TACOMA – The contractor building high occupancy vehicle (HOV) connections between State Route 16 and Interstate 5 has postponed a 30-day closure of the eastbound South 38th Street loop ramp in Tacoma due to scheduling conflicts.
In addition, both the 30-day closure of the South Sprague on-ramp to southbound I-5 and the temporary traffic shift for eastbound SR 16 drivers to southbound I-5 have been postponed.
The closures had been slated to start this month. Contractor Skanska, working as both designer and builder of the project, now expects to do the traffic shift and modify the interchange starting in early 2019. The modification will allow motorists from SR 16 and southbound I-5 to make right- and left-turns at the top of the loop ramp to South 38th Street. The work will resume after the holiday shopping season, but an exact date has not yet been set.
The Washington State Department of Transportation will announce the new dates of the temporary traffic shift and ramp closures once they become available.
Visit the Tacomatraffic.com web page for updated HOV construction information. Real-time traveler information is available from the WSDOT app and by following the WSDOT regional Twitter feed.