State Route 16 West


The Nalley Valley Viaduct was constructed between 1969 and 1971 to carry SR 16 between I-5 and the exchange with Sprague Avenue. Supports for the elevated highway utilized four-legged columns known as a tetrapod, which negated the possibility of expanding the viaduct. A second elevated roadway was instead built for SR 16 west by Summer 2011, with the original viaduct repurposed for SR 16 east.
08/29/06
Redesign of the West Nalley Valley interchange separated movements to Sprague Avenue from the respective I-5 ramps to eliminate weaving traffic.
08/29/06
Union Avenue heads south to an interchange with Tacoma Way (historic U.S. 99) and north to the University of Puget Sound.
08/29/06
A wye interchange was added to SR 16 after the bridge over Tyler Street and Snake Lake to Center Street at Mullen Street. Center Street meets Orchard Street at the Fircrest city line.
08/29/06
Turning north, SR 16 enters a six-ramp parclo interchange (Exits 2A/B) with S 19th Street at Orchard Street.
08/29/06
Exit 2A leads onto S 19th Street east to Cheney Stadium, home of the Class AAA Tacoma Rainiers Minor League Baseball club.
08/29/06
Exit 2B leaves SR 16 north for parallel Orchard Street midway between S 12th and 19th Streets. S 19th Street follows the Tacoma and Fircrest city line west to Tacoma Community College and University Place.
08/29/06
SR 163 stems north from the forthcoming parclo interchange with Pearl Street to Ruston and the WSDOT Ferry Point Defiance Terminal.
08/29/06
Beyond Jackson Avenue and Tacoma, SR 16 continues six miles to Gig Harbor and 28 miles to Bremerton (via connections with SR 3).
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Jackson Avenue travels north to Narrows Drive and south from SR 16 to Bridgeport Way in University Place.
08/29/06
A pedestrian arch bridge links sections of Skyline Drive over SR 16 ahead of the parclo interchange with Jackson Avenue.
08/29/06
SR 16 crosses The Narrows between Tacoma and Gig Harbor. SR 16 north spans the suspension bridge built in 1950. Southbound traffic crosses The Narrows across the companion suspension bridge opened in July 2007.
08/29/06
SR 16 previously crossed the 1950-bridge with two-way traffic. Tolls were collected for the 5,979 foot long span until 1965. Tolling was reinstituted at The Narrows in 2007 for the eastbound bridge at a rate of $4.00 for cash transactions.1
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The history of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge began on July 1, 1940 when the original suspension bridge opened to traffic. Lasting only four months due to a physics design flaw that did not properly account for aeroelastic flutter, the bridge collapsed in a dramatic engineering failure. Regular vibrations and undulations of the span during windy weather were were known in the four months leading to the November 7, 1940 collapse.1
Explosive population growth of the area west of Pugeot Sound strained the 1950-span capacity and by 1998, the plan to add a second parallel bridge was approved. Construction on the new suspension bridge began in October 2002. Both spans travel 187.5 feet above The Narrows.1
08/29/06
Exit 8 departs SR 16 west for 24th Street NW. 24th Street connects the freeway with Jahn Avenue SW and Stone Drive NW to Tacoma Narrows Airport, Wollochet, and Point Fosdick.
08/29/06
References:
- Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Wikipedia.org.
Photo Credits:
- AARoads: 08/29/06
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Page Updated Wednesday October 27, 2010.