Project overview
This project widened northbound I-5 from Portland Avenue to the Port of Tacoma Road to provide room for one HOV lane. As part of this project, WSDOT rebuilt the northbound I-5 Puyallup River bridge and the ramp to northbound SR 167, improved the Portland Avenue interchange, and repaved a portion of lanes of northbound I-5 within the project limits.
What to expect
This project is complete. Travelers will see construction delays while crews build the new southbound I-5 Puyallup River Bridge. Travel lanes on northbound I-5 across the new bridge are in a temporary configuration during the southbound I-5 Puyallup River Bridge project.
A new northbound Interstate 5 bridge across the Puyallup River opened to travelers in 2018.
This project is part of the Tacoma/Pierce County HOV Program, a series of highway projects to provide operational improvements and high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes on Interstate 5, State Route 16, and State Route 167.
In order to add HOV lanes between Fife and Tacoma, I-5 needed to be widened across the Puyallup River. The work to replace the 1960s era northbound and southbound I-5 Puyallup River Bridges was broken up into three construction contracts.
- The first stage of work was packaged into a separate contract called I-5 -Portland Avenue to Port of Tacoma Road Northbound HOV Stage 1. This work was complete in December 2012.
- The second stage of work rebuilt the northbound I-5 Puyallup River Bridge. This new bridge opened to traffic in 2018.
- The third stage of work rebuilds the southbound I-5 Puyallup River Bridge. This construction contract is anticipated to finish in late 2021 or early 2022.