Highways in Washington State

by Vanunu

In today's world of interstates and autobahns, a lot of people think that a freeway is the only kind of highway. If it's speed and safety you desire, a freeway will serve your purpose. An airplane, however, will serve it better. On a freeway, you get a vague sense of the scenery, but you feel detached from it. You experience none of the regional culture, your only stops being franchised restaurants and motels, with perhaps a few gimmicky tourist shops thrown in. Highway travel does not need to be like this.

Some of us plan our trips to take a little longer than necessary. We stay off the freeways, taking instead the two-lane highways. We stop for each historical marker. We tour each town and talk with its citizens. We either camp or stay in family-operated inns. In other words, we take a trip instead of visiting a destination.

The most famous highway from the time when freeways did not exist is US 66, but it has already been turned into a freeway. There is a large movement to protect what very few fragments are left that have not been made into freeways. It seems that many people do not realize that the same thing is happening to similar highways right now. In Washington State, which is by no means the worst culprit, very large portions of US 12, WA 18, WA 522, and US 395 are being turned into freeways. In addition, other historic highways are being widened significantly. Interchanges are being constructed. I, for one, while I'd rather neither happen, would much rather have new freeways be built parallel to old highways or have freeways be widened than have the old highways be widened. The latter is obviously much cheaper, but with enough money to construct a new freeway, Departments of Transportation have instead widened many more historic highways and constructed more interchanges. Something must be done nationwide to prevent this, not just for former US 66, for which it is already too late. If you feel as I do, let your voice be heard where it can make a difference.

Because it was quite popular when it first appeared, I have decided to repost my Australia Road Report. It will be up indefinitely. Some of the opinions that I had then I no longer have, but I have left the page as is.

Modern Highway Descriptions*

          Interstates
          Interstate 5
               Interstate 205
               Interstate 405
               Interstate 705
          Interstate 82
               Interstate 182
          Interstate 90

          US Routes
          US 2
          US 12
          US 97
               US 97 ALT
          US 101
          US 95
               US 195
               US 395
          {US 30}
               US 730

Washington State Highways
Washington State Highways are numbered with even-numbered highways running east-west and odd-numbered highways running north-south.

Primary highways have one or two digits and are numbered beginning in the southwest and increasing north and east. The odd-numbered primary highways are pretty straightforward. The further east one gets, the higher the highway's number. The even-numbered primary highways need a bit more explaining. Think of Washington divided into three columns. The even-numbered primary highways' numbers are smallest in the southwest. They increase as one goes northward in the westmost column. Now, move to the south of the middle column. Numbering continues northward from where it left off. Then go to the southern part of the eastern column and numbering increases northward from where it left off.

Secondary highways have three digits (except the 9x series). Each secondary highway has a parent which is either a primary state highway, a US highway or an Interstate. They are numbered ppx, where the two ps are the two digits of the parent highway. For a single digit highway, the second p is either a 0 or is treated as another x. I-5 is treated as SR 5, I-82 as SR 82, I-90 as SR 9 (this is why WA 9 gets the two digit 9x series), US 195 as SR 19, US 395 as SR 29 and SR 39, US 97 as SR 15 and SR 97, and US 101 as SR 1.

Of course there are exceptions to the rules. I discuss them on the pages of the highways that make the exceptions. I think that the easiest way to understand the system is to look at a map.

{US 101}	{US 2}	WA 3	WA 4	{Interstate 5}	WA 6
WA 100	WA 202	WA 300	WA 401	WA 500
WA 102	WA 203	WA 302	WA 409	WA 501	(5xx series continued from left)
WA 103	WA 204	WA 303	WA 411	WA 502	WA 525
WA 104	WA 206	WA 304		WA 503	WA 526
WA 105	WA 207	WA 305		WA 504	WA 527
WA 106		WA 307		WA 505	WA 528
WA 107		WA 308		WA 506	WA 529
WA 108		WA 310		WA 507	WA 530
WA 109		WA 339?		WA 508	WA 531
WA 110				WA 509	WA 532
WA 112				WA 510	WA 534
WA 113				WA 512	WA 536
WA 115				WA 513	WA 538
WA 116				WA 515	WA 539
WA 117				WA 516	WA 542
WA 119				WA 518	WA 543
				WA 519	WA 544
				WA 520	WA 546
				WA 522	WA 547
				WA 523	WA 548
				WA 524	WA 599
				(More 5xx series at right)



WA 7	WA 8	WA 9	WA 10	WA 11	{US 12}
WA 702		WA 92			WA 121
WA 706		WA 96			WA 122
					WA 123
					WA 124
					WA 125
					WA 127
					WA 128
					WA 129
					WA 131


WA 14	{US 97}	WA 16	WA 17	WA 18	WA 19
WA 141	WA 150	WA 160	WA 170	WA 181
WA 142	WA 153	WA 161	WA 171
	WA 155	WA 162	WA 172
	WA 970	WA 163	WA 173
	WA 971	WA 164	WA 174
		WA 165	WA 175
		WA 166
		WA 167
		WA 169



{US 195}	WA 20	WA 21	WA 22	WA 23	WA 24
WA 193	WA 211		WA 221	WA 231	WA 240
WA 194	WA 215		WA 223		WA 241
			WA 224		WA 243
			WA 225



WA 25	WA 26	WA 27	WA 28	{US 395}	WA 31
	WA 260	WA 270	WA 281	WA 290
	WA 261	WA 271	WA 282	WA 291
	WA 262	WA 272	WA 283	WA 292
		WA 274	WA 285	WA 397
		WA 278



{Interstate 90}		WA 99		WA 410
WA 900
WA 902
WA 903
WA 906
WA 908

Historic Highway Descriptions

          US Routes
          US 99

          State Routes
          WA 1

Most recently updated 28 February 2001

*My first step in this project was finding all of the highways on a map and listing them. At that time, I had not been on most of the highways nor did I have any documentation listing highway data. I still have not been on most of the highways, but I now have the 2000 WSDOT Bridge List which, in addition to listing bridges, gives highway mileage. Therefore, my next step is putting mileages on all of the highway pages. My long term goals for this project are as follows: I would like to have detailed, first-hand descriptions of every highway with photographs and helpful diagrams. I also would like to write former routings (since 1964) of highways with directions so that readers can follow the old routes. In addition to the post-1964 routings of the current highways, I would like to note the pre-1964 highways that the given highway replaced, if any. Then I would like to add a whole new section of highway descriptions with the pre-1964 highways. The focus of those descriptions would be directions for following the old roads. The information that is here now is from the 2000 WSDOT Bridge List, recent Official Washington State Highway Maps, and from information acquired simply by living in the state.