Interstate 5 in Washington

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interstate 5
Defined by RCW 47.17.020
Length: 276 mi (444.18 km)
Formed: August 7, 1947 by FHWA
South end: I-5 south – Portland
Major
junctions:		 I-205 near Vancouver
I-705 in Tacoma
I-405 in Tukwila
I-90 in Seattle
I-405 in Lynnwood
North end: BC 99 at Canadian border
State highways in Washington
< SR 4 SR 6 >
Lists: current - 1937-70 - 1964 renumbering

Interstate 5 is a major interstate highway going from California to Washington. It traverses the entire north-south length of Washington.

Contents

[edit] Route description

Interstate 5 through Lacey, with Mount Rainier in the background
Interstate 5 through Lacey, with Mount Rainier in the background

The highway begins in Washington over the Columbia River and drops down into the city of Vancouver. About seven miles (11 km) into the state, it reaches the northern terminus of I-205, which is on the eastern edge of the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area. It then tracks north by northwest to Kelso and Longview, Washington, at which point it ceases paralleling a large bend of the Columbia. Continuing north through the Willapa Hills, the freeway eventually reaches Olympia, where it bends sharply east, after that it goes through Fort Lewis and by McChord AFB, then finally Tacoma where it bends sharply north again to reach Seattle. The Ship Canal Bridge (which takes its name from the Lake Washington Ship Canal) carries it over Portage Bay in Seattle. The freeway makes its way out of the Seattle/Tacoma/Everett metro area, crosses the floodplains of three rivers, through the Skagit Valley and the Mount Vernon-Anacortes Metropolitan Area to the northern city of Bellingham to arrive at the Peace Arch Canadian border crossing between Blaine, Washington, and Surrey, British Columbia. Highway 99 continues northwesterly from the border into Vancouver, BC.

[edit] History

Before Dwight D. Eisenhower's Interstate Highway System established Interstate 5, it was known as "State Road 1" from the early 1900's then Primary State Highway 1 from 1937, coinciding in many places with U.S. Route 99. Its designation as Interstate 5 was a result of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956.

Legally, the Washington section of Interstate 5 is defined at Washington Revised Code § 47.17.020.[1]

[edit] Lewis and Cowlitz Counties

Flooding near Chehalis closed I-5 in December 2007
Flooding near Chehalis closed I-5 in December 2007

During the past two decades, parts of the interstate have been periodically inundated by floodwaters as a result of area storms. Floods in 1990, 1996 and 2007 each resulted in temporary closures of I-5 between the Kelso - Longview and Chehalis - Centralia areas. The causes of this problem, as noted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, are attributable to "decades of clear-cut logging, modifications of waterways, and destruction of natural flood control features within the Chehalis River basin." The latest flood occurred on December 3, 2007. This resulted in the closure of a 20-mile (32 km) section of the interstate, with a recommended all-Interstate detour of approximately 440 miles (710 km) between Portland and Seattle (which are 170 miles or 275 kilometers apart via I-5). This latest event lasted approximately four days. [2][3][4]

[edit] In Seattle

Interstate 5 cutting through the Seattle skyline
Interstate 5 cutting through the Seattle skyline

South of the Ship Canal Bridge Interstate 5 separates the Eastlake and Cascade neighborhoods from the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and separates Downtown Seattle from the Capitol Hill and First Hill neighborhoods. Its construction necessitated the demolition of significantly developed areas and cut off walking commutes to downtown for many First Hill residents, who "were by far the most vociferous critics of the proposed route,"[5] but far from the only ones. Architect Paul Thiry said in the early 1970s, "It was with the Freeway, cutting through the very heart of the city, that Seattle began taking one of its wrong turns and started to lose its identity as a city." He proposed a lid extending from Columbia Street north to Olive Way, roughly the entire length of downtown.[6]

Among the buildings torn down in the Downtown-First Hill area to build the freeway was the Hotel Kalmar at Sixth Avenue and James Street (built 1881 as the Western Hotel, demolished 1962), the last of Seattle's pioneer-era hotels, predating the Great Seattle Fire,[7][8] and Seattle's then-oldest public building, the Seventh Avenue Fire Hall (built 1890, demolished c. 1962).[5]

In the years since the freeway's construction, Seattle has made several efforts to stitch back together pedestrian routes disrupted by the freeway, achieving part of Thiry's proposed "lid". The most visible of these efforts are Freeway Park (opened 1976), built as a lid over the freeway and connecting Downtown to First Hill, and the Washington State Convention and Trade Center (built 1982-1988) adjacent to Freeway Park, also bridging the freeway.[5] The 7.5 acre I-5 Colonnade mountain bike park (opened 2007) uses the freeway as a roof and reconnects Eastlake to Capitol Hill.[9]

[edit] Exit list

County Location Mile[10] # Destinations Notes
Clark Vancouver 0.41 1A SR 14 east – Camas
0.45 1B 6th Street – Vancouver City Center Northbound exit and southbound entrance
1.05 1C SR 501 (Mill Plain Boulevard) – Vancouver City Center, Port of Vancouver
1.58 1D 4th Plain Boulevard
2.35 2 SR 500 east / 39th Street – Orchards
3.07 3 Northeast Highway 99, Main Street – Hazel Dell Former US 99
4.36 4 Northeast 78th Street
5.39 5 Northeast 99th Street
7.24 7 Northeast 134th Street Southbound exit is via I-205
7.48 7 I-205 south to SR 14 / I-84 – Salem Southbound exit and northbound entrance
9.51 9 SR 502 east / Northeast 179th Street – Battle Ground
Ridgefield 14.21 14 SR 501 west (Pioneer Street) – Ridgefield, Battle Ground
16.80 16 Northwest La Center Road – La Center
Cowlitz Woodland 21.08 21 SR 503 east – Woodland, Cougar
22.72 22 Dike Access Road
27.70 27 Todd Road – Port of Kalama
Kalama 29.84-
30.64		 30 Kalama
32.28 32 Kalama River Road
Kelso 36.97 36 SR 432 west to SR 4 / US 30 – Longview, Long Beach, Kelso
39.88 39 SR 4 west – Kelso
40.77 40 To SR 4 / North Kelso Avenue – Kelso, Longview, Long Beach Former SR 431
42.73 42 Ostrander Road, Pleasant Hill Road
46.20 46 Headquarters Road, Pleasant Hill Road
Castle Rock 48.04 48 I-5 Bus. north (Huntington Avenue) – Castle Rock
49.91 49 SR 411 south (I-5 Bus. south) / SR 504 east – Castle Rock, Toutle
52.72 52 Barnes Drive, Toutle Park Road
Lewis 57.41 57 Jackson Highway, Barnes Drive
59.27 59 SR 506 west – Vader, Ryderwood
60.98 60 Toledo Vader Road (SR 506 west) Former SR 505 south
63.49 63 SR 505 – Winlock, Toledo Former SR 603
68.48 68 US 12 east – Yakima, Morton South end of US 12 overlap
Napavine 71.12 71 SR 508 east – Onalaska, Napavine
72.85 72 Rush Road
Chehalis 76.62 76 13th Street
78.04 77 SR 6 west – Pe Ell, Raymond
79.15 79 Chamber Way
Centralia 81.74 81 SR 507 north (Mellen Street)
82.80 82 Harrison Avenue, Factory Outlet Way
Thurston 88.40 88 US 12 west – Aberdeen, Tenino North end of US 12 overlap; signed as exits 88A (Tenino) and 88B (US 12) northbound
95.28 95 SR 121 north – Littlerock, Maytown
99.35 99 SR 121 south (93rd Avenue) – Scott Lake
Tumwater 101.37 101 Tumwater Boulevard – Olympia Airport
102.86 102 Trosper Road – Black Lake
104.05 103 Deschutes Way, 2nd Avenue No southbound entrance
104.39 104 US 101 north – Aberdeen, Port Angeles
Olympia 105.52 105A State Capitol, Olympia City Center Signed as exit 105 southbound
105.82 105B Port of Olympia Signed as exit 105 southbound
107.52 107 Pacific Avenue
Lacey 108.46 108A Sleater-Kinney Road south No northbound entrance; signed as exit 108 southbound
108.46 108B Sleater-Kinney Road north No northbound entrance; southbound exit is via exit 109
108.96 108C College Street Northbound exit only
109.19 109 Martin Way
112.01 111 SR 510 east (Marvin Road) – Yelm
114.36 114 Nisqually, Old Nisqually
Pierce 116.77 116 Mounts Road – Old Nisqually
DuPont 118.02 118 Center Drive
119.07 119 Steilacoom-DuPont Road
120.93 120 Fort Lewis, North Fort Lewis
Lakewood 122.74 122 Berkeley Street
123.64 123 Thorne Lane Proposed SR 704
124.70 124 Gravelly Lake Drive
125.92 125 Bridgeport Way – McChord AFB
127.54 127 SR 512 east / South Tacoma Way – Puyallup
128.98 128 South 84th Street Southbound exit is via exit 129
Tacoma 129.65 129 South 72nd Street
130.75 130 South 56th Street, Tacoma Mall Boulevard
131.89 132 South 38th Street – Tacoma Mall
132.32 132 SR 16 – Gig Harbor, Bremerton
133.76 133 I-705 north / SR 7 south – Tacoma City Center
134.93 134 Portland Avenue Southbound exit is via exit 135
135.09 135 SR 167 north – Puyallup
Fife 136.15 136 20th Street East – Port of Tacoma Signed as exits 136A (20th Street) and 136B (Port of Tacoma) northbound
137.51 137 SR 99 north – Milton, Fife
King Federal Way 142.06 142 SR 18 (South 348th Street) – North Bend, Auburn Signed as exits 142A (east) and 142B (west)
143.89 143 South 320th Street – Federal Way
144.08 South 317th Street HOV only
Kent 146.87 147 South 272nd Street
149.23 149 SR 516 – Kent, Des Moines Signed as exits 149A (east) and 149B (west) northbound
SeaTac 151.24 151 Military Road, South 200th Street
152.32 152 South 188th Street, Orillia Road South
Tukwila 154.19 153 Southcenter Parkway – Southcenter Mall Northbound exit and southbound entrance
154.46 154 I-405 north / SR 518 west – Sea-Tac Airport, Renton, Burien Signed as exits 154A (I-405) and 154B (SR 518) southbound
154.71 154B Southcenter Boulevard – Southcenter Mall Southbound exit and northbound entrance
156.00 156 SR 599 north (West Marginal Way) / Interurban Avenue – Tukwila
157.40 157 SR 900 east (M. L. King Way)
158.07 158 Boeing Access Road, East Marginal Way, Airport Way Former SR 181
Seattle 161.27 161 Swift Avenue, Albro Place
161.37-
161.60		 162 Corson Avenue, Michigan Street
163.03 163A Columbian Way, West Seattle Bridge Signed as exit 163 northbound
163.54 163B Forest Street, 6th Avenue South Southbound exit only
164 Airport Way Southbound exit only
164.55 164A I-90 / 4th Avenue South – Bellevue, Spokane Signed as exit 164 southbound
164.55 164B 4th Avenue South (SR 519) Signed as exit 164 southbound
164.68 164 Dearborn Street Signed as exit 164A northbound; no southbound entrance
165.35 Express Lanes Northbound exit and southbound entrance
165.38 165A James Street Signed as exit 164A northbound
165.63 164A Madison Street – Convention Center Northbound exit only
165.75 165 Seneca Street Northbound exit and southbound entrance
165.81 165B Union Street Southbound exit and northbound entrance
166.26 166 Olive Way Northbound exit and entrance
166.42 166 Stewart Street, Denny Way Southbound exit and entrance
167 Mercer Street – Seattle Center
167.73 168A Lakeview Boulevard Northbound exit and southbound entrance
168.12 168B SR 520 – Bellevue, Kirkland
168.18 168A Boylston Avenue, Roanoke Street Southbound exit and northbound entrance
169.44 169 Northeast 45th Street
169.69 169 Northeast 50th Street
170.31 170 Ravenna Boulevard, Northeast 65th Street Northbound exit and southbound entrance
170.70 171 Northeast 71st Street, Northeast 65th Street Southbound exit and northbound entrance
170.87 171 SR 522 (Lake City Way) – Bothell Northbound exit and southbound entrance
171.56 172 North 85th Street, Aurora Avenue North (SR 99), Northeast 80th Street
172.58 Express Lanes Southbound exit and northbound entrance
172.82 173 1st Avenue Northeast, Northgate Way
173.89 174 Northeast 130th Street, Roosevelt Way Northbound exit and southbound entrance; former SR 513
174.64 175 SR 523 (Northeast 145th Street) / 5th Avenue Northeast
Shoreline
175.58 Metro Transit Base Transit Base traffic only
176.19 176 Northeast 175th Street – Shoreline
177.81 177 SR 104 (Northeast 205th Street) – Edmonds, Lake Forest Park
Snohomish Mountlake Terrace
178.33 178 236th Street Southwest – Mountlake Terrace Northbound exit and southbound entrance
179.35 179 220th Street Southwest – Mountlake Terrace
Lynnwood 180.69 46th Avenue West HOV only
180.77 181A To SR 524 / 44th Avenue West – Lynnwood Northbound exit and southbound entrance
181.59 181B SR 524 (196th Street Southwest) / Alderwood Mall Parkway – Lynnwood Signed as exit 181 southbound
182.67 182 I-405 south – Renton, Bellevue
182.67 182 SR 525 north to SR 99 – Mukilteo Northbound exit and southbound entrance
183.96 183 164th Street Southwest
184.21 Ash Way Northbound exit and southbound entrance (buses only)
186.49 186 SR 96 east (128th Street Southwest)
Everett 187.80 112th Street Southeast HOV only
189.37 189 SR 99 south (Everett Mall Way) / SR 526 west / SR 527 south / Broadway – Mukilteo, Whidbey Island Ferry
192.51 Broadway Northbound exit only (HOV only)
192.72 192 41st Street, Evergreen Way
193.69 193 SR 529 (Pacific Avenue) – Everett City Center Northbound exit and southbound entrance
193.98 194 US 2 east – Snohomish, Wenatchee
194.08 194 SR 529 (Everett Avenue) – Everett City Center Southbound exit and northbound entrance
194.87 195 Marine View Drive – Port of Everett Northbound exit and southbound entrance
198.33 198 SR 529 south (North Broadway) – Port of Everett Southbound exit and northbound entrance
199.17 199 SR 528 east – Marysville, Tulalip
200.84 200 88th Street Northeast, Quil Ceda Way
202.52 202 116th Street Northeast
Arlington 206.13 206 SR 531 – Smokey Point, North Lakewood
208.72 208 SR 530 – Silvana, Arlington, Darrington
210.36 210 236th Street Northeast
212.71 212 SR 532 west – Stanwood, Camano Island
215.09 215 300th Street Northwest
Skagit 218.61 218 Starbird Road
221.13 221 SR 534 east – Lake McMurray Former SR 530
224.00 224 Old Highway 99 South Northbound exit and southbound entrance; former US 99
225.19 225 Anderson Road
Mount Vernon 226.45 226 SR 536 west (Kincaid Street)
227.79 227 SR 538 east (College Way)
Burlington 228.93 229 George Hopper Road
230.20 230 SR 20 – Anacortes, Burlington
231.27 231 SR 11 north (Chuckanut Drive) – Bow, Edison, Burlington
232.89 232 Cook Road – Sedro-Woolley
236.45 236 Bow Hill Road – Bow, Edison
240.99 240 Alger
Whatcom 242.92 242 Nulle Road – South Lake Samish
246.30 246 North Lake Samish
Bellingham 250.79 250 SR 11 south (Old Fairhaven Parkway, Chuckanut Drive)
252.14 252 Samish Way – Western Washington University
253.03 253 Lakeway Drive
253.85 254 Iowa Street, Ohio Street, State Street
254.88 255 SR 542 east (Sunset Drive) – Mt. Baker
256.27 256 SR 539 north (Meridian Street) / Bellis Fair-Mall Parkway Signed as exits 256A (SR 539) and 256B (Bellis Fair-Mall Parkway) northbound
257.04 257 Northwest Avenue
257.72 258 Bakerview Road – Bellingham International Airport
260.19 260 Slater Road – Lummi Island
Ferndale 262.63 262 Main Street – Ferndale City Center
263.52 263 Portal Way
266.04 266 SR 548 north (Grandview Road) – Custer
270.30 270 Birch Bay, Lynden
Blaine 274.23 274 Peace Portal Drive – Semiahmoo Northbound exit and southbound entrance
275.21 275 SR 543 north / H Street – Truck Customs Northbound exit and southbound entrance
276.26 276 SR 548 south – Blaine City Center, Peace Arch State Park
276.62 Hwy 99 – Vancouver Continuation into Canada

[edit] List of Major Projects

  • Lakewood/Fort Lewis- SR 704 (The Cross Base Highway)
  • Tacoma- Freeway expansion and HOV Lane Construction
  • Everett- SR 526 to US 2 HOV Lane Construction
  • Blaine- Peace Arch Port of Entry expansion
  • Blaine- Pacific Highway interchange (SR 543) and Port of Entry

[edit] References

  1. ^ RCW 47.17.020: State route No. 5 — Washington green highway
  2. ^ US Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program, Congressional Submission, Fiscal Year 2002, Northwestern Division (page 32 of report / page 35 of PDF file)
  3. ^ WSDOT Reopens I-5 at Chehalis
  4. ^ WSDOT Closure Update 12/04/07
  5. ^ a b c Paula Becker (2003-04-30). First Hill neighborhood objects to the Seattle Freeway route at a public hearing on September 13, 1961. HistoryLink. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  6. ^ Jones, Nard (1972). Seattle. Doubleday, p. 21. ISBN 0-385-01875-4. 
  7. ^ Victor Steinbrueck, Seattle Cityscape, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1962, p. 43.
  8. ^ Paul Dorpat (1999-01-01). Now & Then -- Seattle's Kalmar Hotel. HistoryLink. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  9. ^ Greg Johnston. "Mountain-bike club reclaims a wasteland", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2007-03-29. Retrieved on 2007-11-07. 
  10. ^ Washington State Department of Transportation, State Highway Log, 2006


Interstate 5
Previous state:
Oregon		 Washington Next state:
Terminus
v • d • e
Auxiliary routes of Interstate 5
v • d • e
Blank US Interstate Highway shield Interstates in Washington

I-5    I-82    I-90    I-182    I-205    I-405    I-605    I-705
Proprosed highways shown in italics
v • d • e
State highways in Washington related to I-5
SR 500 - SR 501 - SR 502 - SR 503 (Spur) - SR 504 (Spur) - SR 505 - SR 506 - SR 507 - SR 508 - SR 509 - SR 510 - SR 512 - SR 513 - SR 515 - SR 516 - SR 518 - SR 519 - SR 520 - SR 522 - SR 523 - SR 524 (Spur: Edmonds, Lynnwood) - SR 525 (Spur) - SR 526 - SR 527 - SR 528 - SR 529 (Spur) - SR 530 - SR 531 - SR 532 - SR 534 - SR 536 - SR 538 - SR 539 - SR 542 - SR 543 - SR 544 - SR 546 - SR 547 - SR 548 - SR 599
Former or proposed state routes: SR 514 - SR 537 - SR 540