Central Puget Sound State Route 167 - Delay


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Measures of delay on SR 167 in the central Puget Sound region

Travel delay

Travel delay is the amount of extra time spent at speeds below a given threshold—such as the posted speed limit or the maximum throughput speed on a highway. WSDOT uses maximum throughput speed (85% of posted speed limit) as its threshold for calculating delay, which it measures in either annual hours of delay per vehicle or annual hours of delay per person. For details on methodology to calculate travel delay, see WSDOT's Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation (PDF 5.9MB).

Highway capacity constraints vary based on the presence of managed lanes and multimodal travel options; the SR 167 corridor is served by the Sounder commuter rail, transit buses, and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes. For detailed information about the SR 167 HOT lanes, refer to SR 167 HOT Lanes | WSDOT (wa.gov).

Heat maps

The heat maps below show vehicle hours of delay by time of day (measured in 5-minute intervals) and milepost. The darker the shading in a particular spot on the heat map, the more hours of delay occurred at that time and place. Shading is standardized across all the corridors to allow for comparison.

There is a separate heat map for each direction of travel. The northbound graph below is read from bottom to top, while the corresponding southbound graph is read from top to bottom. For additional details on how to read heat maps, refer to Handbook for Corridor Capacity Evaluation (PDF 5.9MB).

Sources: WSDOT Transportation Safety and Systems Analysis Division and WSDOT TRACFLOW (https://tracflow.wsdot.wa.gov/)

Performance highlights

In 2023, delay increased compared to 2022 and with some locations exceeding pre-pandemic levels. On SR 167, northbound delay occurred during the morning commute between SR 18 to S. 277th Street, as well as approaching Renton. In the southbound direction delay occurred during the evening commute affected the entire length of the corridor.

In 2022, delay increased compared to 2021 and was close to the pre-pandemic level. Northbound delay occurred during the morning commute approaching S. 277th Street and approaching Renton. Southbound delay occurred during the evening commute and covered the full length of the corridor.

In 2021, delay increased compared to 2020 but was still significantly lower than the pre-pandemic levels. Northbound delay occurred during the morning commute approaching S. 277th Street and approaching Renton. Southbound delay occurred during the evening commute and covered the full length of the corridor.

In 2020, due to the statewide response to COVID-19 there was significant decrease in delay compared to 2019, but it occurred at the same locations. As in 2019, northbound delay occurred during the morning commute approaching S. 277th Street and approaching Renton. Southbound delay occurred only during the evening commute and covered the full length of the corridor.

In 2019, there was more vehicle delay on SR 167 than in 2018, but it occurred at the same locations. As in 2017 and 2018, northbound delay occurred during the morning commute approaching S. 277th Street and approaching Renton. Southbound delay occurred only during the evening commute and covered the full length of the corridor.

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