Making North Levee Road safer

Photo by JILL RUSSELL

NORTH LEVEE ROAD IS ONE OF MANY PROJECTS ON FIFE’S TIP.

After a diesel truck overturned on North Levee Road last month, many in the community have begun to reexamine the safety of that particular stretch of road.

The city of Fife’s Transportation Improve-ment Program (TIP), which provides city officials with a roadmap for needed transportation improvements throughout the city, currently lists 47 projects totaling in excess of about $73 million to complete. Among the top ten projects on the list to complete is widening North Levee Road’s west segment.  

This project’s estimated cost is $6.5 million to complete, but Fife City Manager Steve Worthington anticipates that cost to be higher as the city gets closer toward breaking ground.

“I would estimate the cost to be closer to $10 million,” Worthington said. He added that a project of this magnitude could take years before the necessary funding is acquired.

“However, the project is a big priority for us, that’s why it’s in the top ten,” Worthington added.

The problems involving Fife and North Levee Road are complex and span more than a decade. The city of Fife acquired the stretch of road when it was annexed in 1998 from Pierce County. Worthington explained that the road is designed in an older style, which was better suited to accommodate lighter, mostly agricultural traffic along the rural communities of Pierce County. He noted that this style is no longer appropriate for the area because Fife is becoming more urbanized. However, the city’s upgrades and improvements to 70th and Valley avenues has the potential to pull more freight traffic away from North Levee Road in the future, Worthington commented.

Another challenge facing city officials is that North Levee Road is built on top of the levee that is used to prevent flooding into Fife from the Puyallup River. This makes installing guardrails or other kinds of safety devices difficult for the city, explained Worthington.

“We can’t drill into the levee to install guardrails because that would compromise the levee’s integrity to protect against possible flooding,” he said.

Currently the city is examining alternative safety measures for North Levee Road. For example, Fife city officials have discussed the possibility of “L” shaped guardrails that could be cemented on top of the road instead of drilling into the levee underneath.

Last year there were approximately 31 collisions that occurred on or in the vicinity of North Levee Road, according to the 2008 Washington State Department of Transportation collision report for the street. Of all the accidents that have occurred on North Levee Road, there have been no fatalities since the city acquired it in 1998, Worthington said. That statistic has made city officials cautious to install guardrails because of the potential of making the safety of North Levee Road worse.

Worthington explained that if a vehicle were to hit a rail, it could potentially veer into oncoming traffic because the road is so narrow and doesn’t have any additional shoulder space.

“This could cause a head-on collision and possible fatality,” he said.

In the meantime, city officials have begun preparing for future development. The city has been laying the groundwork for widening North Levee Road by building up the road’s shoulder on its residential side. This added embankment would be the foundation for about 62 additional feet of paved street space. The tentative date to begin actual construction on the west segment of North Levee Road is 2013, but Worthington explained that date is contingent on the city’s ability to secure funding for the project.

“We know this road is a legitimate safety issue for residents. They should be concerned. We are too.”

Commenting rules