By Daniel Nash
The Courier-Herald
When WinCo Foods opens a new branch in Sumner, residents will be able to enjoy road improvements along with the new grocery store.
The grocery chain is funding improvements on 166th Avenue East from the southern city limits to 64th Street East. The improvements will involve a significant reworking of the roadway.
Sumner issued the final permit for road construction in late August. Permits were also required from Pierce County and the Washington State Department of Transportation.
“To some extent (the other permits) depended on the city permit, so there was certainly some waiting that meant the project could not necessarily begin until all permits from all agencies were issued,” Sumner Communications Director Carmen Palmer said.
Construction on the 99,451-square-foot grocery store was initially expected to be completed by the end of the year but that date has been pushed back, according to Community Development Director Paul Rogerson. The store is now expected to open the second week of April and final road improvements are expected to be completed just prior to the store’s opening.
Most improvements will be completed mid-January but WSDOT prohibits the final paving until spring to prevent cracking from cold weather.
The current announced dates depend on the weather and could still change, Palmer said.
The requirement for a private developer to mitigate traffic impacts by adding lanes, signals and other improvements is standard procedure and comes primarily under the process of the state’s Environmental Policy Act.
“Frankly, it is not really an economic development strategy, but rather comes from the public’s long-standing interest in having developers compensate for the impact their project has on the community’s peace and repose,” Rogerson said. “In other words, the developer is paying for the improvements, not the city or state.”
The specific improvements to the section of 166th will include on- and off-ramp improvements to state Route 410, two new traffic lights, a widening of the roadway, additional lanes of travel, new curbs and sidewalks on both sides of the road, storm system improvements and an entire repaving of the roadway.
WinCo is an employee-owned discount grocery chain operating out of Boise, Idaho.
