Traffic congestion relief comes to Tacoma with Puyallup River Bridge’s completion

Southbound I-5 commuters through Fife to Tacoma will finally get some congestion relief. The Washington State Department of Transportation has moved southbound travel lanes onto the new 1,579-foot-long southbound I-5 Puyallup River Bridge.

It’s a great day for commuters in #Tacoma!
The new southbound I-5 Puyallup River Bridge is open! There are 5 lanes total – 4 general purpose & 1 auxiliary lane – for drivers to use. The HOV lanes on both NB & SB I-5 will open this summer. #DriveSafe pic.twitter.com/bcrTYv98SL

— WSDOT Tacoma (@wsdot_tacoma) April 1, 2022

Friday, the transportation department announced that it has concluded striping the bridge. The addition will allow commuters to stay in their lanes on southbound I-5 across the Puyallup River.

Is this the ‘end of the end’ for I-5 construction through Tacoma?

“Drivers are going to immediately notice they are no longer sharing a bridge with the northbound traffic,” wrote Fife Project Engineer Tom Slimak in a news release. “We are excited to be opening lanes and providing some relief for commuters.”

The Puyallup River Bridge includes four general-purpose lanes, along with a new auxiliary lane. The new lanes will give drivers more time and space to merge in and out of traffic.

The old bridge, built in 1962, did not have an auxiliary lane between ramps to accommodate traffic merges. As crews performed construction, I-5 drivers from the north and the south were forced to share vehicle traffic as the new southbound bridge was built.

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