The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 17

I rr--'--' j'vt vi i- vv 1 ti Alft ttfMAV SUN MAY 16 1971 A-17 WILLOWS Haul From Full Tacoma a 9 9 9 jr 1 Eyen when construction money becomes available Hie project most likely will be built 'in several stages lfost estimates are that completion is at least 10 years off The Narrows Freeway' officially SR-16 on the maps is much closer to reality ESTIMATED COST It to win be built-in stages at a cost estimated at more than $22 million The first stage now under construction involves the 1-5 Interchange near South 38th Street the viaduct crossing of Nal-ley Valley to a Sprague Avenue interchange and that portion' continuing west to the area of Cheney Stadium Second stage work Involves the far west end of the project The City Council has settled at least tentatively on the A Street route for the spur a six-lane $33 million structure that will connect 1-5 with the downtown core area the Bayside Drive project and a cross-TJdeflats freeway that will wind through Northeast Tacoma and connect back to Interstate 5 at tin Auburn interchange The project still needs formal City Council approval some months wrath of final designing at least two more public hearings and money' Although the idea of the spur whose official name is SR-509 has been around almost as long as Interstate 5 the State Legislature has never provided funds for its construction and hasn't yet included the project in the Highways Department's 6-year funding plan By AL GIBBS Explaining Tacoma's freeway system present and future is a little like singing Bones" with 1-5 connected to de Spur route de Spur route connected to de Bayside de Narrows connected to de Peninsula now hear the word of the State Highways Department The backbone of the system is Interstate 5 which enters Tacoma from the east and bends south cutting off the southeast quarter of the city Highway engineers however feel that when a major freeway ia built some minor ones must be constructed to speed people on their way across town to other places For that reason among others the Narrows Freeway and Tacoma Spur freeway are being designed and built the portion from the Narrows Bridge parallel to 6th Avenue at about North 9th Street to the interchange at 6th and Pearl Street The middle section which roughly conforms to Rants Boulevard will be built last probably in eight to 10 years The two routes when completed will allow freeway drivers the option of taking the spur into downtown the Tideflatg or otto Bayside Drive to the vicinity of Old Town and beyond The Narrows Freeway will proride fast access to the Peninsula and to the west ride of the North End ORIGINAL PLAN There also is a piece of freeway called SR-7 that originally was planned to run south from the Pacific Avenue interchange at least as far as SR-512 near McChord Air Force Base Construction progressed to South 38th Street and has been halted there while highway engineers take another look at the proposal According to one spokesman little or no work will take place hi the near future Combined with the $37 million worth of urban arterial projects designed to improve major streets the two operating projects will cost according to current estimates more than $90 million when completed all but about $4 million of it state money And that is a lot of concrete for dem bones Awhile Construction to Clog In fact with a single exception a motorist will be aide to travel by freeway from Interstate near McChord Air Force Base to Renton via Parkland Puyallup Sumner Auburn and Kent LONE EXCEPTION The exception is a section between Sumner and Auburn which be completed by then "This win be quite a promised Ralph Kerslake of Tumwater District 3 engineer for the State Highways Department "There wiU be a lot of activity over a considerable distance This summer and next wiU be a little bit hectic" By RICHARD FERGUSON Ntwi TtSMM Staff Wrffar PUYALLUP The next 18 months surely win test the patience of residents of this community and nearby Sumner -Seven separate freeway-related road and bridge projects will be under construction during that time That means detours noise and lots of dust But the end remit should bo worth the Inconvenience By the end of 1972 at least two lanes of limited-access roadway will stretch from Summit to Sumner DOWN goes THE PRICE OF THE HELENE CURTIS PROTEIN PERM contract award next month completion due this winter SR 167 Sumner to Sted Street East under construction completion 1973 A temporary connection between the freeway and West Valley Highway will be made at 32nd Street The highway will be reconstructed by Pierce County TO COUNTY LINE SR 167 will be extended from 32nd Street to file King County line during the 1973-75 bien- nium Meanwhile work Is progressing rat SR 167 from the north It is in use between Renton and south Kent and Is scheduled to meet the south segment at the county line 1 Two parts' of the system already have been completed Both ire on SR 140 near Sumner The first was the Sumner Bypass a Jft-mllo section between Linden Drive and the base of Elhi HilL It was dedicated in December 1968 The stretch was extended west to the West Valley Highway between north Puyallup and Sumner in February with opening of the $L2 million Stuck River bridge The only section not scheduled in the near future is that on SR 167 and SR 410 between Fife and north Puyallup Eventually smooth stretches of freeway will 1 carry traffic quickly from point to point within the PuyaDup Valley In the meantime the word Is "Patience" The contractors likely will work double shifts during times of good weather Unfortunately the highways offidal said no quiet madtinery is available for heavy construction "We are hoping the neighbors will be understanding" he added people have found it is better to get it over with than to have it drag out over a long period" Kerslake said $15 million worth of work will be under contract by the first of June FIVE UNDER WAY Five of the seven projects already have started Here Is a status report: SR 512 Canyon Road to Willows Interchange roadway getting final grading in preparation for paving scheduled to open this falL SR 512 Willows to East Pioneer Avenue interchange right-of-way being cleared In preparation for preliminary grading completion due in 1973 SR 513 viaduct (first of twin spans) over Pioneer and Main avenues Burlington Northern main line and Puyallup River support piling being driven completion in 1972 SR 167 Meridian Street (north side of river) to Sumner (near Main Street bridge over Stuck River) bid opening Wednesday and contract award before June 1 completion lata 1973 Highway 161 (Meridian Street) bridge over Puyallup River (first of twin spans) under construction completion due this faH SR 167 bridge over West Valley Highway 1250 I Peninsula Freeway i Still Years Ahead NOW regularly 2000 one wonderful wave! Styled to stay the way you want it with just the flick of a brush Added protein provides the right diet for your hair And because it has the Helene Curtis label you know it's a quality product Dad's Day is June 20 would be an Interchange at the west end of the Narrows Bridge This project is due to begin in the summer of 1975 with completion planned by early 1976 The latter Interchange is being deferred until the other interchanges and the by-pass are completed because a road under the end of the bridge already has eliminated cross-traffic at this location Estimated cost of all the remaining Highway 16 improvements in the Peninsula portion of Pierce County amounts to $9 million In south Kitsap County the State Highways Department says it will cost about $8 million to build a four-lane freeway with Interchanges from the county line to Sinclair Inlet Unlike freeway construction on the Pierce ride of the county line the freeway in south Kitsap County is to receive fourianlng and interchange work simultaneously according to present Highways Department plans At present the department' is conducting engineering studies on the route which currently is two-lane Right-of-way procurement is scheduled for the 1973-75 biennium with a start on construction In 1975 It will take another 3ft years after that before the project is completed Interchanges are planned it Burley-Olalla Road Mullenix Road and Sedgwick Road In the longer range'friture are department plans to span Sinclair Inlet with a causeawy directly linking Highway 18 in the Port Orchard area to Bremerton Money has been earmarked for starting a study on this project in 1973 and engineering is scheduled to continue until 1977 Total cost of the causeway project i sestimated at $10 A By BRUCE JOHNSON NmM Trtoma Staff Wrltar GIG HARBOR It wiU be another five before motorists can traverse the entire of the Gig Harbor peninsula on a freeway with interchange completed at an major crossings And for those driving an of the way to Bremerton It win be 7ft yean before a freeway with interchanges is completed from the Pierce-Kitsap county line to Sinclair Inlet near Port Orchard These are the current projections of the State Highways Department when It comes to converting State Highway 16 to a fiiU-fledged frccwsy Already four lanes exist from the Narrows Bridge to Swede Hill just south si Purdy But in between interchanges are still lacking at such treacherous crossings as Olympic Village and Hoover Road both of which link Highway 16 to Gig Harbor Construction of the Olympic milage Interchange is due to get under way this July providing a "right of entry" can be acquired for two parcels of property at this location Owners of the two properties are contesting state appraisals of their lands If the Olympic Village Interchange construction begins this July completion will be next spring in time for the heavy flow of summer recreational traffic The Gig Harbor interchange Hoover Road is due for a construction start this October with completion the following falL The Swede Hill interchange and the four-lane freeway by-pass of Purdy are scheduled for one contract and are due to begin late next winter with completion in late 1973 The only other Highway 16 project remaining on the Pierce County end of the Peninsula Tell a love story for Day with a portrait of you and both your children happy ending too loving portraits are yours for Just 795 me large 8x19 for you and two 5x7 that loll the story to Grandfather Special prices on Life-Color too 4 -7 0 4 dVihbe aoMMMr oMo Rhodes oWe icAmFaci BEAUTY SALON Rhodes beauty salon 6th floor Plaza Photograph 6th Floor Downtown.