As a follow-up to the blog entry I posted in the e-mail below I have further information that is appropriate to post to the blog. There is now talk of widening Military Road up the hill by us (Sunrise Terraces) to 4 lanes (initially 3 lower down the hill near SR 162 but as the road climbs widen to 4 lanes). I pointed out this sounds like an eminent domain situation for Sunrise Terraces homes ON Military Road or some of those that back up to it due to needing room for 4 lanes. I definitely think this should be of interest to Sunrise Terraces residents and urge them to get involved with the SR162Traffic.org group.
This map shows projects Pierce County is planning to be done by 2040 — of particular note is C-5 (Military Road up the hill by Sunrise Terraces) and D-1, D-2 and D-3 which is the new road from Tehaleh to SR 162 at 128th. In addition C-3 is of interest since it is a continuation of the widening that was done further up Shaw Road to continue south along 122nd Ave E (3 lanes just like was done for segment of Shaw Road north of us).
This is the detailed map for C-5 (Military Road widening) – take note of projected volume up Military Road in 2015 vs what is projected by 2040 (e.g., due to Tehaleh):
The SR 162 group (SR162Traffic.org) is also trying to get the County to look at extending 128th from SR 162 up the hill to intersect with 122nd Ave E at 144th St E (going at a diagonal up hill from 128th to 144th) to take some pressure off of Military Road but that isn’t in any plan as of yet.
I’ve expressed to the SR 162 group that Military Road up the hill by us is very dangerous for residents who live on Military Road and those trying to enter/exit side streets such as 133rd, 136th, 138th and will get much worse when Tehaleh opens the new 5-lane highway connecting those 9,500 residences to SR 162 at 128th since they’ll use Military Road to get to Puyallup and South Hill. A new road up the hill from 128th wouldn’t have homes on it nor side streets off of it which would make it much more safe vs. Military Road.
I am also on the SR 162 group with Wayne and also encourage everyone to get more involved with this web page and Facebook page. I live in the Shawnee Ridge development.
One thing I want to add to what Wayne has already stated is that once the road from Tahaleh is completed down to SR 162 sometime in 2024 the traffic on Military road will significantly change. A lot of these people from Tahaleh will head up Military to access SR 512, shopping, and to bypass the increase in traffic on SR 162. I am sure you have noticed how much busier Military road has already become. Our ability to get on an off Military road is going to be significantly impacted regardless of whether a new road is extended from 128th to 144th, the new road Wayne mentions. There are approximately 380 homes whose only access out of our neighborhood is Military road. We are going to need improvements made to this road in order to safely access our neighborhoods. I strongly encourage each of you to get involved. The decisions made are going to impact you and your family.
I totally agree with you Kirk. I’m hoping when they do a study of widening the “cliff” area to 4 lanes they deem it infeasible for a variety of reasons such as what you point out plus cost of eminent domain houses. Can you imagine if they shut down that road for years to do this construction what chaos that would cause? Vs if they construct a new road extending 128th up the hill it literally would inconvenience no one.
Military Road up the hill is currently two lane and there have been numerous small landslides over the years. Widening this road would mean cutting back into an already unstable slope or building out over the valley. Neither one of these options seems practical. I hope Pierce county considers the instability of the area before going ahead and committing funds to this solution. Extending 128th would seem to be a more practical solution.