The Puyallup section was initially built as a two-lane expressway until further funding was allocated by the state government to complete it as a four-lane freeway in 1976.

[2] The six-lane freeway travels southeast along the north side of Joint Base Lewis–McChord and intersects Steele Street before it enters the suburban Parkland area.

[24][25] The state government approved plans for a network of limited-access freeways in July 1953, including SSH 5G as part of a system to serve Puyallup.

[29][30] Land along the next section of the freeway to Pacific Avenue (SR 7) was cleared of homes and other buildings by early 1959 and $859,000 in construction funds were approved by the state legislature that year.

[44][45] Construction of the freeway extension from Canyon Road to 94th Avenue in southern Puyallup began in August 1969 and was completed on April 25, 1972, following a nine-month delay due to poor weather conditions.

[43][47] Preliminary work on the two-lane expressway through Puyallup began in early 1971 under a $3.72 million contract that covered 2.5 miles (4.0 km) between SR 161 and Pioneer Avenue.

[48][49] Over 1.25 million square yards (1,050,000 m2) of earth was excavated to make way for the freeway through a cut in South Hill near the Washington State Fairgrounds.

[51][52] The state government approved $3 million in funds to replace the two-lane expressway in Puyallup with a four-lane freeway in late 1973 through the construction of new bridges and overpasses.

[53][54] The northbound bridge over the Puyallup River opened on August 8, 1975, following additional work to repair a structural deficiency in a pier and weather delays.

[58] The freeway's interchange with Pacific Avenue was rebuilt in 1983 to add a loop ramp to replace a left turn onto westbound SR 512.

[69] The mall's first major expansion was planned in the early 1990s and was to include an infill interchange and additional park and ride lot as part of traffic mitigation.

[77] The traffic signal was intended to be an interim solution until a flyover ramp connecting to eastbound SR 512 could be constructed with additional funding, which had not been granted.

Their long-term plans for HOV lanes on I-5 through Pierce County include an unfunded proposal to fully rebuild the SR 512 interchange and the Steele Street bridge.

[82] The SR 161/31st Avenue Southwest interchange near South Hill gained an additional traffic signal and turn lane in 2021 as part of improvements to roads around the mall.