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Speed limit decreasing along I-5 in Fife to protect construction workers on SR 167 project

The speed reductions are planned to protect crews working on the SR 167 Completion Project.

FIFE, Wash. — Beginning Wednesday, a portion of Interstate 5 in Fife will have lowered speed limits and shifted lanes to protect Washington State Department of Transportation construction crews on the State Route 167 Project.

Between milepost 137.5 near 54th Avenue East and Porter Way at milepost 139, northbound I-5 will have a reduced speed limit of 50 mph. Southbound I-5's speed reduction to 50 mph will begin on Feb. 25. The southbound lane closure hours to complete the shift will be announced the week of Feb. 21.

The temporary speed limits are expected to be in effect until summer 2023.

Speed reductions will allow work to commence safely in the median of I-5 to create new bridges that will cross the project's relocated Hylebos Creek, as part of the Hylebos Riparian Restoration Program.

WSDOT project engineer Tom Slimak says the goal is to get trucks off of Fife’s roads and on a faster route to the Port.

“It’s all about freight mobility,” he explains. “Getting freight into and out of the Port of Tacoma more efficiently versus what traffic sees today through the Fife area, with trucks going through the local street network.”

But construction work on an active highway is dangerous business.

Slimak says crews sometimes are forced to split their attention between their work and speeding motorists.

“There’s always the risk in the overnight hours of workzone intrusions,” he said. “Vehicles veering into our workzones and the like. Those are all things that are hazards out there that construction crews have to work around.”

Slimak says this would create a wider buffer zone for the crews that’re working on the bridge, and having these safeguard in place is vital in helping to address the hazards that construction crews have to deal with while they work.

“Any chance where we’re able to do that, find that balance between safety of the traveling public and our workers, we look to do that,” Slimak said.

The SR 167 project will build six new miles of tolled highway between Puyallup and the Port of Tacoma. The work on I-5 for stage 1b of the SR 167 Completion Project will wrap up in 2026. The full project is expected to be completed in 2028.

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