SR 162 Reopens Early Following Successful Culvert Replacement

Puyallup Fair attendees will be pleased to hear that crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation reopened a three-mile section of State Route 162 east of Puyallup at 11 a.m. today. The road had been scheduled to remain closed until Monday, Sept. 16, however following a successful weekend of work to remove and replace a culvert at Ball Creek, they reopened the road 18 hours early.

With the culvert work behind them, crews will return next week to complete the project during night hours when traffic volumes are lower. Using single-lane closures for traffic control, crews will place guardrail, lay more asphalt and place final striping on the roadway. Details of that work and associated lane closures will be provided when the work is scheduled. 

WSDOT would like to thank motorists and Puyallup Fair attendees for their patience this weekend. WSDOT works hard to keep highways open during the Puyallup Fair, however unusual circumstances at times require an exception. In this case, the timing of the work was dictated by a specifically-permitted “fish window,” a period during which the fewest fish are present in an aquatic system.