Arterial Classifications for Pierce Co, WA Roads

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Arterial Classifications for Pierce County Roads

2008 Arterial Classification List (PDF 187 KB)

Note: All roads not specified as arterials are classified as local roads.

Why is it Necessary to Classify Roads?

Roads are grouped into a number of different classifications for administrative, planning, and design purposes. The functional classification system creates a hierarchy of classified roads.

Roads are most effectively classified by their function. The primary functions of roads are:

to move traffic,and
to provide access to homes, businesses, and other roads

The degree to which these functions are provided is considered an integral part of classifying roads. The main considerations for classifying roads into functional groups are the travel desires of the public, land service needs based on existing and expected land use, and the overall continuity of the system.

The Pierce County functional classification system directly addresses all public roads in unincorporated Pierce County (except State highways).

Which Road Classifications Does Pierce County Use?

Major Arterials

Major arterials provide service for major traffic movements within the county. They serve major centers of activity, intra-area travel between suburban centers, between larger communities, and between major trip generators. Major arterials serve the longest trips and carry the major portion of trips entering and leaving the overall area.

Secondary Arterials

Secondary arterials interconnect with and augment the major arterial system. They connect major arterials to collector arterials and small generators. They provide service to medium-size trip generators, and distribute travel to small geographic areas and communities than those identified with the major arterial system.

Collector Arterials

Collector arterials distribute trips from major and secondary arterials to the ultimate destination, or may collect traffic from local roads and channel it into the major and secondary arterial systems. They carry a low proportion of traffic traveling through the entire subarea; they carry a high proportion of local traffic with an origin or destination within that area.

Local Roads

The local road system provides circulation and access for residential neighborhoods away from the arterial system.

Primitive Roads

By State law, counties may designate a public road as primitive if it has a gravel or earth driving surface and an average daily traffic of 100 vehicles per day or less.

How are County Road Classifications Decided?

Proposed new roads and existing roads are reviewed with respect to the typical characteristics described above for various classifications.

If a road fulfills one of the categories, a recommendation is forwarded to the Pierce County Council in the form of a proposed ordinance, which if adopted, officially designates the classification of the road as an arterial or as primitive. The process includes public hearings and can take up to four months to complete.

When a road is designated as an arterial, it receives a center line paint stripe and all intersecting local road approaches are controlled by Stop signs. When a road is designated as primitive, it is posted with a primitive road sign that notifies drivers that no warning signs are present.