The in basket: Mel Thompson asks, “
| I suspect this question has been asked many times,
but why do signs referencing Highway 16 destinations use
“east/west” choices when Highway 16 clearly runs in a north/south
direction? At different locations, especially when somewhat
distracted, these sign references are suddenly confusing when a
driver has to reorient themselves directionally in a split second
to decide to go east or west when the actual directional choice is
north or south?”
The out basket: Highway 16 does run east-west where it begins at I-5 in Tacoma, though most of it is north-south after crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. There’s an even more basic reason, says Claudia Bingham-Baker of the Olympic Region of state highways. “Before SR 16 was SR 16, it was Primary State Highway 14,” she said. “PSH 14 went mostly east-west between Hoodsport and Gig Harbor. The east/west designation carried over when the highway was renumbered.” I asked if there had been any discussion of changing it to recognize the current reality of SR16’s heading, and she said she’d never heard of any.
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SR-16 is labeled East/West because it IS East/West. Look at a map. If you do the math, you’ll discover it is about 55% East/West and about 45% North/South. And the old Highway 14 has nothing to do with it. The original SR-16 did not end at Interstate 5. It ended at Pacific Avenue in Tacoma, the old Highway 99, and that’s another mile or two–East. SR-16 snaked through Tacoma city streets, starting at 6th Avenue, then through Nalley Valley to get there. That was before the “new” SR-16 wiped out the iconic A&W to get there, northern terminus of “The Ave.” Interstate 5 arrived on the scene in the mid-sixties. I know because I was there on the concrete when Governor Dan Evans cut the ribbon for the opening.
Go look at a map and you’ll see. SR-16 is East/West now and always has been. It’s an illusion to think it is North/South.