Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
With Yelm City Council voting 6-1 on Tuesday, Nov. 11, to authorize a purchase agreement between the city and Blue Fern Development for 640 acres of Yelm-owned property, the Nisqually Valley region may soon see some infrastructure upgrades.
Though Blue Fern Development purchased Yelm’s 640-acres to begin developing a master planned community, the agreement also includes consideration and a plan to connect State route 507 to Tahoma Boulevard — known as the Southern Loop.
Cody Colt, Yelm public services director, said this Southern Loop would extend from Tahoma Boulevard to SR 507, and that it would eventually connect to the incoming roundabout at Walmart Boulevard.
“You may remember when they first initially started planning the Yelm Loop, or Yelm Bypass, they had two options — one to go south, and one to go north,” Colt said. “The north option made more sense so that’s what they’ve been pursuing. The south option was never completely abandoned. The city took it on, and the idea was that the city at some point would build the southern loop.”
According to Colt, Blue Fern Development has presented the City of Yelm with a very aggressive timeline regarding the construction of the Southern Loop. He noted the private company would construct the loop from Tahoma Boulevard to SR 507, while the remainder of the road would be left to other developers or the City of Yelm to build.
“The Northern Loop (Yelm Loop/Yelm Bypass), as you know, the state has been building that and it’s been ongoing for 30 years,” Colt said. “With the Southern Loop, the developer builds it and they want to start construction in 2027. I think that’s an extremely aggressive timeline, but if it’s a private developer and they have money, they can do those things. They want to start construction of the loop in 2027.”
Colt believes the pathway to constructing the Southern Loop was set many years ago. He said the road itself was approved previously by the city council and has been in the city’s plans, but noted council approval would not be needed if a private developer were to construct the road.
“If a developer builds it, that doesn’t have to go to council. For example, Blue Fern bought the 640 acres and if they were building the road, that wouldn’t have to go to council because they’re building it. If we were building the road, it would have to go to council for approval,” Colt said. “Private developers can build structures and items way cheaper than the city can for many, many different reasons. There’s a lot of red tape the city has to go through, a lot of things we have to follow that raise the prices of construction. Whereas a private developer can use their own construction company and use their own things to build a road. It could save them anywhere between $20 and $40 million dollars on a road construction.”
Colt believes the additions of the Southern Loop and Yelm Loop projects, along with several roundabouts set for construction over the next several years, will completely transform traffic in Yelm as we know it.
“The City of Yelm would be surrounded by two loops that you could drive around in, which was always the idea,” Colt said. “Over the next three years, you’re going to see a lot of construction happening on the roadways. By the end of those, by 2030, you’re going to have way more road infrastructure that will get people through, around and into Yelm. It’s going to be a totally different Yelm in five years when it comes to traffic.”
Colt also reassured residents living in the region of the planned Southern Loop that they are in zero danger of losing their homes due to the project.
“If someone lives on this Southern Loop, we’re not going to demolish your house,” Colt said. “It could shift a little more north or south depending on when your property develops and if it develops.”
