Sumner-Tapps Highway Guardrail Work

Overhead image of existing Sumner-Tapps Highway with lines overlaid showing new channelization of lanes.

Its been a busy 2021 and 2022 on Sumner-Tapps Highway! There are four separate projects or events scheduled for 2021 and 2022, and this is the place to keep track of project progress, upcoming traffic warnings, and corridor concerns. The City of Sumner has lined up two major roadway preservation projects that utilize federal funds. And there's a utility project. And a major detour weekend too? No work at the 64th Intersection, but that is a bigger project that is in preliminary design right now. There's still a large funding gap to build those improvements, but we're positioning the project for federal grant opportunities. You can find out more about that project here:https://connects.sumnerwa.gov/166th-410_interchange

Project One: Resurfacing (Complete)

Project Two: Guardrail Replacement

The guardrail replacement project will upgrade and replace the existing guardrail that has reached the end of its serviceable life. New guardrail at current design height will be extended with appropriate end treatments to protect motorists to today's improved roadside design standards.

Project Three: Pole Relocation (In Progress)

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) will be relocating some of their utility poles at our request to improve safety in the corridor. This is done at no cost to the City under a utility agreement. There are many utilities on those poles, so multiple utility companies will be involved in the work.

Project Four: NB SR 167 Weekend Detour (Complete)


City staff will be working hard to ensure that you are inconvenienced as little as possible. But, as with all road construction, there will be inconveniences. So follow the project in the email sign-up in the lower right of this page to keep up with the latest information!

Its been a busy 2021 and 2022 on Sumner-Tapps Highway! There are four separate projects or events scheduled for 2021 and 2022, and this is the place to keep track of project progress, upcoming traffic warnings, and corridor concerns. The City of Sumner has lined up two major roadway preservation projects that utilize federal funds. And there's a utility project. And a major detour weekend too? No work at the 64th Intersection, but that is a bigger project that is in preliminary design right now. There's still a large funding gap to build those improvements, but we're positioning the project for federal grant opportunities. You can find out more about that project here:https://connects.sumnerwa.gov/166th-410_interchange

Project One: Resurfacing (Complete)

Project Two: Guardrail Replacement

The guardrail replacement project will upgrade and replace the existing guardrail that has reached the end of its serviceable life. New guardrail at current design height will be extended with appropriate end treatments to protect motorists to today's improved roadside design standards.

Project Three: Pole Relocation (In Progress)

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) will be relocating some of their utility poles at our request to improve safety in the corridor. This is done at no cost to the City under a utility agreement. There are many utilities on those poles, so multiple utility companies will be involved in the work.

Project Four: NB SR 167 Weekend Detour (Complete)


City staff will be working hard to ensure that you are inconvenienced as little as possible. But, as with all road construction, there will be inconveniences. So follow the project in the email sign-up in the lower right of this page to keep up with the latest information!

Do you have questions or concerns about the upcoming work?

Please leave your comments here!

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  • Sumner taps highway East is ruined. You took what was a decent '2 lane" each way road to drive on and made traffic congestion worse! Why on Earth would anyone think that in an area which traffic congestion is getting worse due to population increase, that is a good idea? I will never take that road again now, because all it takes is one asshole with an insurance plug in to hold everybody up! Or, worse yet, all the dump trucks that go up that road at 10 mph are now holding up 5 cars or more, which is illegal on Washington State highways! Now can you please bring back the multiple lanes and start expanding the rest of the one lane roads to multiple, to releave traffic congestion??? I often wonder why whole groups of people don't think about current and future impact?

    Now Angry Commuter asked over 2 years ago

    Thank you for your input and question.  We looked at the safety benefits very closely before deciding to reconfigure the lanes.  We have had fatalities and serious injuries on the roadway in the past.  This roadway segment is one of the most dangerous roadways in Sumner City Limits and is not up to today's safety standards.  Our goal is to reduce the number and severity of crashes into the future.  This configuration deletes the hill climb lane but uses the roadway width for a 2’ painted median on the centerline with rumble strips and shoulders that are 6-8 feet wide rather than 0-2 feet wide.  This shifts vehicles away from the edge of roadway and guardrails while providing a buffer between oncoming traffic lanes.  

    We didn't take this decision lightly and committed City resources specifically to establish the best lane configuration. We reached out beyond City resources to traffic engineering experts on how best to optimize the safety and efficiency of this roadway.  Our traffic consultant recommended this configuration, as it is a safer one that is predicted to reduce crashes on the segment by 26%.  Once we saw this analysis and crash reduction forecasting, we knew that we had to make modifications to the roadway to improve safety in the corridor. 

  • The single lane going up S. Tapps is a major disaster. One slow moving truck backs up traffic for 10 to 20 vehicles. This isn’t a guess it’s a fact from being in the backup. What happens when Fire or EMS gets stuck behind that backup? This was a very poor decision and needs immediate rectification. Why not put a barrier between the north and south bound lanes like 410 has? I hope that there is some common sense work for our community.

    Aaron asked almost 3 years ago

    Thank you for your input.  The City will closely monitor the roadway to determine how successfully or unsuccessfully the reconfiguration operates.  Incidents of vehicles following trucks will be analyzed specifically.  Regarding emergency vehicles, the situation has improved significantly with a shoulder available for motorists to utilize to pull over and let emergency vehicles through.  A barrier was considered but would prevent vehicles from making left turns into driveways or private roadways along the roadway segment.  A barrier is more appropriate for higher-speed roadways.

  • Why in the world is the hill climb lane being removed? It just went to a three lane road not long ago, why is it back to two? The back-ups will be worse than the last time!

    Fariya asked almost 3 years ago

    Thank you for your questions.  The City of Sumner worked with an engineering consultant, Transpo Group, to analyze the existing situation and best configuration for the roadway.  The consultant provided the memorandum included in the documents section of this web site.  The City will closely monitor the roadway to determine how successfully or unsuccessfully the reconfiguration operates.  The roadway had been in the 2-lanes-up 1-lane-down configuration for many years.

  • Questions are numbered please answer and comments are annotated: 1) With reduction to one lane uphill are semi trucks and cement trucks that climb that hill at 10-15 MPH going to be restricted from using the road? 2) If not what will it take to do so? 3) If not, is the city of Sumner willingly excepting financial liability for the head on collisions that will occur by attempts to pass said trucks on this very busy road? Comment - As a retired Federal DOT employee and can say with accuracy, this problem is more obvious than the nose on anyone's face and it is hard to imagine any project manager consciously reverting this to a 2 lane road design with that hills grade. 4) Is the following the intent? Washington state law says: RCW 46.61.427: Slow-moving vehicle to pull off roadway. On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe because of traffic in the opposite direction or other conditions, a slow moving vehicle, behind which five or more vehicles are formed in a line, shall turn off the roadway wherever sufficient area for a safe turn-out exists, in order to permit the vehicles following to proceed. As used in this section a slow moving vehicle is one which is proceeding at a rate of speed less than the normal flow of traffic at the particular time and place. 5) If the above is the intent, will there be signage ensuring that understanding? or will there be more safety negligence. Comment - This road should be expanded to 4 lanes, most of the accidents are from traffic going down in the one lane, reducing the uphill to one lane in not going to reduce accidents by 26% rather that is the approximate amount it will increase accidents and fatalities. Comment - It is important for readers to remember that you can pay a consultant to get the results you want, the cost to repave this road at its width is a constant regardless of lanes, but, more revenue can be generated by the ability to pull people over and issue tickets, which is the real goal here, which is an effort to improve safety as well, by citing the speeders. What bothers me is much of that can be generated by a photo cam, without putting safety at risk in such a desperate fashion. Lastly, after/if the fatalities and accidents increase and you learn what I believe to be obvious; 6) will you consider returning it to at least 3 lanes with 2 uphill? Comment - It will be sad for the families affected and an unnecessary lawsuit costs for the city of Sumner (as I can guarantee there are other consultants that would paint this as a terribly dangerous idea, it all depends on the parameters set for the consultants), but stupid is as stupid does.

    JE asked almost 3 years ago

    Thank you for your detailed questions and the time you took to write your provide your input:

    1. The City of Sumner has designated truck routes.  In general, trucks must use these routes to travel to or through Sumner except for local delivery and pick up, which should use the shortest route available to and from a designated truck route.  Sumner-Tapps Highway is not one of Sumner’s designated truck routes.  Here’s a link to a map of Sumner’s designated truck routes.  https://sumnerwa.gov/living/business/truck-routes/.  
    2. Considering the businesses and residences in the area, it would be difficult to restrict truck traffic on the corridor more than it already is.  
    3. From a liability perspective, the engineering consultant concluded that the reconfiguration is forecast to reduce crashes by 26%.  While I’m not an expert in legal liability, it is difficult to dismiss an engineering study recommendation that forecasts the significant reduction of crashes.
    4. The City encourages everyone to follow Washington State laws.
    5. The City will continue to monitor vehicular movement in the corridor in the coming months and determine if signage is appropriate.  
    6. The City will continue to monitor vehicular movement in the corridor.  The previous configuration would not meet today’s design standards without significant widening.  It would be significantly expensive to widen the corridor in the future.  Much will depend on development and traffic volumes, but widening does not seem likely in the near-term.
  • What’s with only 2 lanes coming up the hill out of Sumner? Too many slow going trucks to have to follow.. accidents are sure to happen with people trying to pass heading up the hill...

    Cherie Harrison asked almost 3 years ago

    Thank you for your question and input.  The reconfiguration of the roadway replaces the hill climb lane with shoulder width on both sides of the roadway and a painted median to better separate traffic.  The roadway will be a "no passing" zone.  

  • I understand there were engineers that came up with the “solution” of modifying the existing roadway from a 3-lane (with hill climb) to just a 2-lane ...but can you give us the name of the individual (or group of individuals) who had the final say in this matter, and thought that this would be a good idea. It may be good info to have in the future, when things turn out poorly, despite the massive public outcry for a better solution. Thanks.

    JayF asked almost 3 years ago

    Thank you for your question.  The City of Sumner worked with an engineering consultant, Transpo Group, to analyze the existing situation and best configuration for the roadway.  The consultant provided the memorandum included in the documents section of this web site.  The City will closely monitor the roadway to determine how successfully or unsuccessfully the reconfiguration operates.

  • Will you make the 6 ft strip into a bike lane (both directions)? As a commuter riding a bicycle up onto the plateau it has been frightening at times with no shoulder. I personally am happy to see a large shoulder.

    skiyasoon asked almost 3 years ago

    Thank you for your input. While we don’t plan to mark the shoulder as a bicycle lane, a substantial shoulder with a rumble strip separating thru lanes from the shoulder provides an improved experience for pedestrians and bicyclists. And the roadway surface will be much smoother after the overlay. 

  • Why are you making it a two lane road? It’s already extremely difficult going up that hill and going around a corner with a semi going 25 mph is extremely dangerous with no lane to pass around it! Why are you making it more dangerous? Do you not care about your commuters or community? Sumner tapps hwy is going to have more accidents because of this.

    efinn asked almost 3 years ago

    Thank you for your input and question.  We looked at the safety benefits very closely before deciding to reconfigure the lanes.  We have had fatalities and serious injuries on the roadway in the past.  This roadway segment is one of the most dangerous roadways in Sumner City Limits and is not up to today's safety standards.  Our goal is to reduce the number and severity of crashes into the future.  This configuration deletes the hill climb lane but uses the roadway width for a 2’ painted median on the centerline with rumble strips and shoulders that are 6-8 feet wide rather than 0-2 feet wide.  This shifts vehicles away from the edge of roadway and guardrails while providing a buffer between oncoming traffic lanes.  

     

    We didn't take this decision lightly and committed City resources specifically to establish the best lane configuration. We reached out beyond City resources to traffic engineering experts on how best to optimize the safety and efficiency of this roadway.  Our traffic consultant recommended this configuration, as it is a safer one that is predicted to reduce crashes on the segment by 26%.  Once we saw this analysis and crash reduction forecasting, we knew that we had to make modifications to the roadway to improve safety in the corridor. 


  • What does the city hope to achieve with the construction work on Sumner-Tapps? Is it for less traffic accidents? Less traffic congestion? Increased road rage? Traffic has increased tenfold since I moved here in 1990. Traffic accidents have increased because of the additional cars and the drivers that need to get one car ahead or pull out in front of a long line of cars, because they can't wait until traffic clears. With only 1 lane uphill, traffic accidents are sure to increase as motorists will want to pass the slow moving trucks and will meet head on, someone coming downhill. I really hope that the city of Sumner will rethink their position on this construction project and resurface the road, but leave it 3 lanes.

    BratJr asked about 3 years ago

    The City's goal with the upcoming projects is a preserved roadway surface with replaced guardrails up to today's standards, roadside clear zones free of obstructions or protected by safety features, and a safer experience for all roadway users utilizing low-cost safety features such as increased shoulder width and rumble strips to increase driver awareness.  These measures are expected to decrease crashes overall and lessen crash severity.  

  • Received by email: I have lived on Driftwood Point for 25 years and use Sumner Tapps Hwy all of the time. Please explain to me how changing Sumner Tapps Hwy from 2 lanes to 1 lane going up the hill is going to help traffic problems. The extra lane going up the hill is considered a passing lane which is used all of the time. There are many slow moving semi trucks, garbage trucks, concrete trucks, trucks hauling boat trailers up to Lake Tapps. Based on your proposal, traffic will now back up like crazy going up the hill. It will also create a dangerous situation of drivers trying to pass slow moving trucks going up the hill. 6 ft wide shoulders are still not wide enough to clear a disabled vehicle so now vehicles trying to get around the disabled vehicle will be forced into the down hill lane of traffic. The other issue is people will start using the back roads even more than they already are to avoid the hill. This will put more traffic into residential areas coming from Bonney Lake. It will also increase traffic through Sumner because now people will use the back roads to get over to East valley Hwy and then go up Forrest Canyon Rd to get to the top of the hill. I see no positive out come of this project This is a really bad idea and before you spend a bunch of money on a bad idea that later will have to be fixed and cost more money please rethink this. If you are looking for safety The better idea would be to enforce the speed limit on Sumner Tapps hwy, people do drive the hill very fast, up and down. Install a sidewalk from top to bottom on the east side of the roadway. Waiting for your reply Jon Flinchbaugh

    CityofSumner asked about 3 years ago

    Thank you for your input and concerns and taking the time to contact us.

    You are correct, these projects are not going to improve traffic congestion.  The resurfacing project is a roadway preservation project (so that the existing roadway doesn't degrade to rubble) and the guardrail project safety preservation project (so that we bring our guardrails up to current standards, replace end-of-life rail and soon-to-be rotting wood posts, extend guardrail longer where needed).  The resurfacing project is an opportunity to reconfigure lanes, as there will be a new roadway surface with no existing lines.

    This roadway segment is responsible for 25% of all serious injury crashes on city-maintained roadways within Sumner city limits.   When repainting lanes, we analyzed how best to simultaneously improve safety in the corridor and determined rumble strips and increased shoulders to be of great safety benefit. We’ve posted a memo that outlines the issue and provides information on the safety benefit.  The reconfiguration is projected to decrease crashes by 26% and provide space for all roadway users with the repurposing of roadway surface to include 6' minimum width shoulders (in most cases the shoulder will be larger, like 8-9’ in width).  

    Slow-moving vehicles will cause some slowdowns, but the level of service will remain within policy limits set in City transportation planning documents.  Some motorists may choose to use other routes to head north from SR 410. As the segment is only one mile long, the potential delay is limited.  Sumner-Tapps Highway will still be the fastest route for the majority of current users.  

    Regarding enforcement, the existing configuration provided no locations for police to safely pull over a vehicle.  The new shoulder will allow more room for enforcement activities.  

    Regarding a sidewalk, the shoulder will act as a location for pedestrians and bicyclists to use the roadway while not expanding the roadway footprint.  Adding a sidewalk would likely occur outside of the existing roadway pavement, which with the steep vertical slopes common on both sides of the roadway, would be costly and beyond the scope of the preservation and safety projects.  A sidewalk would be nice, I agree.

Page last updated: 25 Mar 2024, 11:15 AM