Federal Way

Federal Way is a city in King County in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. With a population of 96,000 (2016), Federal Way is one of Seattle's largest suburbs. Federal Way is home to the world headquarters of Weyerhaeuser and World Vision.

Get in
Federal Way is less than 10 miles south of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. It is on Interstate 5 and reaches to Puget Sound.

By car

 * I-5.svg Interstate 5 (I-5) Federal Way is accessed from exits #142 A & B("SR 18/S 348th St") through #147 ("S 272nd St") along I-5. There are four exits from I-5 into town. The Federal Way Commons (closest thing to a 'downtown') can be accessed from Exit #143 ("S 320th St") from both directions of I-5. The S 317th St exit & merge lanes (accessed from the left lanes of both directions) are restricted to carpools (2 or more) and buses. Nearest for other users is through S 320th.
 * WA-99.svg Pacific Highway S passes through town as Pacific Hwy from Kent/Des Moines in the north and Fife in the south. It runs parallel to I-5 with multiple stores, restaurants, malls and motels along the road. SR-99 provides direct connection between Federal Way and the airport in Sea-Tac where it becomes International Blvd.
 * WA-18.svg State Route (SR) 18 into S 348th St Connects Federal Way and I-5 corridor to the I-90 corridor in North Bend and Snoqualmie Falls (Exit 25 of I-90) through Auburn, Covington, Maple Valley and Issaquah. SR-18 ends at its junction with I-5 and becomes S 348th west of the I-5 corridor in Federal Way. It is the shortest way to reach Snoqualmie Pass and anywhere east via I-90 from Federal Way, Tacoma and anywhere south along I-5 WITHOUT going into Seattle or Bellevue.
 * WA-161.svg Enchanted Pkwy S Connects Federal Way to Mount Rainier via Edgewood, Puyallup, South Hill and Graham in Pierce County. It goes through town as Enchanted Pkwy S which becomes 16th Ave S north of its intersection with S 348th. It ends at its intersection with SR-99 at S 340th Pl.
 * WA-509.svg SW Dash Point Dr/East Side Dr Connects the SR-99 corridor at the 29700 block into downtown Tacoma via Dash Point State Park and Port of Tacoma Tideflats / Fife. It goes around Federal Way through local residential neighborhoods offering a scenic drive and views of the Sound in some places. Going north from the 29700 block, SR-509 runs concurrent with SR-99 to its intersection with Kent Des Moines Hwy (SR-516) in Des Moines. It is Dash Point Dr in Federal Way and becomes East Side Dr in NE Tacoma.

By bus
For intercity bus service outside of the region, travel to Seattle or Tacoma.

By car
Federal Way's street designation is a continuation of King County's street designation system in South Seattle (S) and West Seattle (SW), beginning at 1st Ave S & Yesler in Seattle. The major roads are somewhat in a grid, with north-south roads called Avenues that suffix the directional and east-west roads being Streets that prefix the directional. There are occasional irregularities: Ways are long roads that don't always conform to the grid, Drives are long, circuitous routes, and there are the very short Place or Court that dead ends on one end of the road. Most roads are numbered with a few that are named.

Federal Way lies approximately between S 272nd St (27200 block) and S 373rd St (37300 block) south of Seattle (Yesler), which run east and west. 1st Ave S (goes north-south) divides 'South' (east of 1st) from 'Southwest' (west of 1st) as it goes from S 291st St (29100) at Redondo Beach to S 368th St (36800) as a major throughfare. It does not connect Federal Way to Seattle. Roads south of the King-Pierce County line, south of Federal Way, change to a Northeast (NE) directional (in the suffix) which is based on Tacoma's directional system as that part of town is in Tacoma but is closer and more connected to Federal Way then it is to Tacoma. The house numbers decrease from south to north; and from the east and from the west towards 1st Ave S.

By public transit
The transportation hub (bus station) in Federal Way is the on South 317th St and 23rd Ave S. The FWTC offers routes with service to Sea-Tac Intl. Airport (A, 574); Downtown Seattle (177,577,578); First Hill (193); Univ of Washington in the U-District (586); Tacoma (500,501,586,574); Puyallup (402,578); Auburn (181, 578).
 * Offers local bus service on the following routes:
 * 181 Twin Lakes P&R, Federal Way, Outlet Collection Seattle, Auburn, Green River College. Goes down towards Twin Lakes P&R via S 320th & 21st Ave S
 * 182 Northeast Tacoma, South Federal Way, Federal Way Transit Center
 * 183 Federal Way, Camelot neighborhood, and Star Lake towards Kent.
 * 187 Federal Way Transit Center, Twin Lakes via S 320th, 47th SW/Hoyt Rd, etc
 * DART 901 Federal Way, Mirror Lake
 * DART 903 South Federal Way, Twin Lakes
 * RapidRide Line A operates frequently to Tukwila, including the airport, from Federal Way Transit Center on Pacific Hwy/International Blvd (Hwy 99)


 * Pierce Transit offers additional local service to areas south of S 320th on their way into Pierce County.
 * 63 Connects downtown Tacoma to 45th St NE & Nassau in NE Tacoma during weekday rush hours. Goes to NE Tacoma in the afternoons and towards Tacoma in the morning. No service to Federal Way Transit Center. At other times take the 574 bus from Tacoma to Federal Way and the 182 into NE Tacoma.
 * 402 Travels along Meridian (via multiple stops) from the Federal Way Transit Center to Puyallup through Milton.
 * 500 Continues south from Federal Way to downtown Tacoma on Pacific Hwy (Hwy 99) through Fife.
 * 501 Goes down towards Tacoma through Edgewood, Milton, and Fife on different turns onto various roads.
 * Bus routes serving Federal Way include routes 574, 577, 578, 586).

If possible you'll probably want a car to get around more quickly.

See
The City of Federal Way has a huge population of Korean Americans and used to host the annual Hanwoori Korean Festival, which was a huge event sponsored by the City of Federal Way, Washington State, and various business organizations.

Do






Buy
Federal Ways's main shopping "district" is the Pacific Highway (SR-99) corridor from S 272nd to S 356th and along S 320th from I-5 to Pacific Hwy. It consists of a variety of small stores, small strip malls, large malls and small standalone restaurants along the road. The closest thing to a "downtown" is the area bounded by Pacific Hwy in the west, S 324th on the south, I-5 on the east and S 312th in the north. This area consist of The Federal Way Commons, a variety of strip malls, standalone stores/restaurants, hotels and the Federal Way Transit Center (bus station) separated from each other by massive parking lots.

Eat


Federal Way is best known for its Korean cuisine, thanks to the high concentration of Korean Americans living in the city.

Recommended Korean restaurants:
 * Mirak, Shin Sung, Kokkiri

Recommended Japanese restaurants:
 * Akasaka, Koharu, Hanabi

Connect
The area code for the Federal Way and South King County is 253.

By mail