First Stretch of the SR 167 Expressway Opens Today in Pierce County

September 13, 2026

Today, September 13, WSDOT opened the first section of the SR 167 Expressway — a two-mile stretch connecting northbound SR 509 near the Port of Tacoma to I-5 — part of the $2.83 billion Puget Sound Gateway Program. Guy F. Atkinson Construction built this $375,988,856 segment (Stage 1b), which includes a bridge over I-5 featuring the world’s second-longest precast concrete girders, fabricated by Concrete Technology Corporation in Tacoma. Drivers can now enter the expressway from northbound SR 509 or a new roundabout at 54th Avenue East, though all northbound traffic must exit to I-5 until later construction stages are complete.

The remaining 2.6-mile stretch — Stage 2b, running from North Meridian Avenue in Puyallup to I-5 in Fife — is a separate $475 million contract awarded to the Kraemer-Scarsella Joint Venture (Kraemer North America and Kent-based Scarsella Bros.). That segment broke ground July 15, 2026, and is scheduled to open in September 2029.

The project included 165 acres of wetland restoration with more than 300,000 native plantings and new channels for Hylebos Creek, mitigation work that ran alongside the highway construction itself. Tolling on the newly opened stretch begins in December 2026: $1 each direction west of I-5 for Good To Go! passholders, with higher rates for vehicles with three or more axles. The Puget Sound Gateway Program’s broader goal is completing two long-unfinished highways, SR 167 and SR 509, to give the Port of Tacoma, the Port of Seattle, and Sea-Tac International Airport a faster, less congested freight and passenger route to I-5.

Why this matters for contractors: With Stage 1b open, subcontract activity shifts to Stage 2b, where the Kraemer-Scarsella JV will need trades support through 2029. Contractors working the I-5/SR 167 corridor should also watch WSDOT’s contracting portal for any remaining closeout or punch-list packages on the segment that just opened.