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The highway system of the U.S. state of Washington is a network of roads owned and maintained by several jurisdictions: the state of Washington through the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and its counties, cities, towns and communities. The most prominent of these roads are part of three different numbered highway systems, two of which are designated at the federal level, and one at the state level. There are other roads in Washington, including city and county maintained roads, and Forest Highways, none of which are maintained by WSDOT. Several ferry routes, such as the Vashon Island – Seattle passenger-only ferry route – Washington State Route 339, have been codified into state law as a state highway, despite not being located on land.
Interstate Highways and U.S. Routes are assigned at the national level by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration. Interstate Highways are numbered in a grid – even-numbered routes for east-west routes (but the lowest numbers are along Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico), and odd-numbered routes are north-south routes (with the lowest numbers along the Pacific Ocean). U.S. Routes are also numbered in a grid – even numbered for east-west routes (with the lowest numbers along Canada) and odd numbered for north-south routes (with the lowest numbers along the Atlantic Ocean). There are seven Interstate highways in Washington, and one oft-proposed, ranging from Interstate 5 to Interstate 705. There are eight current U.S. Routes in the state including U.S. Route 101 and U.S. Route 730.
State highways in Washington are assigned by WSDOT. The shield used for state routes is a simplified version of the head of George Washington. Washington state highways are numbered similarly to Interstate and U.S. Routes, where one and two-digit State Routes are considered primary routes, and three-digit routes are considered auxiliary routes, connecting back to one or two-digit routes. Interstate and U.S. Routes are assigned internal State Route numbers to allow this relationship to happen. For example, State Route 531 is considered an axillary route of Interstate 5. Some former U.S. Routes, such as U.S. Route 99 have been converted to state highways after they were decommissioned at the federal level, retaining the same number.
The above three systems make up over 7,000 miles (11,000 km) of the public road system in the state, however that figure is only about eight percent of all roads in Washington (or a total of about 87,500 miles (140,800 km) of roads).
Selected highway
State Route 339 (SR 339) is a 8.5-nautical-mile (9.8 mi; 15.7 km) long ferry route designated as a state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It connects Vashon Island's Vashon Heights ferry terminal to downtown Seattle's Pier 50, via a passenger-only ferry, the MV Skagit. The ferry is financed by the King County Ferry District (KCFD) and tolls collected at Pier 50. Despite being part of the KCFD, the ferry is operated by Washington State Ferries (WSF). SR 339 is one of only four ferry routes providing access to and from Vashon Island, and has the lowest annual average ridership of the four routes. The state of Washington took over the operation of the ferry route in 1951, and designated it SR 339 in 1994.
Did you know?
- ... that Washington State Route 220 was one of twelve highways removed from the Washington state highway system in 1991?
- ... that despite being less than 1 mile (1.6 km) long, Washington State Route 433 is considered a Highway of Statewide Significance by the Washington State Department of Transportation?
In the news
- February 16 - WSDOT begins selling Good to Go electronic toll transponders in advance of tolling on State Route 520.[1]
- References
- ^ Lindblom, Mike (February 16, 2011). "It's rush hour for 520 toll". The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014236152_520tolls16m.html. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
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Articles about Roads in Washington are maintained primarily by the Washington State Highways WikiProject, which is a child project of the U.S. Roads WikiProject, and the Washington WikiProject. Members of Seattle WikiProject assist with articles on streets in Seattle, and any Wikipedian is welcome to be bold and assist.
Currently members of the Washington State Highways project are working on eliminating the remaining numbered highway stubs in the state, bringing all articles regarding numbered roads to a minimum Wikipedia 1.0 assessment class of start.
Wikipedia Ads file info – #45 Road Construction Ahead
You can help by:
- Eliminate remaining stubs:
- There are 27 stubs remaining as of 16 November 2011. Lets help the 2011 USRD stub reduction drive by eliminating these remaining stubs.
- Remove references to Highways of Washington State, as it is not a reliable source.
- There are 14 pages that have been identified as using HoWS as a source as of 16 November 2011.
- Remember, these should be added as an external link, but not to be used as references.
- Images:
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