SUMNER – There is good news for travelers who use northbound State Route 167 from Puyallup to Sumner. This morning, Thursday, Feb. 16, the final half-mile section of the new northbound State Route 167 high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane opened.
Overnight Wednesday, Feb. 15, Graham Contracting, LTD crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation finished installing the remaining drainage and removed the work zone barrier to open the lane.
HOV lanes, also known as carpool or diamond lanes, are special-use highway lanes reserved for carpools, vanpools, buses and motorcycles.
Project history
For over a year, crews widened sections of northbound SR 167, between Sumner and Auburn, building the new northbound HOV lane. In August 2022, crews opened a 7-mile section of the new lane, that connects to the existing SR 167 high-occupancy-toll lane south of Auburn in King County. The new HOV lane will transition to an Express Toll Lane at a future date.
WSDOT identified this section of SR 167 in the Tacoma/Pierce County HOV Program, which includes a series of projects to build HOV lanes on I-5, SR 16 and SR 167 in Pierce County.
Real-time traffic information is available on the WSDOT statewide travel map, the WSDOT app and WSDOT regional Twitter account.