SR 161 was established during the 1964 highway renumbering, replacing three Secondary State Highways (SSHs): Secondary State Highway 5D (SSH 5D) and SSH 5G, both established in 1937, and SSH 5N, established in 1955. SSH 5D served as a connector between Federal Way and Puyallup and SSH 5G served as a connector between Puyallup and South Hill. SSH 5N connected Eatonville to South Hill and was extended south towards La Grande in 1967. SR 161 was moved onto a bypass of Puyallup in the 1980s and formed concurrencies with SR 167 and SR 512 as a result. As of 2013[update], projects to expand the highway in Edgewood and Milton and adding new offramps at the I-5 and SR 18 interchange are in progress.
SR 161 and SR 512 travel north on a freeway in Puyallup, intersecting Meridian Street at the Puyallup Fairgrounds and Pioneer Avenue at a partial cloverleaf interchange.[7][8] After the intersection with Pioneer Avenue, the freeway travels over a BNSF rail line that serves Puyallup station and crosses the Puyallup River before a trumpet interchange with SR 167.[4][9] At the interchange,[10] SR 512 ends and SR 161 northbound turns west on a 1.83-mile-long (2.95 km) wrong-way concurrency with SR 167, designated as traveling southbound.[1] SR 161 turns north onto Meridian Avenue at Fort Malone as SR 167 travels south into Downtown Puyallup,[11] and the highway continues north and crosses a Union Pacific rail line.[4] Meridian Avenue continues north to form the boundary between Edgewood and Milton, where the highway intersects Milton Way, the former route of SR 514.[12] SR 161 turns northwest into King County as the Enchanted Parkway,[1] passing through Lakeland South and Wild Waves Theme Park before crossing over I-5. The Enchanted Parkway turns north into Federal Way and ends at an intersection with SR 18, located between SR 99 and I-5.[6]
Every year, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2011, WSDOT calculated that between 340 and 99,000 vehicles per day used the highway, mostly in the Puyallup area.[13]
History
Meridian Street in downtown Puyallup, which formerly carried a section of SR 161
SR 161, including the concurrency with US 410, was signed into law in 1970 as a highway extending from SR 7 near Eatonville to US 99.[2][23][24] US 410 was replaced with an extension of SR 167 in the Tacoma area and US 12 east of the Cascade Mountains in 1967 and the highway was shortened from US 99 to SR 18 in 1971.[2][25] SR 161 was moved east onto a bypass of Puyallup, creating concurrences with SR 512 and SR 167, in the late 1980s,[26] and designated, within King County, as the Enchanted Parkway in 1987 as the last major revision to the highway.[27][28] The Pierce County government and City of Eatonville proposed moving SR 161 to the Alder Cutoff Road south of the city, but it was not forwarded to the state legislature by the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board.[29]
An extension of the Valley Freeway between Tacoma and Puyallup has been proposed since the 1990s and would create a new interchange with SR 161 north of the Puyallup River,[30][31] but as of 2013[update] the freeway has not been built.[28][32] The eastbound ramps at end of the concurrency between SR 161 and SR 167 was realigned in late 2008 to reduce congestion and started recent improvements to the highway.[33] WSDOT is widening the Enchanted Parkway through the Edgewood and Milton area from 2 lanes to 4 lanes with wider shoulders and sidewalks to be completed by 2027.[34] The interchange between I-5 and SR 18 was reconstructed with a new flyover ramp from westbound SR 18 to SR 161 that was completed in July 2012.[35] Another ramp, from southbound I-5 to SR 161, was opened months later and is planned to be replaced with a ramp to South 356th Street that feeds into a roundabout with SR 161.[36] The ramp had been proposed since the 1990s.[37]
^Staff (2011). "2011 Annual Traffic Report"(PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. pp. 146–147, 149–150, 192–193. Archived from the original(PDF) on June 13, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
^Seattle, 1958(JPG) (Map). 1:250,000. United States Geological Survey. 1958. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
^Washington State Legislature (March 18, 2013). "Chapter 207: Classification of Public Highways". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1937 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. p. 1003. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
^Washington State Legislature (1955). "Chapter 383". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1955 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature.
^Hoquiam, 1958(JPG) (Map). 1:250,000. United States Geological Survey. 1958. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
^Washington State Legislature (1967). "Extended Session 145". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1967 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature.
^Washington State Legislature (February 6, 1987). "Senate Bill No. 5666". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1987 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature.
^"Valley Freeway extension to I-5 still alive - barely, Puyallup-to-Tacoma link hit hard by Initiative 695". The News Tribune. Tacoma, Washington. January 26, 2000.
