Firefighters and many industrial employees along 72nd Avenue South in north Kent will soon have much better access to and from their jobs.

The Kent City Council approved a $2.6 million bid on Feb. 16 to extend 72nd Avenue from South 196th Street to South 200th Street. Crews are expected to start work in March and complete the street by the end of the year, according to city officials.

Firefighters will be able to travel to the north and east much quicker from Fire Station 76, 20676 72nd Ave. S. In fact, the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority (RFA) is paying $1.2 million to the city toward the project because the road extension will improve response times to 215 land parcels.

“One of the reasons why the RFA was interested in this project is because it’s a missing link,” said Tim LaPorte, city public works director, in a report to the council. “They have been a fan of this project for well over a decade. And as a fan, I mean they want to participate to help pay for this.”

When the street is complete, fire crews will drive north to South 196th Street, where they can turn right and use the overpass to cross railroad tracks.

To get to calls north of the station today, firefighters must go south to South 212th Street before heading north. The station houses a fire engine and the hazardous material response unit. Paramedics from King County Medic One also are housed at the station.

“They will get to the area much faster than they can today,” LaPorte said.

The city received a grant of $1.1 million in 2013 from the state Transportation Improvement Board to help fund the project. The city will spend about $300,000 from its traffic impact fees and storm drainage fund to cover the remaining costs.

“It’s been proposed for probably about 20 years,” LaPorte said.

Currently, 72nd Avenue South extends north from South 196th Street to South 180th Street and south from South 200th Street to South 228th Street. The extension will complete a three-mile route and fill an important gap for nearby businesses as well as the fire department, city officials said.

Crews will build a three-lane road for most of the extension with a five-lane section at the South 196th Street intersection.

The improvements will include a bridge over Mill Creek, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, storm drainage, street trees, street lighting and traffic signal modifications at 196th Street. Crews will haul approximately 20,000 tons of fill for the roadway.

Kent-based Scarsella Bros. Inc., whose main office is at 8404 S. 196th St., just down the road from the project, received the contract with the low bid. Five other companies also submitted bids that ranged from $2.9 million to $3.4 million.

Kent city officials had to get approval for the project from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as the state Department of Ecology because the extension goes along the west side of the Western Processing Superfund site, LaPorte said.

“The site was shut down in 1983 (by the EPA), and EPA has overseen the cleanup operation, and along with the liable companies, including Boeing, spent more than $200 million to clean up the 17 acres,” LaPorte said.

Western Processing, which began operating in 1961, handled industrial wastes for more than 300 businesses, according to the EPA. The agency discovered many of the nearly 5,000 drums stored at the site were leaking.

A slurry wall along the property goes down about 30 to 40 feet to help keep contaminants from migrating, LaPorte said. The EPA conducts a review of the site every five years, with the most recent one in 2013.