U.S. Route 101 in Washington

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U.S. Route 101
Maintained by WSDOT
Length:	365.55 mi[1] (588.30 km)
South end:	US 101 in Astoria, OR
Major junctions:	SR 4 near Ilwaco SR 6 in Raymond US 12 in Aberdeen SR 20 in Discovery Bay SR 104 near Discovery Bay SR 3 in Shelton SR 8 near Olympia
North end:	I-5 in Tumwater
State highways in Washington < SR 100 SR 102 > Lists: current - Interstates - 1937-70 - 1964 renumbering

In the U.S. state of Washington, U.S. Route 101 is the westernmost state highway, serving the Olympic Peninsula. It runs from the Astoria-Megler Bridge north to the cities of Raymond, Aberdeen, Hoquiam, and Forks before turning east at the small community of Beaver to the most northern point of the highway at Port Angeles, then south to Tumwater.^[2]

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 U.S. Route 101 Alternate 2 History 3 Major intersections 4 References

[edit] Route description

US 101 in Washington begins at the Astoria-Megler Bridge on the Columbia River, carrying traffic to and from Astoria, Oregon. The first highway US 101 intersects is SR 401.

After going north for a few miles, US 101 turns west after intersecting with US 101 Alternate, which is a shortcut to itself. The route goes west to Ilwaco and north to Long Beach, where it intersects SR 100 and SR 103 before finally turning east back to US 101 Alt.

Soon, US 101 turns north towards Raymond and intersects the west end of SR 4, before going to Downtown Raymond. In Downtown, US 101 intersects the western end of SR 6 and southern end of SR 105, which it will intersect again in Cosmopolis.

After intersecting with SR 105 and SR 107, US 101 crosses the Chehalis River, which leads the highway to the western end of US 12 in Aberdeen. The roadway turns southwest and splits into two streets for each direction until it reaches Hoquiam, where it intersects the southern end of SR 109 and the eastern end of SR 109 Spur.

US 101 then turns north to the Quinault Indian Reservation and then into the isolated area bordered by Olympic National Park and the Quinault Indian Reservation. After turning east at Lake Quinault and entering the Quinault Indian Reservation again, US 101 goes north to the Olympic National Park on the Pacific coast.

The road then curves north Forks and north to Beaver, where it turns east after intersecting with SR 113 and touching the shore of Lake Pleasent. After a mile of going east, US 101 enters its second segment in the Olympic National Park, about one-mile east of the west shore of Lake Cresent and then exits at the eastern shore of the same lake.

After exiting park boundaries, US 101 intersects SR 112 and then turns into an expressway on the south side of Port Angeles, where it splits into SR 117 and the two-street US 101, which will soon rejoin US 101.

After a short 2-lane road, US 101 turns again into a expressway south of Sequim, bypassing the town and going to Sequim Bay and then going to Discovery Bay, where it intersects with the western SR 20 and turns south. After a short distance, US 101 intersects the western end of SR 104. The road then turns south to Dabob Bay, where it follows the shore until US 101 reaches the Hood Canal.

At the Hood Canal, US 101 follows the western shore to SR 106, where it turns directly south to the east end of SR 106 and Shelton, to meet the west end of SR 3. After some time going south, US 101 meets SR 108, the second-to-last major junction. After going southeast, US 101 finally joins SR 8 and turns into a freeway to its easternmost point of US 101 in Washington, the so called "north end" at I-5 in Tumwater.^[3][4]

[edit] U.S. Route 101 Alternate

U.S. Route 101 Alternate is a 0.61-mile^[1] (0.98 km) bypass of Ilwaco. US 101 Alt. opened in 1931 as a branch of PSH 12, the early designation of the southern section of US 101 through Washington. The highway was not fully recognized by the AASHTO until October 2006, even though many maps from the 1930s state that it is part of the U.S. Route system.^[5][6]

[edit] History

Before U.S. Route 101 was created, two roads existed in the place of US 101. They were State Road 9 and State Road 12. These were two roads that were part of the early Washington State Road system that was created in 1923. US 101 was created in 1926 and was co-signed with these two routes. US 101 took part of State Road 9's route and part of State Road 12's route.

In 1937, the Washington State Legislature established a new system, the Primary and secondary system.^[7] State Road 9 became Primary State Highway 9 or PSH 9. State Road 12 became PSH 12, and they both held the co-signed designation with US 101.^[8]

There was nothing changed about US 101's route from 1937 to 1956. In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway Act into law. This elimated part of the U.S. Route system and encouraged Washington's Legislature to once again change the highway system.

In January 1964, the Washington State Legislature and the Washington Department of Highways (renamed WSDOT) approved a new state route system with no branches or secondary route with names, but a full system that lives on today. PSH 9 and PSH 12 became part of U.S. Route 101 with no co-designation and parts of them became other new state routes.^[9]

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[1]	Destinations	Notes
Pacific		0.00	Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River
		0.46	SR 401 north – Raymond, Longview
		9.41	US 101 Alt. north – Raymond, Aberdeen
	Ilwaco	11.57	SR 100 loop – Cape Disappointment State Park
		13.38	SR 103 north – Long Beach, Ocean Park
		15.75	US 101 Alt. south – Astoria
		28.89	SR 4 east – Longview, Kelso, Astoria
	Raymond	48.48	SR 6 east – Chehalis
		59.40	SR 105 north – Tokeland, Westport
Grays Harbor		76.69	SR 107 north – Montesano
	Aberdeen	82.82	SR 105 south – Westport, Grayland
		83.27	State Street	Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		83.37	US 12 east – Olympia
	Hoquiam	87.26	SR 109 north – Ocean Shores, Taholah
		88.62	SR 109 Spur to SR 109 north – Ocean Shores, Ocean City
Clallam	Forks	192.54	SR 110 west
	Sappho	203.28	SR 113 north to SR 112 – Clallam Bay, Neah Bay
		241.89	SR 112 west – Sekiu, Neah Bay
	Port Angeles	245.53	US 101 Truck east (SR 117 north)	Interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		247.40	US 101 Truck west – BC Ferries
		248.09	Race Street – Olympic National Park Hurricane Ridge	Former SR 111
		262.29	River Road – Sequim City Center	Interchange
	Sequim	263.80	Sequim Avenue – Sequim City Center	Interchange
		265.34	Simdars Road	Interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Jefferson	Discovery Bay	281.60	SR 20 east – Port Townsend
		284.17	SR 104 east – Hood Canal Bridge, Bremerton	Interchange
Mason	Hoodsport	330.77	SR 119 north – Lake Cushman, Staircase Recreation Area
		336.03	SR 106 east – Union, Belfair
		342.47	SR 102 west – Washington State Patrol Academy, Washington Corrections Center
	Shelton	344.15	Wallace Kneeland Boulevard	Interchange
		345.83	Shelton City Center, Matlock	Interchange
		348.19	SR 3 north – Shelton, Bremerton	Interchange
		351.76	SR 108 west – McCleary, Aberdeen	Interchange
Thurston		357.83	Steamboat Island	Interchange
		359.22	North end of freeway
		359.66	SR 8 west – Montesano, Aberdeen	Southbound exit is via a U-turn at 2nd Avenue
		360.74	2nd Avenue Southwest
		362.10	Mud Bay Road – The Evergreen State College	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Olympia	363.57	Black Lake Boulevard – West Olympia
		364.57	Cooper Point Road, Automall Drive Southwest, Crosby Boulevard
	Tumwater	365.56	I-5 – Olympia, Seattle, Tumwater, Portland	Northbound exit and southbound entrance

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)

	v • d • e State highways in Washington related to US 101
SR 100 - SR 102 - SR 103 - SR 104 - SR 105 (Spur) - SR 106 - SR 107 - SR 108 - SR 109 - SR 110 - SR 112 - SR 113 - SR 115 - SR 116 - SR 117 - SR 119
Former or proposed State Routes: SR 111

U.S. Route 101
Previous state: Oregon	Washington	Next state: Terminus

v • d • e U.S. Routes in Washington 2  · 10  · 10A  · 12  · 95  · 97  · 97A  · 97S  · 99  · 99A  · 101  · 101A  · 195  · 195S  · 197  · 295  · 395  · 410  · 730  · 830 Deleted or moved highways shown in italics