Date:  Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Contact: Jamie Swift, WSDOT Communications, 360-507-4261

TACOMA – A signed detour takes traffic off eastbound State Route 16 overnight Saturday while crews install three street lights along the highway.

Between midnight Saturday, March 28 and 8 a.m. Sunday, March 29, eastbound traffic destined for Interstate 5 will exit at Union Avenue, then travel east on 38th Street to reach I-5.

A single westbound SR 16 lane and the Union Avenue and Center Street on-ramps to eastbound SR 16 will be closed during the eight-hour work period.

These temporary street lights replace street lights that are being eliminated as a result of demolition and construction activities on the I-5/SR 16 Westbound Nalley Valley project. A crane will be positioned in the eastbound lanes between Union Avenue and the viaduct, and maneuver the 110-feet-tall, wooden light poles into place.

This $120 million construction project eliminates the weave of traffic where vehicles from I-5 change lanes in order to merge onto SR 16 or exit at Sprague Avenue. Eliminating the weave untangles one of Pierce County’s worst bottlenecks and reduces collisions by an estimated 60 percent, or 16 per year.

This project also provides a local economic boost, creating more than 200 construction-related jobs. For more project information, media resources and photos, visit http://www.tacomatraffic.com/.

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