The highway project also would reduce Pierce County highway congestion and travel times, for an additional economic benefit of up to $940 million. And it would improve Tacoma’s access to other parts of the county and save money by reducing maintenance costs on heavily traveled River Road in Puyallup and Highway 99 in Fife, the report concludes.

The report comes as Pierce County officials argue that the $1.4 billion Highway 167 project should equal Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct and King County’s Highway 520 floating bridge as state transportation priorities.

“I don’t think there’s another road or road project in the state that comes close to generating the number of jobs that this project will create,” said Shawn Bunney, a Pierce County councilman and chairman of the Regional Transportation Investment District board.

The RTID in coming weeks will finalize a regional roads package for Pierce, King and Snohomish county voters to consider in November. The plan, financed by higher sales and motor vehicle taxes, includes nearly $1.4 billion to build a two-lane extension of Highway 167 from Puyallup to the Port of Tacoma.

The roads plan would be paired with a Sound Transit plan that would use higher taxes to expand mass transit in the Puget Sound region.

Long-term plans call for a six-lane Highway 167 extension from Puyallup to I-5, a four-lane extension from I-5 to the port and an interchange at I-5. The full extension adds more than $600 million, pushing the overall cost past $2 billion.

Bunney hopes to convince the Legislature and Washington’s congressional delegation that Highway 167 is as important as the two King County “megaprojects.”

“The importance of 167 tends to be overlooked in the regional debate,” Bunney said by telephone Tuesday.

The study, conducted by a consultant for the DOT, finds the direct impact of the two-lane Highway 167 extension – including travel time costs, vehicle operating costs and safety costs – to be $450 million through 2045, assuming the extension is built in 2015. However, the RTID’s plans call for beginning construction on the extension in 2017.

The direct impact of the full extension, complete with I-5 interchange, is estimated at $940 million.

The study estimates the indirect benefits – including economic development opportunities – to be even bigger.

Much of the economic benefit stems from growth in the international cargo industry and Port of Tacoma operations. Economic activity at the port is expected to create 79,000 jobs and $10.1 billion in wages statewide by 2025. Most of that benefit is expected in Pierce County.

But the report says that impact is contingent on the port’s access to a high-quality transportation system, and says the Highway 167 extension is “an essential piece” of such a system.

Without the extension, the Port of Tacoma and all other Puget Sound ports “would find it more difficult to compete with other U.S. and Canadian ports for the movement of containers,” the report states.

The report also found other indirect benefits:

 • The Highway 167 extension would better connect downtown Tacoma to such Pierce County communities as Sumner, Bonney Lake and Orting. That would allow businesses in Tacoma to draw from a larger labor pool and make housing in outlying areas more accessible to people working in Tacoma.

 • It would increase local warehouse capacity by improving travel times and providing an alternative route for warehouse traffic.

 • It would reduce maintenance costs on River Road in Puyallup and Highway 99 in Fife, which bear more tractor-trailer traffic than they were designed to accommodate.

County Councilman Tim Farrell, who serves on the RTID board, said Highway 167 is probably the most important project in the proposed three-county ballot measure. The measure also includes the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the 520 bridge.

The RTID plan also includes money for two other Pierce County highway projects: the cross-base highway between Highway 7 and I-5 between Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base, and the expansion of Highway 162 near Sumner and Orting.

David Wickert: 253-274-7341

david.wickert@thenewstribune.com

thenewstribune.com

Posted online: 5:37 p.m. Tuesday