State hopes new ramp in Tacoma will reduce traffic congestion
Apr 3, 2017, 9:20 AM
State officials have their fingers crossed that a new ramp from northbound I-5 to State Route 167 will help mitigate traffic backups.
Related: Bellevue to shave minutes off commutes with new levy money
KIRO 7’s Rob Munoz reports the ramp is wider and straighter than the previous one.
The new ramp, which was supposed to be completed in February, opened Monday morning. The project was delayed by poor weather.
Munoz says the ramp takes drivers directly to what is also known as River Road, a direct route from Tacoma to Puyallup.
The ramp is just a piece of a larger effort by the state to make improvements to I-5 through Tacoma.
At the beginning of the year, KIRO Radio’s Chris Sullivan reported that “we’re in the middle of years worth of construction” in the area. That work includes adding and rebuilding HOV lanes and resurfacing the roadway.
The projects through Tacoma are scheduled to wrap up in early to mid-2018.
“This is a large project,” Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson Doug Adamson said. “We are relocating, essentially, Interstate 5 through the Tacoma area … we’re building new bridges, adding new stormwater facilities. There’s a lot of new work that is going on. We’re building a bridge over the Puyallup River.”
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