By Cara Mitchell
Just as yard work and home improvement projects begin to kick into high gear in your neighborhood, so too is highway construction on Interstate 5 in Pierce County. We have three construction sites on the busy highway between Lakewood and Tacoma that are getting ready to reach some big milestones that will affect traffic. We want you to know about these milestones in advance so you can plan ahead for your daily commute to work, school, or to wherever your honey-do list takes you.
Girders are going up on new Berkeley Street overpass in Lakewood/JBLM
In April, contractor Guy F. Atkinson Construction will close lanes on northbound and southbound I-5 during overnight hours to set 44 girders on a brand new Berkeley Street overpass as part of the
I-5 – Steilacoom-DuPont Road to Thorne Lane Corridor Improvements project.
During these closures, northbound and southbound I-5 will be reduced to a single lane in each direction, and that one lane will be redirected through the Berkeley Street interchange. The Berkeley Street on-ramp to southbound I-5 will also close overnight.
Once the new overpass is complete, it will span all lanes of I-5 and the adjacent rail line, elevating that traffic over the trains.
The girder installations are tentatively scheduled to occur over three consecutive nights starting April 12. We will share the exact details once they become available from the contractor.
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New Berkeley Street overpass being built across Interstate 5 in Lakewood. |
I-5 and State Route 16 interchange in Tacoma
Design-build contractor Skanska is getting ready to rebuild the southbound collector/distributor lanes that run between eastbound State Route 16 and southbound I-5. Just as with our other HOV projects in Tacoma, the connecting ramps have to be rebuilt to meet new highway contours and elevations. It is not work that can take place overnight. This work will involve a traffic shift and both a week-long and month-long closure of two ramps in Tacoma. If the weather cooperates, the traffic shift is scheduled to occur April 5.
South Sprague Avenue ramp to southbound I-5 closed early April until end of May
South Sprague Avenue in Tacoma has two ramps that lead to I-5. One ramp leads to northbound I-5, while the other leads to southbound I-5 via the collector/distributor lanes. Because the collector/distributor lanes are being rebuilt, the Sprague ramp to southbound I-5 will close as early as April 5 through the end of May. Drivers will
detour to westbound SR 16, South Union Avenue and back to eastbound SR 16 to continue onto southbound I-5.
The Sprague ramp to northbound I-5 will remain open.
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Overhead view of lanes of SR 16 and South Sprague Avenue ramps to northbound and southbound I-5 |
Traffic shift: Eastbound SR 16 to southbound I-5 to use NEW SR 16 HOV lanes
Rebuilding the collector/distributor lanes between eastbound SR 16 and southbound I-5 means that all eastbound SR 16 drivers headed to southbound I-5 will be temporarily shifted onto
newly-built SR 16 HOV lanes. Instead of exiting to the right to head onto southbound I-5, those drivers will need to be in the left lanes before reaching the eastbound exit to Sprague Avenue.
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Eastbound SR 16 drivers going to southbound I-5 will need to merge into the left lanes to reach southbound I-5.
Eastbound SR 16 drivers going to northbound I-5 will stay in the same lanes. |
The traffic shift is scheduled to begin during overnight hours of April 5. All detours and the traffic shifts for eastbound SR 16 travelers will remain in place until work on the collector/distributor is complete.
7-day closure: Southbound I-5 ramp to eastbound South 38th Street
Currently this ramp allows drivers from SR 16 and southbound I-5 to take eastbound South 38th Street to places east and south of I-5 such as Reed Elementary School, South Alaska Street and Lincoln High School. When the ramp is closed on April 5, the contractor will modify the ramp terminus with a new signal that will improve traffic flow in future construction phases. During the week-long closure, southbound I-5 and eastbound SR 16 travelers will be detoured onto I-5, through the South 56th Street interchange, back to northbound I-5, and then to exit 132. Drivers on both highways may want to consider using exits to SR 7 as an alternative way to reach South 38th Street.
During this same week-long closure, southbound I-5 exit 132A to the Tacoma Mall and westbound South 38th Street will remain open, however it will temporarily become an exit only and
will not reconnect to southbound I-5. It is important to note that once the eastbound South 38th Street ramp reopens to all traffic after 7 days, the westbound ramp will close for construction.
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Traffic configuration during 7-day closure of the eastbound South 38th Street. |
The good news is that by modifying the signal at the top of the eastbound South 38th Street ramp, all drivers will be able to make both right- and left- turns onto South 38th. Skanska will also build a temporary ramp to allow eastbound SR 16 drivers going to southbound I-5 to access the South 38th Street ramp. This configuration will be in place until the end of May.
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Traffic configuration after the 7-day closure of eastbound South 38th Street ramp.
This will be in place through the end of May. |
Removal of the L Street overpass in Tacoma
While one new I-5 overpass is going up near JBLM, another I-5 overpass in Tacoma is coming down. Atkinson construction crews are getting ready to close, demolish and rebuild the East L Street overpass to accommodate a widened
Interstate 5 and new HOV lanes.
Crews will close the 56-year-old bridge to all pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular traffic starting at 12:01 a.m., Monday, March 25. During the closure, vehicles and bicyclists will
detour using East 28th Street, East Portland Avenue to East 27th Street and Wiley Avenue, to East McKinley Way and East 34th Street. Once the bridge is closed, crews will begin dismantling the overpass. Some of this work will involve overnight ramp closures and full closures of I-5 with detours for extended overnight hours during a weekend in mid-April.
Demolition of the L Street overpass over the Portland Avenue on-ramp to southbound I-5 is tentatively scheduled to begin the week of April 8. During this work, the ramp will be closed during overnight hours. Then on the night of Friday, April 12, southbound I-5 will be reduced to a single lane and detoured at exit 135 to Portland Avenue, SR 509 to I-705 and back to southbound I-5. The following night, all lanes of northbound I-5 will be detoured through exit 133 to I-705 to SR 509 to Port of Tacoma Road to northbound I-5. To ensure the safety of motorists, these detours are necessary during active demolition. We will provide closure times and updates to the demolition schedule once they become available from the contractor.
The main message to drivers is to continue to expect change as we work to improve the state's highway infrastructure. Watch for detour signs, stay informed, and give yourself extra time to reach your destinations. Anticipate overnight lane and ramp closures, and please give construction crews the room they need to finish these important projects. Updated ramp closure information is available for all Pierce County maintenance and construction project online at
www.TacomaTraffic.com.