Pierce County recently revised the travel lanes of Sumner-Tapps Highway East in order to provide left-turn lanes at the South Tapps Drive East intersection on the two legs of the highway.

“The addition of the left-turn lanes will significantly improve traffic operations and safety at the intersection,” said Rory Grindley, Pierce County Public Works and Utilities traffic engineer. “They will also help alleviate traffic back-up experienced by southbound traffic during the afternoon commute.”

No additional pavement was added to the roadway. Instead, crews re-striped the northbound lanes to create the new configuration, reducing the two uphill travel lanes to one travel lane and a center two-way left-turn lane between the South Tapps Drive intersection and 166th Avenue East. Crews also modified the striping for the southbound lane to create the left-turn lane.