Tacoma's McKinley Way overpass reopens Friday



TACOMA -- The Washington State Department of Transportation plans to reopen a major overpass above Interstate 5 on Friday.

WSDOT says it will reopen the Mckinley Way after a two-year closure to make improvements.

A diagram posted on WSDOT's website shows what the overpass looked like before and what it looks like now.  The new overpass includes two 10-foot-wide sidewalks, two six-foot-wide bicycle paths, a median and a left-turn lane.

According to WSDOT, the old overpass did not have dedicated bicycle lanes and its sidewalks were more narrow.

Friday most of the overpass will open for use, according to WSDOT, however one sidewalk will remain closed for continued construction.

The Mckinley Way overpass has been closed since 2016.  WSDOT says contractor crews demolished and rebuilt it to make way for additional lanes on I-5.