Back Washington State Route 16 Czech Washington State Route 16 German Washington Chiu Lō͘-sòaⁿ 16 ZH-MIN-NAN
State Route 16 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 SR 16 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by WSDOT | ||||
| Length | 27.16 mi[1] (43.71 km) | |||
| Existed | 1964[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| East end |  I-5 in Tacoma | |||
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| West end |  SR 3 in Gorst | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Washington | |||
| Counties | Pierce, Kitsap | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State Route 16 (SR 16) is a 27.16-mile-long (43.71 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, connecting Pierce and Kitsap counties. The highway, signed as east–west, begins at an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) in Tacoma and travels through the city as a freeway towards the Tacoma Narrows. SR 16 crosses the narrows onto the Kitsap Peninsula on the partially tolled Tacoma Narrows Bridge and continues through Gig Harbor and Port Orchard before the freeway ends in Gorst. The designation ends at an intersection with SR 3 southwest of the beginning of its freeway through Bremerton and Poulsbo. SR 16 is designated as a Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET) corridor within the National Highway System as the main thoroughfare connecting Tacoma to Naval Base Kitsap and a part of the Highways of Statewide Significance program.
SR 16 was created during the 1964 state highway renumbering as the successor to Primary State Highway 14 (PSH 14). PSH 14, which had itself been the successor to State Road 14, traveled northeast from Shelton to Gorst and south to Gig Harbor. PSH 14 was extended over the Tacoma Narrows in 1939 on the unfinished Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which would later collapse months after opening in 1940, into Tacoma over Secondary State Highway 14C (SSH 14C). SR 16 has been expanded into a freeway in stages beginning with the original Nalley Valley Viaduct in Tacoma in 1971, and ending with the opening of an interchange near Port Orchard in 2009. Later improvements to the corridor include the installation of high-occupancy vehicle lanes that connect to I-5 and the rest of the freeway network in Pierce County, which were completed in 2019.
- ^ Staff (2012). "State Highway Log: Planning Report 2012, SR 2 to SR 971" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. pp. 473–485. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
- ^ "47.17.065: State route No. 16". Revised Code of Washington. Washington State Legislature. 1987. Retrieved March 18, 2013.