These arterial streets are the worst in Tacoma. We’re not saying that, the data is
Driving any length of time and motorists are likely to come across potholes, cracks and ruts — pavement imperfections that might lead to a rough ride.
In Tacoma and elsewhere, there’s a scoring system that puts a number on a street’s condition. The Pavement Condition Index, on a scale 0 to 100, is a management tool offering a visual rating of paving quality but unrelated to a street’s safety, according to Tacoma Public Works director Ramiro Chavez.
Streets with a PCI rating of 70 or higher are considered to be in “good” condition, 41 to 69 is “fair,” and anything less than 40 is “poor.” The city’s target is 70 for its 2,000-plus lane miles of streets. Chavez said that while most people might not notice a difference between good- and fair-condition roads, streets in poor shape are more easily spotted.
Under a 10-year streets initiative approved by voters in 2015, the city’s overall PCI rating has increased from 59 to 61 in large part due to significant improvements to residential streets. Those streets, which were the initiative’s focus, saw their collective PCI score climb from 61 to 68, while arterials declined in whole from 58 to 45, according to the city.
Using 2023 city data that provides PCI ratings for streets by block, The News Tribune identified the five-most deteriorated stretches of significant arterial streets in the city. “Significant” means that the street blocks were each classified as principal arterial roads and were larger than others by lane miles. The News Tribune’s criteria was streets with a PCI rating of 20 or less.
None were currently planned for improvement projects, according to city spokesperson Maria Lee.
Block: 6100 6th Avenue
PCI: 5
Lane miles: 1.76
Block: 4700 South 74th Street
PCI: 5
Lane miles: 1.04
Block: 1500 East Portland Avenue
PCI: 9
Lane miles: 1.71
Block: 5100 6th Avenue
PCI: 17
Lane miles: 1.1
Block: 1400 East 11th Street
PCI: 19
Lane miles: 0.97
Honorable mention
Blocks: 5100 South 74th Street (PCI: 10); 6800 East Portland Avenue (PCI: 12); and 100 Norpoint Way Northeast (PCI: 13).
Those street blocks were between 0.7 and 0.89 lane miles, the city’s data showed. The 6800 block of Portland Avenue is scheduled for an improvement project and construction is scheduled to start in October 2025, according to the city.
