SR 167 begins at an interchange with
I-5 in
Tacoma, adjacent to the
Emerald Queen Casino and near the
Puyallup Indian Tribe headquarters. The interchange is fed by ramps leading to and from the
Tacoma Dome area and
Downtown Tacoma, with auxiliary ramps to East 28th Street and East Bay Street that connect to Portland Avenue East. SR 167 travels southeast along the south bank of the
Puyallup River as a four-lane undivided highway, passing through farmland and industrial areas. It then enters the city of
Puyallup and traverses an
auto row at the north edge of downtown before turning north onto Meridian Avenue near the
commuter rail station. SR 167 crosses the Puyallup River on a pair of bridges and turns east onto a freeway, where it begins a short
concurrency with
SR 161, which continues north on Meridian Avenue towards
Federal Way. The four-lane freeway travels east over Milwaukee Avenue to a
trumpet interchange with
SR 512, where the concurrency with SR 161 ends. SR 167 gains a set of auxiliary lanes and enters a long curve to the north along the Puyallup River in
Sumner, where it meets the west end of
SR 410 near the city's
train station. The highway turns north and follows a section of the
Union Pacific Railroad through an industrial area along the
White River in northern Sumner. SR 167 continues under a bluff along the west side of the White River Valley and crosses into
King County as it passes through the suburban towns of
Pacific and
Algona. The
Interurban Trail begins to parallel the freeway in Pacific, but veers northeast in Algona to follow the Union Pacific Railroad. SR 167 then gains a set of
high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes with variable rates of $1 to $15 for non-carpool and motorcycle traffic. The southbound HOT lane ends in Pacific, while the northbound lane begins in
Auburn, forming a six-lane freeway. It then passes
The Outlet Collection shopping mall, served by interchanges with 15th Street Southwest and
SR 18, an east–west freeway with connections to
Federal Way and
Covington. SR 167 travels along Mill Creek and the Interurban Trail on the western side of downtown Auburn, passing the
Emerald Downs racetrack and
Auburn Municipal Airport, and traverses a rural part of the
Green River Valley as it enters
Kent. The freeway crosses over the Green River into downtown Kent and intersects
SR 516, which continues west to
Highline College and
Des Moines and east to Covington and
Maple Valley. The freeway continues through an industrial area on the outskirts of downtown Kent and crosses over the
BNSF Railway's
Seattle Subdivision before turning north to follow the east edge of the Green River Valley. SR 167 continues onto a six-lane section of Rainier Avenue, which passes northeast through a commercial area with car dealerships and
big-box retailers. The street bends northwest and crosses under a railroad viaduct before reaching
SR 900 at Sunset Boulevard, where SR 167 terminates. The highway is maintained by the
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), who conduct an annual survey of traffic volume that is expressed in terms of
annual average daily traffic (AADT), a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. Average daily traffic volumes on SR 167 in 2016 ranged from a minimum of 8,400 at its southern terminus in Tacoma to a maximum of 129,000 at South 277th Street in Kent. Approximately 8 percent of all traffic on the highway is freight, mainly serving industrial areas in the Green River Valley. ==History==