History of state highways in Washington

In the U.S. state of Washington, over a period of about 100 years, there have been three different types of state highways. Over time, the Washington State Highway Board (renamed Washington State Highway Department in 1905 and later to WSDOT in 1964) has made numerous changes eventually having 7,000 miles (11,000 km) of state highway now.Washington State Department of Transportation, [http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/TDO/PDF_and_ZIP_Files/HwyLog2006.pdf State Highway Log] , 2006] [Washington State Department of Transportation, [http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/TDO/annualmileage.htm Annual Mileage and Travel Information] , 2006]

Cascade Wagon Road

The first "highway" in Washington was the Cascade Wagon Road, which opened in 1893 and followed a route close to that of current State Highway 20. Though the Wagon Road was not a real state highway, soon other named highways were being built and than Washington began to start making a system of highways.

First (unnamed) system

After passing several early laws designating state roads starting in 1893, the Washington State Legislature created the State Highway Board in 1905 and appropriated funds to construct - but not maintain - twelve numbered "state roads" in sparsely settled areas of the state. (Main highways in more populated areas would continue to be entirely under county control, though sometimes built with 50% state aid.) Six of these highways were east-west crossings of the Cascades; others included a portion of Chuckanut Drive and a road around the west side of the Olympic Peninsula.cite WAstat|year=1905|ch=7|p=18]

Under a 1909 law, the State Highway Board surveyed a connected network of proposed state roads, [cite WAstat|year=1909|ch=51|p=94] The legislature added most of these routes to the state highway system in 1913, when they formed a two-tiered system of primary and secondary roads. Primary roads were completely controlled by the state, including maintenance, and received only names, while secondary roads kept their numbers and county maintenance. Unlike the earlier state roads, these primary roads mostly followed existing passable county roads. [State Highway Board, [http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/maps_detail.aspx?m=33 Road Map of Washington Showing Main Traveled Roads] , 1912] cite WAstat|year=1913|ch=65|p=221] Washington Department of Transportation, [http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/AFDDA538-123B-43F8-A166-B30BAA34C492/0/40yearsReport.pdf Forty Years with the Washington Department of Highways] , pp. 1-2, 6, accessed March 2008]

tate Road System

A 1923 restructuring of the system re-assigned numbers to almost all the primary state highways, [cite WAstat|year=1923|ch=185|p=627] which were soon marked on signs. There were twelve state roads in all before the system was replaced in 1937.

Primary and secondary system

In 1937, the old primary/secondary split was abolished, and a new system of primary and secondary state highways was created, all to be maintained by the state in the same manner. The old state roads all kept their numbers as new primary state highways, and secondary state highways were created as alphanumeric branches of those primary highways (for instance SSH 8D was a branch of PSH 8). [cite WAstat|year=1937|ch=190|p=933] [cite WAstat|year=1937|ch=207|p=993] The final renumbering [Washington State Highway Commission, December 1, 1965, Identification of State Highways, [http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/6836215D-E301-43F3-895A-472BD2FDE86A/0/Identification.pdf part 1] and [http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/EC2F7D1E-2F51-4004-B5C3-5A2CE9FE3C7D/0/Indentification2.pdf part 2] (PDF)] was authorized by law in 1963 and posted in January 1964, when new "sign route" numbers were assigned that matched the inter-state systems and otherwise formed the present grid. Until 1970, these numbers coexisted with the older primary and secondary state highways, when the legislature adopted the sign route numbers as "state routes",Fact|date=March 2008 finally eliminating all vestiges of the 1905 numbering. [For example, SR 4 from 1905 kept its number as PSH 4 until 1970.]

U.S. Routes

In 1926, the U.S. Route system was created to link the country through paved highways. After the system was created, three routes were assigned to pass through Washington and also co-exist with existing Primary state highways. Two of the three routes were later decommissioned, but one still is in existent today. U.S. Route 99 was co-signed with Primary State Highway 1 and was decommissioned in 1968, after the completion of Interstate 5. U.S. Route 10 was co-signed with Primary State Highway 2 and other routes and was decommissioned in 1968, after the completion of Interstate 90. U.S. Route 101 was co-signed with Primary State Highway 9 and Primary State Highway 12 until 1970, when the system was abolished and US 101 took over the designation.

Current state route system

In January of 1964, the Washington State Legislature decided to change the system and also the department. The department was renamed to its current name (WSDOT) and the state adopted the parent and descendent route numbering system. The system used a parent Interstate, U.S. Route, or state route (such as Interstate 5, U.S. Route 101, or Washington State Route 4) running through a main route and smaller tributaries and feeder routes (such as Washington State Route 525 for Interstate 5, Washington State Route 105 for US 101, and Washington State Route 401 for SR 4) to connect the main route with other areas and routes.

Interstates

After the Interstate Highway Act was signed in 1956, two Interstates were assigned to run through Washington. They were joined by some descendent Interstates and another Interstate later on. Interstate 5 was commissioned to run from the Canadian border at Blaine to the Oregon border along the Interstate Bridge (over the Columbia River). Interstate 90 was commissioned to run from an interchange with Interstate 5 in Seattle to the Idaho border east of Spokane.

References

External links

* [http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ Washington State Department of Transportation]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/hwysofwastate/index.html Highways of Washington State]