Pierce Transportation Alternatives

Our collaboration with the Highway 162 Community Group brought the opportunity to participate in an event at McMillin Grange concerning our county's involvement with future developments in the Orting valley corridor. Extensive plans for the highway were met with both friction and resolve as groups joined to share updates on development and resilience. WSDOT has the reins on most of the highway's projects, but we spoke with others to reduce traffic congestion and explored alternatives with Sound Transit. There is a LONG way to go. But the ball is rolling! Friction invites the opportunity for exploring which paths have least resistance. When we hit walls, we find detours around them. But we cannot do it alone! Join us and give your suggestions to find solutions together!

Our first public soft launch was an appearance at the Orting City Council, sharing concerns of failed accommodations and implications of unmet goals. To refer to the recorded presentation, you can explore the video archives on the City of Orting's website under "government">>"city council">> "video archives">>"4/16/25" and timestamp at 1:04:25, or click the link. Here, we advocate for expanding Orting's access to Sound Transit to reach broader transit in Sumner, Puyallup and Bonney Lake. The average single-use worker commute out of Orting is 40 minutes and does not account for average distance, which may not even leave the valley at peak congestion. One in five Orting commuters have a commute of 60-90 minutes or more. Orting's steady growth meets an unprecedented projection for the school district's enrollment capacity, which will put more strain on commutes endangering pedestrians and students alike. Meanwhile, Orting is taxed by the Regional Transit Authority at $3 million/year, with no adjustments to growth. Join us in solidarity to curb our misuse of tax allocation and rally for Sound Transit service extensions.