WASHINGTON STATE ROUTE 16

'State Route 16' is a state highway in Washington, U.S.A. It extends just over 27 miles (43 km) from Tacoma in the southeast to Gorst in the northwest.

Contents

Route description

Exit list

Improvement Projects

Related routes

External links

References

Route description

SR-16 originates at Interstate 5, runs through the city of Tacoma, and crosses the Tacoma Narrows of Puget Sound on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to Gig Harbor on the Kitsap Peninsula. From there, it continues northwest past Burley, Bethel, and Port Orchard, and ends at State Route 3 in Gorst, at the western end of Sinclair Inlet.
SR-16 is a freeway for its entire length with the exception of a single remaining at-grade intersection with Burley-Olalla Road two miles north of the Pierce-Kitsap county line. The Washington State Department of Transportation has initiated a project to transform the intersection to a grade-separated diamond interchange, with construction scheduled to begin in 2008. ^[1] There are also two driveways for a cemetary and a local business accessible only in the westbound direction at approximately milepost 13. WSDOT has considered various options at this location to improve safety.
Although the route of SR-16 is geographically runs north-south, its even number indicates an east-west route, and is usually signed as such, with the western terminus in at State Route 3 in a town called Gorst which is near Bremerton on the Kitsap Peninsula and the eastern terminus at Interstate 5 in Tacoma. The mileposts on SR-16 are also said by some individuals to be 'backwards'. Typically an east-west highway starts its mileposts from the western terminus and get larger eastbound. SR-16 mileposts begin at Interstate 5 and get larger westbound. There is also a 3 mile gap in the mileposts at the Tacoma Narrows bridge. This is due to the pre-freeway routing which began at Interstate 5 at Pacific Ave. SR 16 followed Pacific Ave north into downtown Tacoma, then turned west onto 6th St. SR 16 followed 6th St west under the current SR-16 freeway, and then turned northwest onto Olympic Boulevard which led to the Narrows Bridge. The once 4 lane Olympic Blvd has been converted to a city park.
In 2002, WSDOT began a project to build a second parallel Tacoma Narrows Bridge crossing. The new bridge is being designed to resemble the existing Suspension Bridge. The old bridge will carry westbound traffic without a toll, while it's sister structure will carry eastbound traffic and have a $3.00 toll. The new eastbound bridge was officially opened to traffic on July 16, 2007.
At the eastern Terminus, SR-16 crosses the Nalley Valley viaduct. The viaduct's unique tetrapod structure prevents widening, as well as the close proximity of the Interstate 5 and Sprague Ave interchanges. The viaduct will be completely rebuilt in stages beginning in 2009 and be completed in 2013.
SR-16 has also become the second state highway in Washington State to have exit numbers posted at interchanges. The only other state highway that has numbered exits is SR-14 in the Vancouver area.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Pierce	Tacoma	0.00	N/A	I-705, I-5, S. 38th St.
		0.30	N/A	S. Spargue Ave.
		0.88	1	S. Union Ave.
		1.67	1A	S. Center St.
			2.14, 2.57	S. 19th St., Orchard St.
		3.12	3	SR 163/S. Pearl St., 6th Ave.
		4.33	4	N. Jackson Ave.
	Gig Harbor	8.47	8	24th St. N.W.	Westbound exit only, eastbound toll (ETC) on-ramp
		9.97	9	36th St. N.W.	Eastbound exit only
		10.46	10	Olympic Dr. N.W.
		11.71	12	Wollochet Dr. N.W., Pioneer Way
		14.56	14	Burnham Dr. N.W.
		15.40	15	, SR 302/Purdy Dr. N.W.	Westbound exit only
	Unincorporated Pierce County	18.42	18	, SR 302/Purdy Dr. N.W.	Eastbound exit only
Kitsap	Unincorporated Kitsap County	20.10	N/A	S.E. Burley-Olalla Rd.	Intersection
		22.27	22	S.E. Mullenix Rd.
	Port Orchard	24.85	25	SR 160/S.E. Sedgwick Rd.
		26.41	26	S.W. Clifton Rd., Tremont St. W.
		28.16	28		Eastbound exit only
	Gorst	28.68	N/A		Westbound exit only

Improvement Projects

Along with the twinning of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, several expansion projects are underway as part of a revitalization of freeways in the Tacoma/Pierce County area. Completed projects include the twinning of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, widening between Gig Harbor and I-5 to include HOV lanes and auxiliary lanes, and redesigning several interchanges to improve traffic flow. The last project to be completed on SR 16 is rebuilding the Nalley Valley viaduct for a new, expanded interchange with I-5 ^[2][3].

Related routes

External links

★ Highways of Washington State

References

1. [1]
2. [2]
3. [3]