Extending the 167 freeway to Tacoma is a priority

[Landshark]

Here is a recent article from the Tacoma News Tribune on local leaders push to finish the 167 freeway to Tacoma:

Extending part of SR 167 that ends at Puyallup is a priority

[xonhulu]

This is long overdue, but I'm not so sure about the tolling.  That would catch the Port traffic and traffic to downtown, but with free alternatives both north and south (SR 167/SR 18 and SR 512), it would be very easy for most other traffic to other areas to avoid the tolls.  Maybe someone living up there could speak better on this.

Also, wouldn't making this a SR 410 extension make more sense?  That is the general route of old US 410.

[corco]

I lived in Tacoma from 06-08. You can sort of get to Puyallup via 512 from downtown, but that does take a bit longer. The core of Tacoman population and where shopping is and things that Puyallupites would likely use on a regular basis is far enough away from downtown though that 512 is a realistic option. Puyallupites going north can still take the Valley Freeway up to I-405.

At least 3 years ago, I never found 167 to be total gridlock as it is now. The freeway will be nice, but I can see the argument for a toll facility.

So yes, there are free ways around it. With the exception of the 16 bridge though, that seems to be the MO (past and present) of WSDOT tolling- the toll roads aren't relied on to be self sufficient, so there isn't need to have a captive audience. Even the 16 bridge tolls are designed to be temporary, or were when the bridge was  constructed.

[Landshark]

Also, wouldn't making this a SR 410 extension make more sense?  That is the general route of old US 410.

Not really.  I-405 would make more sense, especially if they could reroute the Renton interchange to a N/S 405/167 corridor.  Hopefully it becomes I-82 in future decades. 

[xonhulu]

Not really.  I-405 would make more sense, especially if they could reroute the Renton interchange to a N/S 405/167 corridor.  Hopefully it becomes I-82 in future decades. 

I disagree.  I-405 makes the most sense as it is: a bypass loop of Seattle, albeit a heavily-congested one.

However, if I-405 were extended down the existing SR 167, it would make more sense to also take it around the existing SR 512 freeway and also bypass Tacoma, instead of abruptly turning northwest as 167 does.  Honestly, that routing really makes no sense for the existing SR 167, either.  If the new freeway has to become an interstate, it should just receive another I-x05 number.

I'd be very surprised to ever see I-82 reach Tacoma.  That being said, this would be the logical routing for its terminus.

[kkt]

I-82?  I-82 ends at a logical endpoint, I-90 at Ellensburg.  Are you advocating another all-winter freeway crossing of the Cascades?  If so, why would we need one?

I think it's bizarre to have SR-167 make a fishhook shape.  The Valley Freeway and the River Road Freeway should have separate numbers.  What if we want to extend the Valley Freeway south to South Hill or Graham at some point in the future?

[xonhulu]

I'm not advocating anything.  What the poster above was referencing is a long-standing (since the 40's) proposal for a highway across Naches Pass connecting Yakima and Tacoma; it's even on the books in Washington state as SR-168, but no attempts have been made to actually construct it.  That hasn't stopped some roadgeeks to imagine it as a potential re-routing of I-82.  I actually agree with you that it's unnecessary.

I like your description of SR-167's "fishhook shape."  That's exactly what I was trying to say earlier but was too tired to come up with that analogy.  It's an awkward turn for 167 to make, and kind of silly.  It would've been a lot more sensible to have kept 410 on the River Road alignment as it's historical and lines up better with 410's routing east of there.

[kkt]

Thanks for the info about Naches Pass.  I wasn't aware of it. 

[Henry]

I've heard about it on the local news. It would be a great thing to have here in the Seattle/Tacoma area.

[Landshark]

I'd be very surprised to ever see I-82 reach Tacoma.  That being said, this would be the logical routing for its terminus.

That would be Port Angeles, but that would be in a long, long time.   

[Landshark]

I-82?  I-82 ends at a logical endpoint, I-90 at Ellensburg.  Are you advocating another all-winter freeway crossing of the Cascades?  If so, why would we need one?

Yes, a Naches Pass tunnel.  It would relieve Snoqualmie Pass, give fast growing South Central Washington a quicker link to the Puget Sound area, and to better link the Ports of Tacoma and Seattle to Eastern Washington.  It is decades away from  realization, but WSDOT should be working towards this goal.  An extended I-82 will also link most of the state's major military installations: Fort Lewis, McChord AFB, Bangor Submarine Base, Bremerton Naval Shipyard and Navy Base, and the Yakima Training Center.

[xonhulu]

They should at least build a Naches Pass highway as that would be useful: it would be a direct link between Yakima and Puget Sound and would bypass Mt Rainier National Park.

Does this need to be built to interstate standards as a re-routing of I-82?  Definitely not immediately, as constructing that freeway would be prohibitively expensive, but that possibility could be left open for the future.  And while the WA 16/3 freeways extending out of Tacoma past Bremerton looks tempting as a further extension of I-82, does Port Angeles really need to have an interstate?

All in all, while the Naches Pass highway would be useful, I don't know that it's anywhere near the highest priority in Washington state.  So I'm skeptical we'll ever see it built.

[KEK Inc.]

Sort of bumping this thread, but I was looking at proposed projects by WSDOT, and 167 is on the drawing board.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR167/TacomaToEdgewood/designviz/i5interchange_viz.htm

I made a sign gantry of what could be on I-5 SB towards the intersection.



I think this will alleviate Puyallup/Sumner traffic stressed on SR-167, SR-512 and unnecessary traffic using I-5.  This also practically extends I-405 down to Tacoma, so Federal Way could get relieved on I-5. 

Next up, they need to link Renton and Maple Valley with a freeway. 

[707]

It makes more sense to make the new freeway extension for WA 509 a spur. I never heard of a state highway in Washington being concurrent with any federal highway before. It is strange enough however to pair WA 509 with WA 516 and WA 99. In a state like Washington, that just seems downright unnatural.

[Bruce]

I never heard of a state highway in Washington being concurrent with any federal highway before.

US 97 and SR 20 from Okanogan to Tonasket
US 97 and SR 14 in Maryhill
US 197 and SR 14 from Dallesport to Maryhill (1964-2006)
I-182/US 12 and SR 240 in Richland

Just to name the few I know off the top of my head...

[xonhulu]

US 197 and SR 14 from Dallesport to Maryhill (1964-2006)

I know this concurrency existed on paper until 2006, but I don't think it was ever signed.  I'm pretty sure the US 197 shields were removed along with the US 830's when the later was decommissioned in favor of SR 14.

As for other US/SR concurrencies in Washington, there are a few on US 2:  SR 231, SR 25, SR 21, and SR 17.  I can't think of any others besides yours.

[Bruce]

US 197 and SR 14 from Dallesport to Maryhill (1964-2006)

I know this concurrency existed on paper until 2006, but I don't think it was ever signed.  I'm pretty sure the US 197 shields were removed along with the US 830's when the later was decommissioned in favor of SR 14.

WSDOT had US 197 in its AADT logs traveling to Maryhill until 1980, so they did acknowledge it from 1952 to 1980.

As for other US/SR concurrencies in Washington, there are a few on US 2:  SR 231, SR 25, SR 21, and SR 17.  I can't think of any others besides yours.

I completely forgot about those US 2 concurrencies (even after writing a long Wikipedia article on it).

[jakeroot]

I hope me reviving this topic won't get me in trouble -- I can't really afford that being a "side road".

The SR 167 extension is currently awaiting funding at the capital. Gov. Inslee is pushing for a transportation package that would raise the gas tax 10 cents over the coming years. If this passes, as the design of the freeway extension is pretty much complete, construction would begin within the next year or so.

http://goo.gl/tX3ngz

I used to live in Puyallup, and I don't know anyone who didn't support the extension.

Earlier in this thread...

I-405 would make more sense, especially if they could reroute the Renton interchange to a N/S 405/167 corridor.

Good news! WSDOT is designing an HOV overpass between I-405 and SR 167 to make the transition less jarring for those traveling via HOV:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/i405/sr167icdirectconnector/



A complete 167-405 transition? Absolutely not. But with DOT constantly reffering to I-405 and SR 167 as a corridor, especially in terms of HOT lanes, they clearly want to see these two freeways as a straight corridor.

You can read more about the project on this factsheet: http://goo.gl/O2do8M

[Alps]

I hope me reviving this topic won't get me in trouble -- I can't really afford that being a "side road".

Damn side road, I'll knock you back to a Trail...
You are encouraged to post in an old topic, and in fact discouraged from creating a new duplicate topic, as long as you are adding new information to it. (If you have nothing new, don't create a new topic, obviously.)

[I94RoadRunner]

Sort of bumping this thread, but I was looking at proposed projects by WSDOT, and 167 is on the drawing board.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR167/TacomaToEdgewood/designviz/i5interchange_viz.htm

I made a sign gantry of what could be on I-5 SB towards the intersection.



I think this will alleviate Puyallup/Sumner traffic stressed on SR-167, SR-512 and unnecessary traffic using I-5.  This also practically extends I-405 down to Tacoma, so Federal Way could get relieved on I-5. 

Next up, they need to link Renton and Maple Valley with a freeway. 

I heard that WA 509 would not be a SPUR here but rather the mainline and Dash Point Rd would not be a state highway any longer once the freeway gets built. If this happened, then there would be a gap in WA 509 just like WA 99 in Tukwilla. IMO, the northern section of WA 509 could just be renumbered as WA 517 or WA 521 between I-5 (at S 210th where it MIGHT some year be built) and the 1st Ave So Bridge .....

[I94RoadRunner]

This is long overdue, but I'm not so sure about the tolling.  That would catch the Port traffic and traffic to downtown, but with free alternatives both north and south (SR 167/SR 18 and SR 512), it would be very easy for most other traffic to other areas to avoid the tolls.  Maybe someone living up there could speak better on this.

Also, wouldn't making this a SR 410 extension make more sense?  That is the general route of old US 410.

Possibly. I had thought about the WA 410 number for this section of WA 167 as well. Before the widening of WA 167 in the late 1980's, WA 167 was even signed as an East-West highway between WA 410 and Meridian Ave on the Super-two freeway. I guess the point is that WA 167 is the main highway here and will connect to I-5 as a bypass of Federal Way serving the cities of Auburn, Kent, and Renton where WA 410 goes into the mountains .....

[KEK Inc.]

Technically WA-410 was supposed to be I-82. 


iPhone

[I94RoadRunner]

Technically WA-410 was supposed to be I-82. 


iPhone

Yes, true. However I-82 extending from Yakima to Sumner/Puyallup/Tacoma will probably realistically never happen despite being potentially a very useful freeway .....

[KEK Inc.]

Technically WA-410 was supposed to be I-82. 


iPhone

Yes, true. However I-82 extending from Yakima to Sumner/Puyallup/Tacoma will probably realistically never happen despite being potentially a very useful freeway .....

Not sure how it's very useful given its proximity with I-90



iPhone

[I94RoadRunner]

Technically WA-410 was supposed to be I-82. 


iPhone

Yes, true. However I-82 extending from Yakima to Sumner/Puyallup/Tacoma will probably realistically never happen despite being potentially a very useful freeway .....

Not sure how it's very useful given its proximity with I-90



iPhone

Easier access to the Port of Tacoma, faster access to Olympia and Bremerton ..... Plenty useful, just not realistic at this time