This $150 million project will help drivers in the fastest-growing part of Pierce County
Pierce County Council member Dave Morell’s days of fielding phone calls from residents upset that there is only one way in and out of Tehaleh are coming to an end.
He and others celebrated the opening of a road Friday that’s part of a $150 million project that the Pierce County Council approved in 2008 to provide another outlet for the 11,000 residents of the planned community in the fastest growing region of Pierce County.
Morell told those gathered that the project to connect the community on the Bonney Lake plateau to the Orting Valley has been in the works for 25 years, and he’s proud of the employment opportunities that the development brings to the region.
And, he joked: “I don’t have to field any more calls: ‘Why would you build a community with one way in and one way out?’”
It’s just the first phase of the work that is finished: A 1.25-mile extension that connects Falling Water Boulevard and Tehaleh Boulevard. Next, the developer will work on New Rhodes Lake Road East, to create three lanes going up the hill and two lanes going down it. Then workers will widen 128th Street and put a new bridge across the Puyallup River. They expect all the phases to be finished come 2027.
The $150 million project is funded by the developer as part of its agreement with the county.
“This road improves access and safety for residents living nearby today,” Morell said in a news release Friday, sent by Pierce County and by Brookfield Properties, which manages Tehaleh. “Soon, it will provide a new link from the Plateau to nearby urban centers, bringing more business and jobs to the area.”
He said the project is important when it comes to the ability of emergency vehicles to access the community, as well as commuters.
“Once complete, the new road corridor will connect Orting, Puyallup and Sumner to Bonney Lake and Buckley from highway 162 at 128th Street East in McMillin to highway 410 via Falling Water Boulevard, Tehaleh Boulevard and 198th Avenue East,” the news release said. “Tehaleh is also committed to traffic improvements on SR 162.”
Residents in the Orting Valley have expressed concern about the traffic situation on state Route 162, which already poses a headache for Orting-area commuters. Traffic is also a concern for Orting-area residents should Mount Rainier explode. They’re in the lahar zone. One member of the SR 162 Community Group, which has been advocating for solutions since 2018, quipped last year in a meeting with The News Tribune that his evacuation plan is a case of wine that he’ll to take to his roof.
Asked about the impact the new road will have on the valley, and about next steps to address congestion on SR 162, Morell told The News Tribune on Friday that a study about adding a third lane to the highway is in the works. It’s the Washington State Department of Transportation that’s in charge of the road.
“Hopefully that will get some funding, once we get the study done,” he said.
Maxine Herbert-Hill with the SR 162 Community Group said in a phone call with The News Tribune that, best-case scenario, she thinks a center turn lane could open in 2028 or 2029. Asked what things will look like for the years after the new road down the hill is finished and before the third lane on SR 162 is built, she said simply: “Bad.”
One traffic consultant estimated it could take an hour to travel the 8 miles from state Route 410 to Orting during the evening commute, Herbert-Hill said, which takes about 30 minutes now.
“It’s going to be a tough, tough go until we get these improvements done,” she said. “There’s not a road in East Pierce County that doesn’t have a problem. It’s tough and it’s obviously going to get tougher as they continue to develop out there.”
She thinks it’s great that crews opened the new Falling Water connection, she said. It’s something those who live there need badly and eagerly anticipated, she said.
Pierce County Council member Paul Herrera, who was also at the celebration, told The News Tribune that there are plenty of examples of lackluster development. In contrast, he said, Tehaleh, with its sidewalks, roads and other infrastructure that has grown with the community, is something to be proud of.
Now, he said, it’s time for the state to catch up at the bottom of the hill.
This story was originally published December 16, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
