We are exploring ways to improve the transportation mobility between the plateau south of Bonney Lake and the other urban areas of Pierce County west of the plateau.

Meet Travel Demand
The existing Rhodes Lake Road and the nearby roadway network does not adequately meet the demand for existing or future traffic in the corridor.

Strengthen Our Transportation Network
The local network of east/west roads is weak. This makes the transportation system inefficient and unreliable for general use, and does not fully address the need for evacuating residents in the event of mudflows from Mount Rainier.

The County Council asked the department to study this corridor in Resolution R2001-80.

This has been a collaborative effort. Three open houses were held to gather public comment. A Project Leadership Team (PLT) representing several jurisdictions met regularly to discuss and help guide the project. The PLT include:

• Pierce County
• City of Bonney Lake
• City of Orting
• City of Sumner
• Muckleshoot Tribe of Indians
• Puyallup Tribe of Indians
• Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)

The PLT considers all the information and determines the direction of the study. Community comments and planning data were analyzed by the PLT using specific evaluation criteria to narrow the considerations from 31 to 3 'build alternatives.'