More nighttime closures are planned on Interstate 5 this week as crews prepare for an extended closure of the northbound exit to Tacoma City Center (Exit #133).

State Department of Transportation crews will close part of the northbound I-5 exit to state Route 16 and Interstate 705 (exit 132) at 10:30 p.m. tonight. WSDOT reports the closure won’t affect northbound traffic but will impact drivers going from South 38^th Street to I-5 or SR 16. The South 38th Street on-ramp will also be closed tonight because it is close to the work zone. Both ramps will reopen at 4:30 a.m. …

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Drivers should expect nighttime closures this week at the Interstate 5/ state Route 16 interchange.

Tonight through Thursday, state Department of Transportation crews will shut down two ramps at the interchange to prepare for an extended three-month closure of the northbound I-5 exit to the Tacoma City Center (Exit 133) that starts later this month as part of the Nalley Valley project.

Northbound I-5 to Tacoma City Center will close nightly from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. Drivers will be detoured off Exit 132. Also closing nightly will be eastbound SR 16 to northbound I-5 from 11:30 p.m. to 4 …

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The Washington State Department of Transportation is getting the word out about this spring’s closure of the northbound Downtown Tacoma exit (aka 133) with a new video that show drivers how to navigate the detour. The ramp will close around-the-clock for about three months in late April or early May as part of the latest phase of the Nalley Valley project. Here’s the helpful video:

For more info, here’s a Q&A on the detour.

And here’s a map from WSDOT.

After years of waiting, motorists from Interstate 5 can use the spiffy new off ramp to State Route 16 and access Sprague Avenue. The exits were open this morning as scheduled.

The $184 million project is designed to eliminate the “weave” that led to frequent backups and accidents at the interchange.

I confirmed the opening on my way in to work this morning, eager to try the new “L” shaped exit from Highway 16 to Sprague. I’ll say this: When they say slow down to 15 mph at the hairpin turn, they mean it.

For …

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Last weekend’s traffic shift as part of the Nalley Valley viaduct construction project was expected to cause traffic tie-ups.

Drivers are now required to  use a narrow, 15-mile-per-hour bypass route when going from northbound Interstate 5 to state Route 16. The new route has the potential of backing up traffic onto I-5 for as far as three miles during peak travel times.

So did it?

The News Tribune would like to know how your commute was this morning as you drove through the Nalley Valley viaduct or north on I-5 past state Route 16.

Was it longer than normal? …

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Crews that will place concrete for the new $184 million westbound Nalley Valley project will close both directions of state Route 16 this week.

Eastbound lanes will close from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday-Thursday. Detours will be from Union Street to 38^th Street to Interstate 5.

Westbound lanes will close nightly through Saturday when the I-5 ramps shut down for construction.

Closures include:

Both directions from I-5 to westbound SR 16 will close from midnight to 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The off-ramp from southbound I-5 to westbound SR 16 closes from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday-Friday.

The off-ramp from …

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The Washington State Department of Transportation will close at night next week all  lanes of westbound  State Route 16 from Interstate 5 for segmental bridge work on the  Nalley Valley project.

The lanes from southbound and northbound I-5  will close nightly from 11:59 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Thursday and again from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Dec. 4.

During the closures, traffic from both directions of I-5 will detour to 38th Street to Union to State Route 16.

Once the westbound Nalley Valley viaduct  project is complete in 2011, the segmental …

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Continued work on a cantilevered highway through Tacoma’s Nalley Valley means nighttime closures on northbound Interstate 5 this week.

Heavy segments of concrete will be pieced together over the freeway that will eventually connect northbound I-5 to westbound state Route 16. It will also provide an exit to Sprague Avenue.

The work requires an 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. closure tonight and Wednesday and a 1 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. closure Thursday and Saturday at the freeway exit to state Route 16.

“We need to shut down the lanes because they’re working overhead,” said Kelly Stowe, a spokeswoman for the …

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