If it comes, the money to improve the Berkeley Avenue interchange would amount to the most significant public investment to any of the interchanges serving Joint Base Lewis-McChord since their construction at least 40 years ago. Weyerhaeuser Co. paid for the new interchange serving DuPont that opened in 1997.
One proposed fix would add a second southbound I-5 offramp to prevent drivers headed to Madigan during the morning rush hour from backing up onto the freeway.
Other possible changes would add a third lane on the overpass and make improvements to the intersection of Berkeley and Union Avenue. The average delay for people crossing the overpass during the noon hour, when service members and others drive into Tillicum to eat lunch and run errands, would decrease from more than 10 minutes to 35 seconds, according to the city.
The City Council authorized the grant application with a unanimous vote Monday night. The application deadline is Friday.
“This is wonderful for working to unsnarl a huge problem,” Lakewood City Councilman Walter Neary said.
The federal Office of Economic Adjustment is providing $300 million for transportation projects associated with military hospitals on installations impacted by closures, mergers or other force adjustments Congress ordered in 2005. The agency assists communities that have seen significant growth or loss of personnel stemming from those changes.
Jeff Gonzalez, a city engineer, was confident that Lakewood would secure funding because the project meets all the criteria and has strong political support. The Washington State Department of Transportation, Pierce County, and the offices of U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, U.S. Rep. Adam Smith and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray will voice support for the application, he said.
Gonzalez said the proposed fixes would ease congestion regardless of whether the state military department moves the main gate serving Camp Murray. The city is reviewing the agency’s permit application to move the gate away from I-5.
The city does not have to put up its own money to secure the grant.
The fixes are short-term. A study released a year ago recommended reconstructing Berkeley and three other antiquated interchanges serving Lewis-McChord to help reduce I-5 traffic congestion. The entire project could take 10 to 15 years to complete. The Berkeley interchange project is estimated to cost $22 million to $72 million, the study said.
The council directed that the grant application should identify the overpass as Freedom Bridge. The state renamed the span in 2006 to honor the thousands of service members who cross it as they prepare to deploy overseas.
