By a 4-3 vote, SeaTac lawmakers agreed on Nov. 27 to allow up to 46 truck haul trips per hour on International Boulevard as part of the construction of an airport rental car facility.

The rental facility will be built at South 160th Street and International Boulevard. All vehicle rental companies serving Sea-Tac International Airport will be consolidated at the site.

Half of the trips will be entering the site and half leaving, so the maximum total will be 46, not 81 as previously reported.

For major site evacuation work, trucks will be entering the site by leaving westbound from State Route 518 onto southbound International Boulevard.

Leaving the construction location, trucks will cross International Boulevard from a specially built roadway directly onto the eastbound SR-518 onramp.

Concrete hauled from a site by the Duwamish River will come by two routes. A maximum of eight trips per hour will utilize State Route 509, SR-518, South 154th Street and International Boulevard.

Another maximum of four trips per hour will use State Route 599, Tukwila International Boulevard and International Boulevard.

Heather Bornhorst, port project director, said building a concrete batch plant at the construction site is "not feasible."

Based on his construction experience, Mayor Gene Fisher said he disputed Bornhorst's contention. Fisher added it might be less costly for the port to import the concrete, but on-site plants are common.

City Engineer Tom Gut said the port would still need to truck in the materials and water to make concrete on the site. Councilwoman Terry Anderson suggested the materials could be brought in at night.

The truck hauls are scheduled to begin in the last quarter of 2008 and finish by July 2012. Not all phases of the project will be going on at the same time.

Before discussing the proposal, council members heard from Riverton Heights resident Roger Kadeg, who charged the truck trips on South 154th Street "will create a traffic nightmare.

"It will bring an unacceptable level of congestion and safety hazards." Kadeg said.

He asked lawmakers to use their "considerable brainpower to come up with a common sense practical solution."

Gut said city surveys showed the truck trips would only increase congestion at the 154th/International Boulevard intersection by 5 to 8 percent.

Deputy Mayor Ralph Shape said the added truck trips "don't sound too excessive."

Fisher noted, "We all want this rental car facility. Like the third runway, we know this is going to happen."

But he asked for more time to study options.

Bornhorst replied that the port wants to put out bids in January and a council delay might set back the construction schedule. Lawmakers had already delayed action at their Nov. 6 meeting.

Shape, Tony Anderson, Joe Brennan and Don DeHan voted for the agreement with the port. Fisher, Terry Anderson and Chris Wythe voted against.

In other business, the council unanimously approved final development standards for the area around the light-rail station at South 154th and International Boulevard.

The standards encourage pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented development in the area.

They ban development agreements for commercial park-'n-fly facilities. Buildings must be a minimum of two stories. An exception would be made a single story building is at least 18 feet high.