Washington State Route 16

State Route 16
SR 16 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by WSDOT
Length	27.16 mi[1] (43.71 km)
Existed	1964[2]–present
Major junctions
East end	I-5 in Tacoma
Major intersections	SR 302 in Purdy SR 160 in Port Orchard
West end	SR 3 in Gorst
Location
Country	United States
State	Washington
Counties	Pierce, Kitsap
Highway system
State highways in Washington Interstate US State Scenic Pre-1964 1964 renumbering Former
← SR 14 → SR 17

State Route 16 (SR 16) is a 27.16-mile-long (43.71 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, connecting Pierce and Kitsap counties. The highway, signed as east–west, begins at an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) in Tacoma and travels through the city as a freeway towards the Tacoma Narrows. SR 16 crosses the narrows onto the Kitsap Peninsula on the partially tolled Tacoma Narrows Bridge and continues through Gig Harbor and Port Orchard before the freeway ends in Gorst. The designation ends at an intersection with SR 3 southwest of the beginning of its freeway through Bremerton and Poulsbo. SR 16 is designated as a Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET) corridor within the National Highway System as the main thoroughfare connecting Tacoma to Naval Base Kitsap and a part of the Highways of Statewide Significance program.

SR 16 was created during the 1964 state highway renumbering as the successor to Primary State Highway 14 (PSH 14). PSH 14, which had itself been the successor to State Road 14, traveled northeast from Shelton to Gorst and south to Gig Harbor. PSH 14 was extended over the Tacoma Narrows in 1939 on the unfinished Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which would later collapse months after opening in 1940, into Tacoma over Secondary State Highway 14C (SSH 14C). SR 16 has been expanded into a freeway in stages beginning with the original Nalley Valley Viaduct in Tacoma in 1971, and ending with the opening of an interchange near Port Orchard in 2009. Later improvements to the corridor include the installation of high-occupancy vehicle lanes that connect to I-5 and the rest of the freeway network in Pierce County, which were completed in 2019.