SR 167 – SR 410 to SR 18 NB Congestion Management

SR 167 is the primary freeway connecting the Kent and Puyallup River valleys to the Seattle, Tacoma, and Bellevue metropolitan areas. It provides vital access for commuters from Puyallup, Sumner, Auburn, and Kent and serves as one of the region’s most critical freight corridors. SR 167 is the backbone of the south Puget Sound economy, providing a direct link to the distribution centers in Kent and Puyallup. It also provides the connection for agriculture products grown in eastern Washington to get to the docks at the Port of Tacoma for export.

Travelers on northbound SR 167 between Puyallup and Auburn experience regular congestion, especially during morning peak commute hours. To help reduce delays during peak commute hours, WSDOT and Graham are building a new northbound high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on SR 167. The new HOV lane will begin near State Route 410 in Pierce County and continue north and tie into the existing SR 167 HOT Lane near Auburn in King County. This section of SR 167 is part of the Tacoma/Pierce County HOV Program which includes a series of projects that build high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes on I-5, SR 16, and SR 167 in Pierce County.

The project scope includes completion of two bridge deck overlays. The contract specified hydro-demolition to scarify the existing surface before placing a concrete overlay. Graham identified major risk in completing this work per contract specifications and developed a low-risk plan that involved placing asphalt overlays instead. This innovative re-design eliminated 6 months of nightly lane closures, and allowed for completion of 18,000 tons of paving to be completed in one weekend.