Cara Mitchell, communications, 360-357-2703

Work leads to permanent ramp changes for travelers, removes potential railroad intersection delays

LAKEWOOD – Travelers should prepare for a new stage of work on the I-5 Steilacoom-DuPont Road to Thorne Lane Corridor Improvements project. Once finished this construction will permanently change the way travelers exit to Berkeley Street and Thorne Lane.

Weather permitting, during the overnight hours of Friday, March 12, contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will close the Thorne Lane on-ramp to southbound Interstate 5 for approximately three months.

This closure allows contractor Atkinson Construction to accelerate completion of work at Thorne Lane. The three-month ramp closure would create work zones that:

• Finish the roundabout connection from Union Avenue and to the new Thorne Lane high bridge, 
• Complete the collector-distributor lane barrier that will guide travelers from a shared exit on southbound I-5 to Thorne Lane and Berkeley Street,
• Build a new Thorne Lane on-ramp to southbound I-5 from the new overpass.

Ramp closure detour:

• Travelers coming from Murray Road, Joint Base Lewis-McChord Logistics Gate or the Woodbrook neighborhood will detour via northbound I-5 to Gravelly Lake Drive, then onto southbound I-5.
• Tillicum travelers will use the Berkeley Street interchange to reach southbound I-5. They can also use the new Thorne Lane overpass and follow the same detour as travelers coming from Murray Road.

The end results

When work is finished, travelers on southbound I-5 will begin using the new shared exit to Thorne Lane and Berkeley Street. Drivers will also regain access to southbound I-5 from Thorne Lane from the east side of the highway instead of the west side of the highway. This change in the intersection design removes potential delays associated with the railroad.

This is a permanent change that travelers going to Madigan Army Medical Center, Camp Murray, Lakewood’s Tillicum and Woodbrook neighborhoods and JBLM’s Logistic Gate will need to make note of.

An updated construction schedule that lists overnight ramp closures for this project is available on Tacomatraffic.com. Before heading out the door, travelers can find the latest road conditions on the WSDOT app and by following the WSDOT regional Twitter feed.