Puyallup – Improving an interchange, building bridges and blazing a trail are the hallmarks of the next stage of construction for the State Route 167 Completion Project in Pierce County.
As early as Tuesday, April 8, contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation started work on a three-year project in the Puyallup-Sumner area to widen SR 167 between SR 161 (North Meridian Avenue) and SR 410.
Early work
People who live, work or travel through the area can expect to see crews begin work west of North Meridian Avenue. They will install high visibility fencing, begin removing trees and start hauling in gravel and soil to build a portion of the embankment for a future SR 167 expressway.
Two new bridges and an improved interchange
The project includes two new bridges for the future expressway: one bridge over North Meridian Avenue and one bridge over Milwaukee Avenue East. The new bridges will eventually carry SR 167 through-traffic while the existing bridges will be converted into on- and off-lanes to help travelers smoothly enter and exit the expressway at both North Meridian and Milwaukee avenues.
Crews will also build a new interchange on North Meridian Avenue to allow travelers to more easily enter and exit SR 167. It will include new sidewalks and crosswalks.
Although construction of the expressway between North Meridian Avenue and SR 410 will be complete in 2028, it won’t open to travelers until the last portion of the four-lane highway between North Meridian Avenue and Interstate 5 is completed in 2030.
“Improving and modifying this existing section of SR 167 sets the stage to build the new tolled expressway between I-5 and North Meridian Avenue beginning in 2026,” said Puget Sound Gateway Administrator John White. “When the full 6-mile expressway is complete, travelers can opt for a more direct route between Puyallup and Tacoma with connections to I-5 and SR 509 or continue to use surface streets. The connection will provide a huge benefit to freight traveling between the Port of Tacoma and manufacturing and distribution centers, removing many of them from those local streets.”
The section of the tolled SR 167 expressway between I-5 and SR 509 already in construction is scheduled to open to traffic in 2026.
Trail work
Over the next three years, crews will also begin building a section of the spuyaləpabš Trail between Puyallup and Alexander Avenue in Fife. The new 12-mile trail roughly follows the alignment of the new expressway and will feature artwork by Coast Salish artists. WSDOT is building 8 miles of the trail while Tacoma and Fife will build the remaining 4 miles between Alexander Avenue and the Thea Foss Esplanade in Tacoma.
Preserving Puyallup history
Although crews will be removing hundreds of trees, one tree that will be carefully protected is Puyallup’s historic Carson Chestnut tree. Located next to the North Meridian Avenue on-ramp to northbound SR 167, crews will place protective fencing around the tree and its root system during construction. Arborists will monitor the tree throughout construction. Some pruning will occur while the tree is dormant to maintain its health. The tree was planted as a sapling in 1853 by Emma Carson. Carson was Puyallup’s first schoolteacher and the daughter of Puyallup pioneer John Carson.
In addition, a portion of the historic Meridian Street steel truss bridge will be preserved and placed along the spuyaləpabš Trail near the SR 167/North Meridian interchange. The 371-foot bridge was originally built over the Puyallup River in 1925. It was removed in 2015 to make way for a new bridge over the river.
SR 167 Completion Project information
The SR 167 Completion Project is part of WSDOT’s Puget Sound Gateway Program, which also includes the SR 509 Completion Project in south King County. Together, the two completion projects finish critical missing links in Washington’s highway and freight network.
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