by voters in 2002. A direct connection between the freeway's HOT lanes and the I-405 HOV lanes was constructed from 2016 to 2019, costing $197 million. Future WSDOT has planned to convert the entire route in Pierce County to a freeway since the mid-20th century. WSDOT is performing advance design and engineering work. The proposed highway would bypass the snarled traffic at Meridian Way in Puyallup and continue across Interstate 5 to SR 509 in the city of Fife. The project would construct a new six mile (10 km) freeway north of the Puyallup River and complete the partial interchange at Meridian Way (SR 161) with a single-point urban interchange (SPUI). The new freeway would be four lanes with adequate space for future HOV lanes. The interchange with I-5 would be a diverging diamond interchange, the third in the state. Another future project will later upgrade the diverging diamond interchange with Interstate 5 to a system interchange which would include direct HOV lane ramps between the two freeways. The upgraded SR 167 would save time traveling from Tacoma to Puyallup, as the original highway is just a four-lane road with at-grade intersections and a speed limit of . It would also, in theory, complete the gap of a bypass to I-5 between Renton and Tacoma. SR 512 currently provides a freeway bypass of I-5 between Puyallup and Lakewood (south of Tacoma). The first component of the Puget Sound Gateway Project, a new bridge for 70th Avenue East over I-5 in Fife, began construction in 2020. The bridge will use girders, the longest to be installed in the U.S., and include a roundabout with SR 99. Exit list References External links Highways of Washington State 167 Transportation in Pierce County, Washington Transportation in King County, Washington Washington State Route 167 U.S. Route 10