Decades-old question about unfinished highway finally answered
Oct 4, 2016, 9:05 AM | Updated: 11:06 am
Work on SR 167 will bring relief for drivers, but it's going to take years to complete. (WSDOT)
(WSDOT)
For more than 30 years, people have been asking: when is the state going to finish Highway 167?
The answer: It’s just going to take a long time to get there, but it will happen.
Related: Second phase of I-405 construction is just beginning in Renton
The Washington State Department of Transportation is going to extend Highway 167 from where it ends at Meridian in Puyallup. Hwy 167 move to the northwest, up to I-5 in Fife, and then west to State Route 509. More project details.
Craig Stone, head of the project, says WSDOT has been working on this extension since the mid-90s.
Stone says this should take most of the truck traffic off of River Road and, more importantly, keep it from joining I-5 in downtown Tacoma.
“Port of Tacoma Road interchange is backed up every day,” Stone said. “The 54th interchange is backed up every day. That 70th crossing over I-5 is going to be replaced with a four-lane bridge. It will do a lot in that particular area of Fife and it gives you an alternate route really of I-5 to get into Tacoma, get into Fife. And it will really help to distribute traffic in that area.”
This will be a four-lane freeway, and it will likely be tolled. Stone says the Legislature still must approve tolling, but the project needs about 10 percent of its funding from tolling. Stone says it would be a variable toll, just like SR 520. Current modeling suggests a toll between 35 cents and $2.70.
“It is a way to try and get revenue to help build the facility,” Stone said. “It’s something that’s gone 25 years without moving forward. This is a way for the direct users to help pay for the project.”
You probably won’t be able to drive on the Highway 167 extension for about 10 years, and it will likely be 15 years before the entire project is complete.
The extension is part of the Gateway Project, which also includes a major expansion of Highway 509.
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