures will happen on Friday and Saturday nights between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Streets will be closed at the following locations:

  • Oaksdale Avenue Southwest between Southwest 16th Street and Southwest 41st Street.
  • Southwest 27th Street between Lind Avenue Southwest and Oaksdale Avenue Southwest.

The Renton Police Department told KIRO 7 the goal is stop illegal street racing for good.

"Oh, they're here all the time,” Bailey Stober, who lives in Auburn, said. “I mean [take] last weekend for example [where there were tons of street racers]. They’re here all of the time."

Stober said he's seen street racers go 120 mph down commercial and residential streets.

"It's just not cool. S.I.R. is just up the street,” said Stober. “Go to a raceway, if you want to race, but in public streets in Kent, Renton and Auburn, it's just not acceptable."

"We've had this problem probably going back close to 30 years,” said David Leibman, commander of the Renton Police Department. “We've done all sorts of things to try to slow it down and curb it, and we've had very limited success just for a short period of time."

Police said those going to businesses operating within the closed areas can enter and exit through a controlled access point on Southwest 34th Street and Oaksdale Avenue Southwest.

"We have had fatalities in the region due to racing,” said Leibman. “These groups of racers don't really stay in one specific area. They may go to a place in Seattle and then go down to Kent, and then go to Renton."

Closures will run continuously until further notice.

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