Several new roundabouts to be built before Yelm Loop opens

It took decades, but the Yelm Loop project, also known commonly as the Yelm Bypass, will finally go to bid for construction this November.

Yelm Public Works Director Cody Colt told the Nisqually Valley News that bids for construction of the project will open on Nov. 17. He estimated that construction of the Yelm Loop Phase II project will finally begin in February of next year.

“Everything is good to go, and we’re excited to see that. Construction will take place until the beginning of 2028. It will be finished in early 2028,” Colt told the Nisqually Valley News on Wednesday, July 2. “According to the current construction timeline we received, they’ll start with the Walmart area — the roundabouts over by Walmart — is the first initial area they’ll do. They’ll start over on Cullens after that, where it currently dead ends.”

At the current intersection of Cullens Road and State Route 510 sits a giant mound of dirt and a dead end where community members frequently park their cars to walk along the sidewalks of state Route 510. With the construction of the Yelm Loop, the opportunity to park at that specific intersection will be gone; however, Colt noted there will be opportunities to park and walk elsewhere.

“Because it’s a highway, you don’t walk people parking on the side. It will be a minimal access road, and there won’t be designated parking lots built around it,” he said. “The trail will connect in multiple places. Once the bypass is done, the trail will connect to Longmire Park, so you could theoretically park at Longmire, get on that trail and walk all the way along the bypass.”

Throughout the past year, an abundance of utility work near Walmart has occurred in preparation of the upcoming Yelm Loop project. At this time, Colt said all utility movements are completed; however, there will be some minor utility work occurring during the construction of the loop, such as adding road lines.

Aside from the Yelm Loop project, Yelm Public Works has been working to improve local infrastructure around the loop, including the Rhoton Road reconstruction project. Colt said a kickoff meeting was held on Wednesday, June 2, for the design of the reconstruction project.
He noted the road will be fully reconstructed, and the intersection of NP Road and Middle Road will also be redesigned and improved. This project will also go to construction in 2026. Colt and Yelm Public Works anticipate Rhoton Road being one of the most frequently used streets in the city once the Yelm Loop is completed.

“That project will be kicking off. Our goal is to have Rhoton Road built and connected to the loop as the loop is finished,” Colt said. “The same thing with the roundabouts. We want those done, or on the same timeline as the loop.”

The mentioned roundabouts include a two-lane roundabout at the intersection of Bald Hill Road and state Route 507, and a single-lane roundabout at the intersection of Bald Hill Road and Morris Road.

“Those will be completed shortly before the loop is completed. All of them will be completed around the same time. You’ll have a lot of issues with construction for the next year and a half, but then everything will be done all at once,” Colt said. “It will be awesome. Traffic will be a thing of the past when we’re all done.”

Colt acknowledges the fact that before traffic can get better, it will temporarily become a little worse with the introduction of various road improvement and construction projects set to occur throughout Yelm.

“There’s a lot of stuff happening in Yelm Public Works. In the transportation world, there will be a lot of projects happening over the next two years,” Colt said. “Just be prepared to be patient with us. After that, it’s going to be a whole different city, and people, I think, will really enjoy how traffic flows after these improvements are done.”