A long-running effort to rebuild one of Puyallup, Washington’s busiest commuter corridors is moving ahead, with the city council ordering additional design work on a Shaw Road overhaul that could ultimately run between $75 million and $90 million.
At its May meeting, the council signed off on a 12-month contract extension for a private engineering firm, expanding the consultant’s role in surveying, environmental analysis and drainage planning. The work is centered around Phase 4A of the project, a shorter stretch of road between 25th and 20th Avenue Court East that the city is prioritizing. Officials said the extension will carry Phase 4A through to final engineering and environmental review.
The Phase 4A portion is one slice of a much larger rebuild. City planning documents lay out a full corridor overhaul stretching from 12th Avenue Southeast to 23rd Avenue Southeast, converting the existing two-lane road into a five-lane arterial with a center turn lane, a sidewalk on the west edge and a multiuse trail on the east edge.
The package also calls for replacing aging culverts to restore fish passage, building new retaining walls, installing stormwater controls, reworking the intersection at 23rd Avenue Southeast and upgrading street lighting and underground utilities along the route.
The project’s cost and scope have pushed the city toward a phased rebuild. Phase 4A surfaced from a 2021 planning study as the portion of the project expected to deliver the largest near-term relief, with money designated for design work through December 2026. After that, right-of-way acquisition and construction are penciled in for 2027 through 2030, though those phases remain unfunded.
The expanded design and engineering scope folds in deeper geotechnical work, widened wetland and stream surveys, detention pond design and continued groundwater monitoring, all of which will shape how much environmental mitigation the project owes and how much private land the city ultimately needs to buy.
That complexity is reflected in the price tag. According to city officials, the full rebuild carries a working estimate of $75 million to $90 million for design and construction combined. The city has put in for about $18 million through the federal Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program, framing the bid as an opening move in what will likely be a string of funding requests before the corridor is completed.
The corridor has drawn a mix of state and federal support to get this far. A 2022 Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) Surface Transportation Block Grant put $1.04 million in federal funds toward Phase 4A design, matched with about $225,800 locally. An earlier Shaw Road segment completed in 2019 ran $8.7 million, with the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) covering more than 60%. Federal grants have proven tougher, with unsuccessful Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) applications in 2023 and 2024.
Photo by Tom Shamberger from Pexels
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