Will this new road help alleviate traffic in East Pierce County? Here’s what we know
Construction will begin on a new road that will give travelers a path between the Bonney Lake Plateau and the Orting Valley.
The New Rhodes Lake Road East project will start from the state Route 162 and 128th Street East intersection and connect to Falling Water Boulevard East. The project has four phases.
Crews have begun clearing and reshaping work for the first segment, which is expected to take three years to complete, according to Pierce County’s website.
The first phase starts from east of the bridge on 128th Street East and ends north of the Cascadia Wastewater Treatment plant. The road will have two lanes in each direction as well as an uphill truck-climbing lane.
Construction on the three other phases has yet to begin, and the project website gives no timeline. The phases are in their final engineering stage, according to Pierce County’s website.
Tehaleh developer Brookfield Properties and design engineering consultant KPFF are working on the $150 million project. It will be funded by traffic mitigation money from Tehaleh, according to a news release from Pierce County and Brookfield Properties.
The new road would offer drivers an alternative to Rhodes Lake Road East, which won’t accommodate the growing population on the Bonney Lake Plateau, according to Pierce County’s website.
Maxine Herbert-Hill said the project will impact most of East Pierce County and is critical for people who live in the area. Herbert-Hill lives between Alderton and McMillin and is co-founder of the SR 162 Community Group.
Local officials such as Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier and council members Dave Morell and Paul Herrera will speak about the project at a groundbreaking ceremony 9 a.m. Thursday, July 6, in Tehaleh.
This story was originally published July 4, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
