Public Works Road Projects Underway for Key Peninsula

One new project will address wildfire evacuation routes on the KP thanks to initial funding from the Pierce County Council.

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The Key Peninsula Council invited County Engineer Letticia Neal, P.E., of Pierce County Planning and Public Works, to present the recently adopted six-year transportation improvement program for the Key Peninsula at its monthly meeting Jan. 9.

Neal described the transportation improvement plan as a very intense process the department goes through every year that considers the community plan first, and then the comments received from associations and individuals throughout the year. The department also reviews studies, safety records where there have been many collisions or close calls, and population changes in the area anticipated to affect traffic flow.

A new effort by the Pierce County Council to ensure transportation improvement plans attempts “to benefit all users, no matter what area of the county you live in, no matter what the economic level you’re at, whether you have disabilities, whether you drive a car or walk on the edge of the road or ride a bicycle.” Neal said equity and inclusion will play a larger role in the decision-making process.

The transportation improvement plan covers all of Pierce County and is available online. Here’s what is in store for the Key Peninsula in 2025:

County Road Project No. 5871 Cramer Road NW/Glencove Bridge Replacement
This project was fully funded by significant federal grants and local sources. Neal said the new bridge is wider, with many environmental benefits to come from it. “It’s going to look quite a bit different when we’re done.”

Construction started in April 2024. The bridge was removed in July, and Neal said they’ve been working hard to get the precast bridge girders in place. The concrete deck for it was poured in December 2024, with an anticipated reopening in early spring.

“The contractor is on schedule, and everything looks like it’s in place,” she said. “We’ll be just as thrilled as you are to wrap this up and reopen the bridge to end that detour. I know it’s been a really long time coming, but I think you’re going to enjoy the new bridge when you see it.”

CRP No. 5989 Key Center Traffic Calming
This funded project is underway with the goal of speed reduction to help calm traffic through Key Center with an elevated crosswalk. It is expected to be completed in 2026.

CRP No. 5769 Lackey Road NW/Jackson Lake Road NW/Key Peninsula Highway
This project is currently in design. Following an intense open house and public survey in 2022 that considered alternatives for this intersection, a roundabout design was chosen.

“The example shown here is not what the final project will look like, but it helps illustrate what we’re talking about when we say, ‘signalized pedestrian crossings,’ ” she said.

Neal is familiar with questions like, ‘Why are you putting signalized crosswalks out there?’

She explained that the grant money Public Works received for this project, and one of the ways it became competitive for some of that outside grant money, is by adding this pedestrian amenity.

“Without it, we wouldn’t have gotten the grant funding we have, and this project might not be underway right now because we wouldn’t have had the money to do it.

“It’s an interesting intersection with some skewed angles that’s been the source of a lot of safety issues and collisions in years past,” Neal said. “The project is heavily underway. We’re going to be starting to acquire the property that we need to build the project and hopefully go to construction in just a couple of years.”

CRP No. 5122 Key Peninsula Wildfire Evacuation Routes
This is a new project added by the Pierce County Council when it adopted the latest six-year transportation improvement plan earlier this year. There is $75,000 in funding to do some improvements in response to a study that’s underway by the Department of Emergency Management for wildfire evacuation routes.

Neal couldn’t say yet what they’ll be building, but her department expects to receive the study in a few months. From there, they will determine what improvements can be made to better assist residents in case of a wildfire evacuation.

Three additional future projects have been added to the 2025 list, but have not received any funding allocations:

CRP No. 5765 Key Peninsula Hwy NW/134th Ave. NW
This intersection is similar to the intersection of Lackey Road NW/Jackson Lake Road NW/KP Highway, with a skewed intersection creating safety concerns and causing collisions.

Key Peninsula Hwy NW Shoulder/Trail Widening Phase 2
This project to widen the shoulders south from Key Center is ongoing. However, additional work remains unfunded for 2025 but could receive funding in the future.

Lorenz Road NW Embankment Protection
Neal said this kind of thing often happens in coastal communities. Without being aware of a slide happening, roadways start to collapse into Puget Sound or nearby streams.

“This is one of those cases where there is an embankment that could be in jeopardy and needs to have some work done and protection to it,” she said. “It’s a very new project, and we don’t really know what’s involved yet but will need funding for it.”


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