Can A Highway Be Good For Fish?

Yes, and we're working to make the proposed SR 167 Project a huge improvement to the Hylebos Creek Watershed.

The Washington Department of Transportation is proposing to extend SR 167 from Sumner through the Puyallup-Fife Valley to connect to SR 509. The purpose of the project is to enhance freight mobility from the Port of Tacoma and commuter mobility through the 167 corridor to Interstate 5.

While the project presents significant environmental concerns, we believe it also presents unprecedented opportunities to restore a highly degraded portion of Hylebos Creek.

Environmental Risks

The proposed alignment comes close to Hylebos Creek (the alignment ranges from 250 feet to 890 feet away from the creek). The project poses environmental threats through increased flooding and water pollution, encroachment in the floodplain, riparian corridor and the stream channel, destruction of wetlands, and spin-off development within the floodplain.

Environmental Opportunities

The proposed SR 167 corridor is located within a highly degraded portion of the Hylebos Creek Watershed, characterized by small if not nonexistent riparian buffers, marginal, fragmented wildlife habitat, large stormwater impacts from roads, minimal wetland habitat and very poor salmon habitat. Because the SR 167 Project will be required to construct stormwater management and stream and wetland mitigation on a rather large scale, we have an opportunity to use these features to greatly improve the health of Hylebos Creek.

Project Design and the Riparian Restoration Proposal

The Friends have been involved in the environmental design and review of the SR 167 Project since 2000. We have worked closely with the agency and appropriate state and federal natural resource agencies to improve the design of the project to minimize impacts to the surrounding environment and develop a revolutionary approach to environmental mitigation.

The Riparian Restoration Proposal, or RRP, will combine a progressive approach to stormwater management, with required stream mitigation to purchase, preserve and restore up to 190 acres of the Lower Hylebos Creek floodplain, and restore up to 16,000 feet of Hylebos Creek and 5,000 feet of nearby Wapato Creek. This proposal would also reduce habitat fragmentation by connecting currently protected areas and our restoration sites, with the newly restored lands.

The SR 167 Project represents a potential multi-million dollar Hylebos Creek restoration project. Given the nature of this reach of the Hylebos and the quickening pace of development around it, it's unlikely this reach could be preserved and restored in any other way.

Unprecedented Partnership

During the environmental review process for the SR 167 Project, the WSDOT and the Friends of the Hylebos have transcended the usual adversary nature between conservation groups and highway projects. Both parties have recognized that the community and the project benefit if we work together.

By working to meet environmental concerns up front, the agency has reduced conflict, removed the consideration of a legal challenge, built community goodwill and gained a community partner that brings helpful local knowledge to the project. For its part, the Friends has listened to the WSDOT staff to understand their challenges and the project and political objectives they need to meet. In doing so, we've gained an ally that will invest millions of dollars in making Hylebos Creek a healthier place for wildlife and people.

Currently, the WSDOT is completing the Record of Decision for the project. Following this, they will convene a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of experts, including Friends of the Hylebos, to further develop project and RRP design.

Read about elements of the SR 167 Project Riparian Restoration Project

SR 167 Environmental documents

View before and after visualizations of the proposed highway

Read the WSDOT's SR 167 Watershed Characterization Study