Anybody know of a good route to take from downtown Seattle to Kent? I don't need scenery, I need safety. Start along Lake Washington Blvd? Airport Way? Duwamish thing? I would like to avoid sidewalk riding as much as possible, but I know the streets aren't all safe for bike people down south.

you could examine
the king county map
http://www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/roads/bike/map.cfm
or the start of the Seattle-to-Portland ride map http://www.cascade.org/EandR/stp/pdf/stp_routemap_2006.pdf
for some ideas

The only challenege is getting to the InterUrban trail in Tukwila. You've got a short distance of bad streets, fast traffic and dangerous neighborhoods in south Seattle. I live in Auburn and have made that ride a couple times.

Normally I commute on the sounder train - ride bike to the train, then from the train to work every day.

If you live in kent, the interurban should be a staple route for you.

Echhhh!

smurf hunter's correct, the Interurban should be a staple. It gets you easily all the way to the Seattle Processing & Distribution Plant, by Boeing. The Interurban ends there, but you can keep going on West Marginal and eventually hook up with East Marginal Way, but that's not that pleasant.

Anybody else?

East Hill

I live in Seattle and have friends + family in Kent, used to live there myself. Hopefully the weather will be better next week and I can try out one of the routes suggested. thanks!

The tough part of the ride truly is getting south of the city. It's at least partially due to there being so much heavy truck traffic in the south end. Once you can manage to get to the Interurban though, your ride is much more pleasant...

East Hill

I take Alaska Way to Spokane St. Turn right and follow the bike path to W. Marginal. Get on the Duwamish Bike Trail, which transitions to 99 under the 1st Ave S. bridge. Ride on the shoulder of 99 to Tukwila Community Center and catch the Green River Trail til it meets up with the Interurban as it goes under 405 at South Center. After that, it's a straight shot south to Kent or Auburn. Dead flat, good speed all the way.