Washington State Route 16

State Route 16
Defined by RCW 47.17.065, maintained by WSDOT
Length:	27.01 mi[1] (43.47 km)
Formed:	1964
East end:	I-5 in Tacoma
Major junctions:	SR 302 in Purdy SR 160 in Port Orchard
West end:	SR 3 in Gorst
State highways in Washington < SR 14 SR 17 > Lists: current - Interstates - U.S. Routes - 1937-70 - 1964 renumbering

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.

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 (3 km) north of the Pierce-Kitsap county line and local driveway access north of Gig Harbor and several at-grade crossings in Gorst. The Washington State Department of Transportation has initiated a project to transform the Burley-Olalla intersection to a grade-separated diamond interchange. Construction began in July 2008 and opened to traffic on October 7, 2009. ^[2] WSDOT has considered various options at the driveways north of Gig Harbor 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 (4.8 km) 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 was designed to resemble the existing Suspension Bridge. The old bridge carries westbound traffic without a toll, while its sister structure carries eastbound traffic and has a $4.00 toll for passenger cars. The new eastbound bridge was officially opened to traffic on July 16, 2007. It also premiered a new RFID technology, christened the Good To Go! pass, which allows frequent users to bypass the toll booths by way of a prepaid transponder placed on the inside of the windshield. The Good To Go! pass also reduces the toll to $1.75.

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 is being completely rebuilt in stages. Work began in early 2009 and is scheduled to be completed in 2013.

SR 16 has also become the second state highway in Washington State to have exit numbers posted at interchanges. SR 14 in the Vancouver area has long had numbered exits. As of 2008, two interchanges on SR 3 near Bremerton and Silverdale have also been marked with exit numbers.

Future developments

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 ^[3][4].

Exit list

County	Location	Mile[1]	#	Destinations	Notes
Pierce	Tacoma	0.00		I-5 – Seattle, Portland	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		0.38		Sprague Avenue
		1.14		Union Avenue	Signed as Exit 1B Westbound
		1.95	1C	Center Street – Fircrest	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		2.51	2	South 19th Street, Orchard Street	Signed as exits 2A (west) and 2B (east)
		3.63	3	SR 163 north (Pearl Street) / 6th Avenue – Ruston
		4.67	4	Jackson Avenue, 6th Avenue – University Place
		5.62	Tacoma Narrows Bridge over the Tacoma Narrows
		6.54	8	Point Fosdick, Wollochet	No eastbound exit
		7.74	9	36th Street Northwest – Tacoma Narrows Airport	Eastbound exit and entrance
	Gig Harbor	8.51	10	Olympic Drive Northwest
		9.78		Wollochet Drive Northwest – Gig Harbor City Center
	Short gap in freeway
		12.63		Burnham Drive Northwest
		13.52		SR 302 west – Key Center, Purdy	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		15.81		SR 302 west – Shelton, Key Center, Purdy	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Kitsap		17.88		Burley-Olalla Road	Closed for reconstruction. Bridge is open but ramp is not finished. Scheduled to open to traffic October 7, 2009
		20.38		Mullenix Road
	Port Orchard	22.91		SR 160 east (Sedgwick Road) – Southworth Ferry
		24.46		Old Clifton Road, Tremont Street – Port Orchard
		25.63		SR 166 east – Port Orchard	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	West end of freeway
	Gorst	26.67		SR 3 south (via SR 16 Spur) – Belfair, Shelton	Interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		27.01		SR 3 north – Bremerton, Poulsbo	Interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance

Related routes

	v • d • e State highways in Washington related to SR 16 and SR 410
SR 16 Spur - SR 160 - SR 161 - SR 162 - SR 163 - SR 164 - SR 165 - SR 166 - SR 167 - SR 169
Former or proposed: SR 168

External links

• Highways of Washington State

References