SR-16 Jackson Avenue ramp will be closed all week

After canceling previous attempts due to bad weather, the Washington State Department of Transportation closed the Jackson Avenue on-ramp to westbound State Route 16 in Tacoma all this week for paving.

Spokeswoman Claudia Cornish said crews are paving the roadway connecting the old on-ramp to an improved westbound on-ramp built near the same location. The on-ramp has been closed since early Monday, and will remain closed completely until 11 p.m. on April 15.

Motorists who normally use that ramp will be detoured to the westbound SR 16 on-ramp at North Pearl Street.

When the new westbound on-ramp at Jackson Avenue opens, it will have the same partial cloverleaf design the ramp currently has, but the curve of the ramp will be lengthened to accommodate more vehicles and to provide a more effective merge onto westbound SR 16.

This realignment is part of the overall roadway improvements included in the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge project.

In addition to the ramp closure, crews plan to close one lane of Stone Drive in Pierce County during daytime hours each day next week while they complete some road work in the area.

Flaggers will provide traffic control to allow alternating lanes of traffic to drive through the area.

Also as of Monday, Cornish said that none of the five metering ramps recently installed on the SR-16 corridor designed to help move traffic were currently operating.

She said all five should be turned on simultaneously later this month.

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