New Tacoma HOV Lanes Opening Through The Weekend

PIERCE COUNTY, WA — It's been a long time coming for Pierce County commuters, and the day has finally arrived: The first stretch of new HOV lanes opened Friday, and the rest should follow by the end of the weekend.

The Washington State Department of Transportation detailed the major milestone in a blog post as crews opened new southbound HOV lanes connecting Port of Tacoma Road to westbound State Route 16. Crews were scheduled to remove temporary barriers Friday night on northbound I-5, opening up another stretch of HOV lanes between the State Route 16 interchange and over the Puyallup River into King County.

If the weather cooperates, crews are scheduled to finish restriping southbound I-5 Saturday night, between the King County line and Port of Tacoma Road, allowing for the remaining lanes to open. WSDOT asks drivers to drive carefully through the remaining work zones as their crews put the finishing touches on a project more than two decades in the making.

"We know, it took a long time," WSDOT wrote Friday. "Each phase of construction set the stage for the next. In addition to building HOV lanes, we also rebuilt bridges to meet current seismic standards, helped the environment by improving storm water treatment ponds and drainage systems, replaced the original asphalt and concrete roadway on I-5, updated new electronic traffic devices and added new travel cameras."

Last Friday, WSDOT opened the new East L Street bridge over Tacoma, which was rebuilt up to seismic standards with a new multipurpose lane for pedestrians and cyclists. The bridge will temporarily close Saturday evening so construction crews can install permanent lane markings.

Overall, the HOV project required six overpasses to be rebuilt.

WSDOT said opening the remaining HOV lanes "signals the end of major construction on the interstate," with just a handful of items remaining on the checklist:

• Levy fortification along the Puyallup River
• Removing old bridge piers from the old I-5 bridges
• Completing the public art installation on East 28th Street
• Work to add dedicated left turn lanes on Portland Avenue under I-5
• Landscaping and river habitat restoration
• Rebuild the SR 167 on-ramp to southbound I-5

>> Read more about the project on the WSDOT blog.