Community Environment Transportation

Purdy paving to begin Sunday night

Crews will resume paving a portion of the Highway 302 spur to complete a culvert replacement in Purdy on Sunday night, April 21, and continue through Friday, April 27. The work will require nighttime traffic detours.

Last October, wet, cold weather set in and paving was postponed after a few nights until spring. The work will recommence in late April, weather permitting, and is expected to take a couple weeks, according to Washington Department of Transportation spokeswoman Angela Cochran.

Last October, crews paved the approaches to the new Highway 302 bridge and a section of 144th Street before it got too cold. Courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation

Travelers will encounter nighttime lane closures on the Highway 302 spur (also called Purdy Drive), 144th Street Northwest and Purdy Lane Northwest for paving and permanent striping.

Drivers detoured to Burnham interchange

From 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. each following day, expect one-way alternating traffic on the Highway 302 spur between Highway 302 and Highway 16 and at the intersection of the Highway 302 spur and 144th Street.

From 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. each following day, the exit from eastbound (toward Tacoma) Highway 16 to the spur will close. Drivers will have to bypass it, get off at Burnham Drive and double back to Purdy via Purdy Drive. Travelers wanting to head west on Highway 16 toward Port Orchard will take Purdy Drive east to the Burnham Drive interchange and enter the highway there.

The paving work includes restoring Purdy Lane Northwest to its original configuration with space available on the shoulders that Peninsula High School staff and students use for overflow parking.

When paving and striping are complete, people will have a new shared-use path on the Highway 302 spur between 144th Street and Purdy Lane. Courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation

Pedestrian path to open

A shared-use path included in the project will also open to walkers and rollers after the paving. The path will extend along along the lagoon side from 144th Street Northwest to Purdy Lane Northwest. Crosswalks at both ends will allow people to access the path.

The path is a result of the state working with the community to create a highway that benefits all travelers, Cochran said.

The Purdy bridge is part of a three-tiered, $41.6 million project to improve fish passage in Purdy Creek. Work crews completed a bridge over westbound Highway 16 on Aug. 15. The new eastbound bridge should open to this summer.

Crews poured concrete on the new eastbound Highway 16 bridge at the end of March. Courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation

Crews poured the eastbound bridge deck at the end of March. Then they began paving the road leading up to and away from the bridge. WSDOT expects to move traffic out of the median and onto the new bridge in May or June, Cochran said. Crews will then begin creating a new stream bed under the bridge to replace buried pipe culverts.

Stream bed replacing pipes

Work in the water is allowed July 15 through Sept. 1. Crews will “de-fish” the stream, removing and documenting fish and other marine life. The creek will be temporarily diverted through pipes to the other side of the highway so crews can build the stream bed in its new location under the bridge. The work includes adding sediment and large tree trunks to provide refuge for salmon and other fish. After the in-water work is complete, workers will add native plants along the stream to provide nutrients and food for the fish. Crews will work through the fall to finish any final elements of the project.