What Are Those Black Strips on SR 302?

Drivers using the Purdy exit in Gig Harbor or driving along State Route 302 in late March and early April may have noticed even more black rubber strips stretched across the roads than usual.

These are pneumatic tubes, also known as traffic count boards, and they’re part of a statewide effort by the Washington State Department of Transportation to collect traffic data. Hidden in plain sight these devices are rubber information collectors,  quickly and quietly counting vehicles to help transportation planners understand how our roads are used.

This type of work is done about every three years on SR 302, according to WSDOT Communications Manager Cara Mitchell, though Pierce County also uses the black strips sporadically for data collection on county roads.

When a vehicle passes over the tubes, air pressure changes are sent to a counting device. The system records how many vehicles travel over that point and, depending on the setup, can distinguish between motorcycles, cars, buses, and trucks. Crews may also conduct visual counts to doublecheck the data. These devices can be used to track speeds but WSDOT isn’t collecting that data right now.

The information gathered may seem mundane, but it plays a big role in planning and safety, according to WSDOT. Traffic volume data helps it and other agencies make key decisions, like:

● Scheduling road repairs and construction: Understanding when roads are busiest helps minimize traffic disruptions.

● Modeling detours and backups: During roadwork or emergencies, having traffic patterns on file helps plan smarter reroutes.

● Tracking long-term trends: Repeated counts help spot growth or decline in usage over time.

● Supporting land-use planning: Cities, counties, and developers use this data to help make zoning, development, and infrastructure decisions.

● Prioritizing transportation projects: Traffic volumes feed into broader models that help allocate funding to the areas that need it most.

It will take a little while for the recent data to be added, but all of the data collected is available through WSDOT’s Traffic Count Data Portal at wsdot.wa.gov. It includes real-time and historical statistics on traffic volumes, vehicle classifications, speeds, and even vehicle weights, drawn from both permanent sensors and temporary counts like those seen recently on the Key Peninsula.

For those who want to dig into the numbers, WSDOT offers a variety of downloadable datasets, map-based tools, and reporting applications. The system is used by engineers, planners, researchers, and curious citizens.

Key Center Crosswalk to Get a Boost This Summer

Pierce County Planning & Public Works announced recently that it has selected a construction vendor to install a new raised crosswalk in Key Center as early as June. The crosswalk, called a speed table, was first announced last spring, but faced a few delays. (“New Raised Crosswalk in Key Center Delayed Until Spring,” December 2024.)

The raised crosswalk will replace the existing crosswalk between Sound Credit Union and the Key Center fire station. It’s expected to help slow traffic through the area while improving visibility for drivers and pedestrians.

The county already added raised pavement markers in both directions of the KP Highway near Key Center in June 2024 in anticipation of the crosswalk. In 2023, the county also reduced speeds through the town center from 35 miles per hour to 30 to help curb speeding.