Construction begins Tuesday on year-long Taylor Way corridor project in Tacoma
Crews will begin work this week on a year-long project to improve a stretch of Taylor Way in the Port of Tacoma.
Starting Tuesday, crews will start site preparation along Taylor Way between East 11th Street and state Route 509.
Later this month, Taylor Way from East 11th Street to Lincoln Avenue will be reduced to one lane into October. A detour will be in place along Alexander Avenue. Also later this month, Taylor Way from Lincoln Avenue to Route 509 will be reduced to two lanes and will remain in place through 2021. The roads could be closed completely at night or over the weekend.
Taylor Way is a major freight corridor serving the Port of Tacoma Manufacturing Industrial Center along the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula and carries 4-10 million tons of freight every year. The road isn’t equipped to handle the heavy loads traffic, according to city staff, causing frequent truck and rail conflicts and backups.
“Taylor Way is a busy port industrial route. It gets a lot of heavy truck traffic, and there’s a lot of failing pavement along that route,” project manager Mark D’Andrea said at a virtual open house in May.
The Taylor Way Rehabilitation project will:
Replace the asphalt road from the Tacoma/Fife city limits (east of Route 509) to East 11th Street with a concrete road that will last longer.
Add left turn lanes at the Route 509/Taylor Way intersection to reduce congestion.
Improve pedestrian access by constructing a 10-foot wide sidewalk on the west side of Taylor Way between Lincoln Avenue and Route 509, including new street lighting and pedestrian push buttons at traffic signals.
Remove up to four of the 11 at-grade rail crossings and upgrade the remaining crossings to make the driving surface smoother so freight can maintain normal speeds while traversing the corridor.
The project will cost $24 million, paid for in part by the city of Tacoma, the Puget Sound Regional Council, the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board and other local contributions.
The estimated completion date is fall 2021.
The city will be posting the latest developments on its website at cityoftacoma.org. The Port of Tacoma also will provide project updates through text and email alerts. To sign up, subscribe to updates at portoftacoma.com or by texting PORT ROADWORK to 468311.
