Interstate 5 South - Pierce County

Curving west from between the Porter Way and 70th Avenue overpasses in the city of Milton, Interstate 5 sees the first sign for Interstate 705 for its connections to Tacoma Dome Station.

08/29/06

The southern segment of SR 99 ends at a six-ramp parclo interchange (Exit 137) with Interstate 5. SR 99 currently travels 16.75 miles from SR 518 in SeaTac to Fife. This may be turned back once the SR 509 freeway is completed from Des Moines to Kent.

08/29/06

Exit 137 leaves Interstate 5 south for SR 99 (54th Avenue East) north. 54th Avenue south connects the freeway with 20th Street East to Milton and Valley Road southeast to Edgewood. 54th Avenue north carries SR 99 from Interstate 5 to the original U.S. 99 route along Pacific Highway east.

08/29/06

One mile west of SR 99 is the Exit 136 parclo interchange with Port of Tacoma Road.

08/29/06

Interstate 5 south spans Wapato Creek and sees this reassurance shield.

08/29/06

Port of Tacoma Road provides the first of two exits for the Port of Tacoma. Port of Tacoma Road angles northwest from its interchange with SR 509 to East 11th Street (former SR 509) at the Port. Southward the road ends at 20th Street East.

08/29/06

SR 167 (River Road / East 28th Street) follows the Puyallup River northwest from Puyallup to ends at Exit 135 of Interstate 5. The state route represents the historic alignment of U.S. 410.

08/29/06

Spanning the Puyallup River, Interstate 5 nears the split diamond interchange with Portland Avenue. SR 167 (Bay Street west / 28th Street east) sees a wye interchange within the exchange (Exit 135) along Interstate 5 south.

08/29/06

Paralleling Interstate 5 to the north across the Puyallup are the BNSF Railroad, Eells Street (historic U.S. 99) and the Tacoma Rail bridges.

08/29/06

Obscured beyond the Historic U.S. 99 bridge is the SR 509 expressway crossing of the Puyallup. The east-west freeway serves the Port of Tacoma area from Interstate 705 and downtown Tacoma.

08/29/06

Exit 135 forms the westbound beginning of East 27th Street, a frontage road providing access to Bay Street east to SR 167 and Portland Avenue. Portland Avenue travels north along the Puyallup River to the Port of Tacoma area and south to southeast Tacoma and SR 512 near Midland.

08/29/06

A rare instance of an Interstate shield posted on a blue services sign.

08/29/06

East 27th Street continues beyond the Exit 135 on-ramp to East L Street and Wiley Avenue beside this reassurance shield of Interstate 5 south.

08/29/06

Interstate 5 lowers one half mile to the stack interchange with Interstate 705 north and SR 7 south (Exit 133). Interstate 705 constitutes the 1.50 mile Tacoma Spur to the city center and Schuster Parkway along Commencement Bay.

08/29/06

Exit 133 includes an ramp to East 26th Street for the adjacent Tacoma Dome.

08/29/06

The East 27th Street on-ramp forms an exit-only lane for Exit 133 (Interstate 705 north / SR 7 south). SR 7 lines Tacoma Eastern Gulch southward as a freeway to 38th Street, shifting to a surface route (38th Street west to Pacific Avenue south) on its southern course exiting Tacoma. A stub end lies at the freeway partial interchange with 38th Street, alluding to a unconstructed extension south, perhaps as far as the SR 512 freeway.

08/29/06

Exit 133 branches away from Interstate 5 south and quickly splits into ramps for Interstate 705 north to downtown Tacoma and SR 7 south to Pacific Avenue.

08/29/06

Following the connection to Interstate 705 north, drivers partition again between the Tacoma Spur and exit to East 26th Street. 26th Street travels west to the historic alignments of U.S. 99 of Pacific Avenue at Tacoma Way and east to Puyallup Avenue. Interstate 705 follows a viaduct to the SPUI with SR 509 and South 21st Street.

08/29/06

Heading west, Interstate 5 next approaches Exit 132 to SR 16. A mid-2000s expansion project added HOV-lanes and began reconstruction of the Nalley Valley Interchange.¹ Work also focused on the addition of new high-speed ramps, flyovers, and HOV connections. Adjacent construction at the Sprague Avenue interchange replaced the 1971-completed Nalley Valley Viaduct and rebuilt the exchange to accommodate a wider freeway and HOV facilities.²

08/29/06

A separate ramp leads south alongside Interstate 5 to South 38th Street near Tacoma Mall. This ramp will be separated from the new SR 16 flyover. SR 16 otherwise is a 27.01 mile route joining Tacoma with SR 3 at Gorst. The route is mostly a freeway and includes the tolled Tacoma Narrows Bridge west to Gig Harbor.

08/29/06