Why don’t WSDOT’s signs warn you of Route 16/I-5 traffic jams?

Q: On eastbound state Route 16 coming from Gig Harbor into Tacoma, there are two of those electric signs that WSDOT uses. They usually read the time to Interstate 5. Why don’t they have further places on them, like state Route 18? — Bill D., Gig Harbor

A: “That’s the key piece of information as to whether the I-5/Highway 16 interchange is a parking lot or not,” Bill added.

He’s not wrong, as anyone who’s tried to get through that accursed interchange has noticed over the past few years. (I’ve even seen that thing stacked up headed north at 10 p.m. on a Sunday night.)

At the moment, there’s an input issue.

For accurate travel times to be displayed on roadside reader boards, traffic sensors need to be installed about every half-mile, says Cara Mitchell, a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman. Ongoing construction around the Route 16 interchange with I-5 means there is no accurate traffic data being collected in the area.

So there’s no roadside hope for us just yet.

In the meantime, Mitchell suggests drivers check WSDOT’s Tacoma traffic page before heading out to see whether the interchange or the freeways are backed up. (The site is pretty handy and includes links to WSDOT’s traffic cameras throughout Pierce County.)

Mitchell did say the reader boards along eastbound Route 16 near the Olympic Drive and Union Avenue exits could be used to display travel times to state Routes 167 and 512, for instance, once construction is complete.

The sign west of the Union Avenue exit is in a good location to supply such information, Mitchell says.

“Any information that we’re providing out on those signs, we try to make sure it’s in a location where people can make a choice and they have plenty of time to get into a proper lane,” Mitchell says. “That’s part of the evaluation process for this.”

No new signs were constructed as part of the rebuilding of the Route 16 interchange, a long-running project that eventually will connect HOV lanes from Gig Harbor to Everett. Federal regulations governing the amount of signage along roadways, available electrical infrastructure and cost all factor into that.

Not all the news here is in the distant future. Mitchell tipped off the Traffic Q&A to some fantastic news coming around the Route 16 corner (and merging onto northbound I-5):

“There’s a good chance that we’re going to have two lanes back on that ramp soon, in the next two to three weeks,” Mitchell said.