The Washington State Department of Transportation has officially picked a contractor team for the last leg of the SR 167 Completion Project in Pierce County. Per the details shared yesterday, a collaboration known as Kraemer-Scarsella Joint Venture is set to tackle the final 2.6 miles of this major roadway project, connecting Fife's I-5 to SR 161/North Meridian Avenue in Puyallup.
This latest development brings us closer to fully connecting the SR 167 and SR 509 corridors, with the Kraemer-Scarsella Joint Venture tapped to design and build the final stage progressively. The joint venture, an amalgamation of Kraemer North America and Scarsella Bros., Inc. from Kent, was selected out of five teams, after WSDOT had invited only two to submit their proposals. "The quality of both proposing teams was outstanding," said SR 167 Project Manager Steve Fuchs, according to an announcement by the Washington State Department of Transportation. "In the end, Kraemer-Scarsella Joint Venture stood out for its extensive experience successfully delivering progressive design-build projects."
The progressive design-build approach is relatively new to major highway projects in the area and is notably employed by WSDOT to address numerous fish barrier locations across western Washington. This method allows a two-phase process, wherein the initial phase involves collaborative design confirmation between Kraemer-Scarsella Joint Venture and WSDOT. The teams will jointly identify risks, brainstorm innovations, and settle on construction costs during this phase. The following phase will see the finalization of designs and actual construction work.
Puget Sound Gateway Program Administrator John White emphasized the benefits of this approach: "This progressive design-build contract provides us with multiple advantages in our current economic climate." White suggests it fosters cooperation on construction strategies, innovations, and cost development. The contract's impressive value maxes out at $475 million, and with designs to be refined over the coming year, construction is anticipated to kick off around mid-2026, as reported in the same WSDOT release.
