Expect Closures At The I-5/SR 16 Interchange This Week

TACOMA, WA - The project to realign Interstate-5 and SR-16 with new bridges and HOV lanes will require multiple road closures at the SR-16/I-5 interchange beginning Wednesday night. The overnight closures are scheduled through Saturday morning.

Commuters should plan to encounter detours at the eastbound SR-16 ramp to southbound I-5 and at the South Sprague Avenue on-ramp to southbound I-5 beginning at 11:30 p.m. both Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 2 and 3. The detour will be in place through 5 a.m. Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Commuters can expect to detour via the northbound I-5 collector/distributor and State Route 7 to the east.

Beginning Friday, Jan. 4, at 10:30 p.m., crews will close off the northbound I-5 collector/distributor at South 56th Street, and the eastbound and westbound South 56th Street on-ramps to northbound I-5, through 5 a.m. Saturday.

Northbound travelers will need to find alternate access points to the I-5 during that time.

Additionally, single- and double-lane closures on I-5 reportedly will be in place periodically throughout construction between South 56th Street and Port of Tacoma Road.

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, the closures will allow crews to test newly installed pipe drains that are part of the I-5/M Street to Portland Avenue HOV project — which is nearing completion — and build direct connect HOV lanes between SR-16 and I-5. New signs and road striping will also be added as weather permits.

For more information on either of the projects, visit the Pierce County Construction page at wsdot.wa.gov.

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Images via Pierce County/WSDOT