Why are SR-167 supporters in a hurry to complete the last phase of State Route 167?

Here are some interesting quotes from a pretty fascinating article about the highway:

• "This freeway is something that's necessary now. Valley Avenue [in Fife] was designed for Model T drivers and is no longer safe."
• "[O]n the highway department's list of concerns was that the Puyallup Valley constitutes a sort of 'transportation gap, a missing link in the transportation network serving one fo the busiest, most bustling centers of activity in the state.'"
• "...the present quality of life in Fife, a community...[that] has to content with unbearably heavy traffic because of the lack of an alternative route."

One could easily imagine these quotes being in today's edition of the News Tribune. What makes these quotes and the article so fascinating, however, is that they appeared in the Sumner News Review thirty-seven years ago on November 26, 1976.

What makes this article so relevant today is that some individuals have suggested to SR-167 supporters that completion of the highway is a "big-lift" and that perhaps a phased approach should be considered. What these individuals may not realize is that SR-167 already has been phased--since 1976--and the construction of the remaining six miles of highway between Puyallup and the Port of Tacoma is the final phase of a project that has been underway for nearly four decades.