Washington State Route 16
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State Route 16 (SR 16) is a
state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, connecting
Pierce Pierce may refer to: Places Canada * Pierce Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia United States * Pierce, Colorado * Pierce, Idaho * Pierce, Illinois * Pierce, Kentucky * Pierce, Nebraska * Pierce, Texas * Pierce, We ...
and Kitsap counties. The highway, signed as east–west, begins at an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) in Tacoma and travels through the city as a
freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
towards the
Tacoma Narrows The Tacoma Narrows (or the Narrows), a strait, is part of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. A navigable maritime waterway between glacial landforms, the Narrows separates the Kitsap Peninsula from the city of Tacoma. The Narrows ...
. SR 16 crosses the narrows onto the
Kitsap Peninsula The Kitsap Peninsula () lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound, in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal separates the peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula on its west side. The peninsula, a.k.a. "Kitsap", encompasses all of Kits ...
on the partially tolled
Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a pair of twin suspension bridges that span the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound in Pierce County, Washington. The bridges connect the city of Tacoma with the Kitsap Peninsula and carry State Route 16 (known ...
and continues through
Gig Harbor Gig Harbor is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington,. The population was 12,029 at the 2020 census. Gig Harbor is one of several cities and towns that claim to be "the gateway to the Olympic ...
and
Port Orchard Port Orchard, part of Washington state's Puget Sound, is the strait that separates Bainbridge Island on the east from the Kitsap Peninsula on the west. It extends from Liberty Bay and Agate Pass in the north to Sinclair Inlet and Rich Passage in ...
before the freeway ends in Gorst. The designation ends at an intersection with SR 3 southwest of the beginning of its freeway through
Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...
and
Poulsbo Poulsbo ( ) is a city on Liberty Bay in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is the smallest of the four cities in Kitsap County. The population was 9,200 at the 2010 census and an estimated 10,927 in 2018. The area was historically in ...
. SR 16 is designated as a Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET) corridor within the National Highway System as the main thoroughfare connecting Tacoma to
Naval Base Kitsap Naval Base Kitsap is a U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state, created in 2004 by merging the former Naval Station Bremerton with Naval Submarine Base Bangor. It is the home base for the Navy’s fleet throughout Wes ...
and a part of the Highways of Statewide Significance program. SR 16 was created during the 1964 state highway renumbering as the successor to Primary State Highway 14 (PSH 14). PSH 14, which had itself been the successor to State Road 14, traveled northeast from
Shelton Shelton may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire *Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire *Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfor ...
to Gorst and south to Gig Harbor. PSH 14 was extended over the Tacoma Narrows in 1939 on the unfinished
Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a pair of twin suspension bridges that span the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound in Pierce County, Washington. The bridges connect the city of Tacoma with the Kitsap Peninsula and carry State Route 16 (known ...
, which would later collapse months after opening in 1940, into Tacoma over Secondary State Highway 14C (SSH 14C). SR 16 has been expanded into a freeway in stages beginning with the original Nalley Valley Viaduct in Tacoma in 1971, and ending with the opening of an interchange near Port Orchard in 2009. Later improvements to the corridor include the installation of
high-occupancy vehicle lane A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, i ...
s that connect to I-5 and the rest of the freeway network in Pierce County, which were completed in 2019.


Route description

SR 16 begins as an elevated freeway at an interchange with
I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
in Tacoma southwest of
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
. The interchange includes direct ramps for a set of
high-occupancy vehicle lane A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, i ...
s (HOV lanes) and collector–distributor lanes as it travels over South Tacoma Way and a railroad that carries
Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It operates the Link light rail system in Seattle and Tacoma, r ...
's Sounder commuter train. SR 16 intersects Sprague Avenue at an interchange and turns west, passing a golf course and
Cheney Stadium Cheney Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Tacoma, Washington, United States. Originally built for baseball, the stadium is currently home to the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, as well as professional soccer club Tacoma Def ...
. A parallel pedestrian and cycling path, the Scott Pierson Trail, runs along the north side of the freeway. At a partial interchange with Center Street near Fircrest, SR 16 turns northwest and travels around the
Tacoma Community College Tacoma Community College (TCC) is a public community college in Tacoma, Washington with operations in Tacoma and Gig Harbor. It serves the city of Tacoma and the Pierce County portion of the Kitsap Peninsula. History TCC's creation was author ...
campus to an interchange with North Pearl Street ( SR 163), which provides access to Ruston and the
Vashon Island Vashon is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,6 ...
ferry. SR 16 continues west past a partial cloverleaf interchange with Jackson Avenue and towards the
Tacoma Narrows The Tacoma Narrows (or the Narrows), a strait, is part of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. A navigable maritime waterway between glacial landforms, the Narrows separates the Kitsap Peninsula from the city of Tacoma. The Narrows ...
on the
twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
-
suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspend ...
Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a pair of twin suspension bridges that span the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound in Pierce County, Washington. The bridges connect the city of Tacoma with the Kitsap Peninsula and carry State Route 16 (known ...
s. The westbound span and the tolled eastbound span combine to carry six lanes of SR 16 onto the
Kitsap Peninsula The Kitsap Peninsula () lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound, in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal separates the peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula on its west side. The peninsula, a.k.a. "Kitsap", encompasses all of Kits ...
. The eastbound span is tolled via electronic toll collection through the " Good to Go" program on the Kitsap Peninsula side of the bridge. Tolls for two axle vehicles and motorcycles are set at $5 for Good to Go accounts, $6 collected at the toll plaza, and $7 for Pay by Mail, with prices increasing for each additional axle by $2.50 for Good to Go accounts, $3 for toll plaza users, and $3.50 for Pay by Mail users. SR 16 continues onto the Kitsap Peninsula and intersects 24th Street in a partial diamond interchange east of the
Tacoma Narrows Airport Tacoma Narrows Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport located west of the central business district of Tacoma, a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. It is situated south of Gig Harbor, Washington, one mile southwest of ...
as it passes the
toll plaza A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
for the eastbound Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The freeway travels northwest through
Gig Harbor Gig Harbor is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington,. The population was 12,029 at the 2020 census. Gig Harbor is one of several cities and towns that claim to be "the gateway to the Olympic ...
past interchanges with Olympic Drive and Wollochet Drive near
Gig Harbor High School Gig Harbor High School is a public high school in the Peninsula School District in Gig Harbor, Washington. The school opened in September 1979. The school enrolls 1611 students (2017) in ninth through twelfth grades. Facility history and remode ...
before it reaches Henderson Bay. SR 16 continues through an interchange with Burnham Drive and past the
Washington Corrections Center for Women Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW, originally the Purdy Treatment Center) is a Washington State Department of Corrections women's prison located in Gig Harbor, Washington. With an operating capacity of 740, it is the largest women's p ...
and St. Anthony Hospital towards Purdy, intersecting the southern terminus of SR 302. The freeway bypasses Purdy and Peninsula High School to the east before intersecting SR 302 Spur and entering
Kitsap County Kitsap County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, and its largest city is Bremerton. The county was formed out of King County and Jefferson County on ...
. SR 16 passes the community of Burley and intersects its main access highway, Burley-Olalla Road, in an interchange before entering the city of
Port Orchard Port Orchard, part of Washington state's Puget Sound, is the strait that separates Bainbridge Island on the east from the Kitsap Peninsula on the west. It extends from Liberty Bay and Agate Pass in the north to Sinclair Inlet and Rich Passage in ...
. The freeway ends after serving as the western terminus of SR 160 and SR 166 on the west side of the city. The four-lane highway continues west along the
Sinclair Inlet Sinclair Inlet is a shallow embayment in the western part of Puget Sound in Kitsap County, Washington, USA. It has a maximum depth of 20 meters. It is the southwestern extension of Port Orchard, and it touches the shores of three of Kitsap County' ...
into Gorst, intersecting its
spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...
and ending at an intersection with SR 3. Every year, the
Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Establi ...
(WSDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of
average annual daily traffic Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...
(AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2012, WSDOT calculated that the busiest section of SR 16 was west of its interchange with Union Avenue in downtown Tacoma, serving 112,000 vehicles, while the least busiest section is after the SR 160 interchange west of Port Orchard, serving 32,000 vehicles. SR 16 is designated as a Strategic Highway Network corridor, connecting
Naval Base Kitsap Naval Base Kitsap is a U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state, created in 2004 by merging the former Naval Station Bremerton with Naval Submarine Base Bangor. It is the home base for the Navy’s fleet throughout Wes ...
to the state highway system along with SR 3, within the National Highway System that classifies it as important to the national economy, defense, and mobility. WSDOT designates the entire route of SR 16 as a Highway of Statewide Significance, which includes highways that connect major communities in the
state of Washington Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
.


History

The present route of SR 16 roughly follows the route of several state highways signed during the 20th century, the first of which was State Road 14. State Road 14 traveled north from
Shelton Shelton may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire *Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire *Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfor ...
to Gorst and south into
Gig Harbor Gig Harbor is the name of both a bay on Puget Sound and a city on its shore in Pierce County, Washington,. The population was 12,029 at the 2020 census. Gig Harbor is one of several cities and towns that claim to be "the gateway to the Olympic ...
as the primary connector between the
Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
and Kitsap peninsulas. Its construction had been proposed by Pierce County in the 1910s to connect Gig Harbor to the
Navy Yard Highway Primary State Highways were major state highways in the U.S. state of Washington used in the early 20th century. They were created as the first organized road numbering system in the state in stages between 1905 and 1937 and used until the 1964 ...
, which was under construction at the time. State Road 14 was re-designated in 1937 as PSH 14 and included a secondary highway named SSH 14C that traveled from Gig Harbor to the
Tacoma Narrows The Tacoma Narrows (or the Narrows), a strait, is part of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. A navigable maritime waterway between glacial landforms, the Narrows separates the Kitsap Peninsula from the city of Tacoma. The Narrows ...
, site of an under-construction
suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
to open in 1940. PSH 14 was extended southeast over SSH 14C and the unfinished
Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a pair of twin suspension bridges that span the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound in Pierce County, Washington. The bridges connect the city of Tacoma with the Kitsap Peninsula and carry State Route 16 (known ...
into the city of Tacoma as part of a transfer of bridge ownership to the
state of Washington Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
in 1939. After the collapse of the original bridge on November 7, 1940, PSH 14 was truncated to Gig Harbor and traffic was redirected to a ferry landing in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. The second Tacoma Narrows Bridge was opened on October 14, 1950, and PSH 14 was extended the following year to an intersection with U.S. Route 99 (US 99) in
Downtown Tacoma Downtown is the central business district of Tacoma, Washington, United States, located in the inner Northeast section of the city. It is approximately bounded east-west by A Street and Tacoma Avenue, and north-south by South 7th Street and South ...
. PSH 14 was replaced by SR 16 under the sign route system created during the 1964 state highway renumbering, traveling from US 99 in Tacoma to SR 3 in Gorst.
WSDOT The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is ...
began converting the SR 16 corridor to a controlled-access freeway with the construction of the Nalley Valley Viaduct in 1969, designed with tetrapod columns at a cost of $3.67 million. The viaduct opened on October 29, 1971, and connected SR 16 to
I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
in Tacoma, part of a new freeway replacing Bantz Boulevard between I-5 and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. A bypass of Purdy on the
Pierce Pierce may refer to: Places Canada * Pierce Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia United States * Pierce, Colorado * Pierce, Idaho * Pierce, Illinois * Pierce, Kentucky * Pierce, Nebraska * Pierce, Texas * Pierce, We ...
Kitsap county line was opened in November 1978 and the former route of SR 16 was divided between SR 302 and its spur route. The remainder of SR 16 in
Port Orchard Port Orchard, part of Washington state's Puget Sound, is the strait that separates Bainbridge Island on the east from the Kitsap Peninsula on the west. It extends from Liberty Bay and Agate Pass in the north to Sinclair Inlet and Rich Passage in ...
was upgraded to a freeway during the 1980s; however,
at-grade intersection An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections a ...
s remained at Mullenix Road until 1993 and Burley-Olalla Road until 2009. Two at-grade intersection remain to access businesses and a cemetery from the westbound lanes north of the Wollochet Drive interchange. WSDOT began installation of
high-occupancy vehicle lane A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, i ...
s (HOV lanes) on SR 16 as part of a Pierce County HOV system, which was constructed from 2000 to 2022 across several freeways. Beginning in the early 2000s,
frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drivew ...
s and the Scott Pierson Trail were built along the freeway and
sound wall A noise barrier (also called a soundwall, noise wall, sound berm, sound barrier, or acoustical barrier) is an exterior structure designed to protect inhabitants of sensitive land use areas from noise pollution. Noise barriers are the most effecti ...
s were erected near residential areas in Tacoma. From Tacoma to Gig Harbor, WSDOT began installing
exit number An exit number is a number assigned to a road junction, usually an exit from a freeway. It is usually marked on the same sign as the destinations of the exit. In some countries, such as the United States, it is also marked on a sign in the gor ...
s to interchanges with SR 16 that correspond to its
milepost A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...
. The Nalley Valley Viaduct was replaced by a new westbound structure in 2011, carrying all four lanes of SR 16 towards I-5 in Tacoma, while the original viaduct was closed and demolished. The eastbound Nalley Valley Viaduct began construction in November 2011 and was completed by WSDOT in January 2014. The third viaduct, carrying HOV lanes, began construction in 2017 and was completed in November 2019. On February 23, 2016, a section of SR 16 from the Kitsap–Pierce county line to Gorst was dedicated as the Tony Radulescu Memorial Highway, in honor of a
Washington State Patrol The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is the state patrol agency for the U.S. state of Washington. Organized as the Washington State Highway Patrol in 1921, it was renamed and reconstituted in 1933. The agency is charged with the protection of the Gov ...
trooper who was killed on that stretch of highway four years earlier. The northern terminus of SR 16 in Gorst is a major traffic bottleneck and forms a gap between the two main freeways on the Kitsap Peninsula. A proposal to rebuild the intersection into a grade-separated interchange was considered in 2019 but did not move forward in a legislative session. A rebuilt interchange, estimated to cost around $500 million, has been sought to improve access to Bremerton National Airport and local military installations.


Tacoma Narrows Bridge

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which carries SR 16 across the Tacoma Narrows between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula, was first proposed by locals during the late 19th century—the earliest being local rancher John G. Shindler while traveling through the Narrows by
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
in 1888. The
Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...
planned to build a
trestle bridge A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames. A trestle (sometimes tressel) is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a stool or a pair of isosceles trian ...
over the Narrows to connect its western terminus in Tacoma to the proposed
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted u ...
in Port Orchard. The
Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State Senat ...
, after extensive lobbying by local auto groups and businesses, authorized the construction of a road bridge over the Narrows in February 1929. The
Washington Toll Bridge Authority The Washington Toll Bridge Authority was created in 1937 by the Washington State Legislature, with a mandate to finance, construct and operate toll bridges. The first act of the Authority was to purchase the Manette Bridge, previously a privatel ...
was created in March 1937 to construct and maintain
toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or ''toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road. ...
s throughout the state, beginning with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge from Tacoma to Gig Harbor and the Lake Washington Floating Bridge from
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
to
Mercer Island Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located on an island of the same name in the southern portion of Lake Washington. Mercer Island is in the Seattle metropolitan area, with Seattle to its west and Bellevue to it ...
. The bridge, designed by American
suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
Leon Moisseiff Leon Solomon Moisseiff (November 10, 1872 – September 3, 1943) was a leading suspension bridge engineer in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. He was awarded The Franklin Institute's Louis E. Levy Medal in 1933. His developments of the ...
, began construction on November 23, 1938, by the Pacific-General-Columbia Company, a partnership between three companies that received a $2.88 million grant from the
Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...
and a $3.52 million loan from the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a government corporation administered by the United States Federal Government between 1932 and 1957 that provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgag ...
, to be repaid through tolls. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened on July 1, 1940, and included ceremonies attended by an estimated 10,000 people, including
Governor of Washington The governor of Washington is the head of government of Washington and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.WA Const. art. III, § 2. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws,WA Const. art. III, § 5. the power to either a ...
Clarence D. Martin. The bridge, christened the name "Galloping Gertie" by its construction workers, cost $6.4 million to build and became the third longest suspension span in the world after its completion. The following day, the
art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
MV ''Kalakala'' was chosen to make the commemorative final ferry crossing of the Tacoma Narrows. The original toll for the bridge cost 55 cents per car, 15 cents per extra passenger, and 15 cents for pedestrians. The bridge, which was prone to movement during
windstorm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm) ...
s, collapsed at approximately 11:00 am on November 7, 1940, because of winds in excess of . The only fatality during the collapse was a dog trapped in a car belonging to local reporter Leonard Coatsworth of Tacoma. A second, Tacoma Narrows Bridge was constructed between 1948 and 1951, officially opening to traffic on October 14, 1950. The bridge was designed to let wind pass through the structure with perforated girders and open grating in the deck. Traffic on the four-lane bridge began increasing from 6,000 vehicles in 1960 to nearly 67,000 vehicles by 1990, according to WSDOT
AADT Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...
data. The increased traffic prompted the Washington State Legislature to approve the construction of a tolled eastbound bridge in 1999, to be finished during the early 2000s. The eastbound bridge was constructed between 2002 and 2007, opening on July 15, 2007, during ceremonies attended by 60,000 people, including Governor
Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and again ...
. The newer eastbound bridge provided the debut for the Good to Go
RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...
pass from WSDOT, which allows frequent users to bypass the toll booths by way of a prepaid transponder placed on the inside of the windshield and reducing the toll.


Special routes


Spur route

SR 16 has a
spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...
located in Gorst that travels west from SR 16 to southbound SR 3. The spur route was added to the state highway system in 1988 after SR 16 was re-aligned to avoid
traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic light ...
s in Gorst. WSDOT included the road in its annual
AADT Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...
survey in 2012 and calculated that between 4,100 and 8,600 vehicles used the spur route.


Alternate route

SR 16 AR is an unsigned
alternate route An official alternate route is a special route in the United States that provides an alternate alignment for a highway. They are loop roads and found in many road systems in the United States including the U.S. Highway system and various state an ...
serving traffic passing through the eastbound
toll plaza A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
(rather than using electronic toll collection) approaching the
Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a pair of twin suspension bridges that span the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound in Pierce County, Washington. The bridges connect the city of Tacoma with the Kitsap Peninsula and carry State Route 16 (known ...
in Pierce County. The route was added to the state highway system in 2007 after the completion of the eastbound Tacoma Narrows Bridge on July 15. WSDOT included the road in its annual
AADT Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...
survey in 2012 and calculated that 9,100 vehicles used the alternate route.


Exit list


References


External links


Highways of Washington State
{{Authority control 016 Transportation in Pierce County, Washington Transportation in Kitsap County, Washington