Major northbound road closure this weekend as crews repair damaged SR167 bridge

All northbound lanes of State Route 167 near Algona and Pacific will be closed overnight Saturday into Sunday morning as crews continue repairs on the damaged bridge at 3rd Avenue.

The closure runs from 10 p.m. on Oct. 11 through 6 a.m. on Oct. 12.

During that time, no traffic will be able to travel north on Route 167 from Stewart Road to Ellingson Road. Signs will redirect all vehicles to West Valley Highway South, which runs parallel to the state road.

On Sunday morning, just two lanes of Route 167 will reopen “temporarily” on the section of highway that passes over Third Avenue Southwest. Commercial and public transit vehicles must use the right lane here.

Just one northbound lane has been open on this essential state route connecting Pierce and King counties since Sept. 23, when the boom trailer of a semitruck “designed to move 40 yarder recycling containers” struck a support beam of the bridge, according to an investigation by the Washington State Department of Transportation. The driver didn’t realize the mechanism that lifts the containers “was stuck in the up position,” as The News Tribune reported this week.

WSDOT estimates the cost of repairs to the Route 167 bridge at Third Avenue will tally around $2.5 million. The agency will seek reimbursement from the third-party companies involved, as is “customary practice,” according to a spokesperson. Federal funding might also be used to “close the gap” between insurance payments and the cost of repair.

The bridge won’t be completely repaired until early 2026, WSDOT said.

The SR-167 bridge is one of three bridges in Pierce County that have been damaged or closed in 2025.

Early this spring, WSDOT permanently closed the Fairfax bridge over the Carbon River just south of Wilkeson, shutting off the only public roadway into the Mowich Lake area of Mount Rainier National Park. In August, a truck hit the White River bridge on State Route 410 that connects Buckley to Enumclaw.

“This is the second bridge strike in recent months that has taken a bridge out of normal service,” WSDOT wrote about the Route 167 strike, reminding commercial truck drivers to use the state’s “vertical clearance trip planning tool” before getting on the road. “These incidents highlight the serious impacts an over-height load or unsecured cargo can have, not only on structures themselves, but on the thousands of people who rely on state highways every day.”