Amazing Facts You Probably Don’t Know About WA Highways

Are We There Yet?  For many of us, travel is often a necessity, sometimes more fun than others. But the highways we zip along have histories.

   Some of the more unusual facts about WA State highways

Whether is a State Route (SR) or a US Federal Highway (Highway 395) or an Interstate (federal) Washington’s traveled roads go back.

  The Oldest recognized state highway?

It’s actually one that’s never been built.  In 1853 the first Cascade Pass crossing from eastern to western WA was at Naches Pass, an old wagon road used to connect. In 1943 the legislature first proposed building SR 168 through the area, as an alternative to SR 410 which is Chinook Pass, but it was never built–even though it’s still on the state’s books, construction was never started.

 The steepest highway in the state? It’s not in the Cascades

It’s actually SR 194, which connects the town of Almota along the Snake River, to Pullman, 21 miles away. It climbs from the river level to the high hills of the Palouse.

  What’s the longest highway in WA State?

SR 20, which is better known as the North Cascades Highway…it goes through the North Cascades Pass, its entire length is 436 miles long.

  The shortest highway in the state?

It’s in Okanogan County (which is where Omak, Tonasket, Twisp and Winthrop are located).  SR 213 doesn’t have any signs, but it is .56 (yes, point 56) miles long. It serves the tiny area of Maloit.   Can’t say we’ve ever been there…

The deadliest highway in WA?  For years, Highway 395 to Spokane from Tri-Cities, and SR 12 to Walla Walla were in the top five or ten. But massive four-lane improvements have greatly helped.  The deadliest highway in WA is Interstate 5,  2022 traffic data shows there were 45 fatalities along its 277 miles in WA.  It also runs through OR, and into CA.

   The shortest interstate highway in WA?  It’s Not I-182.

I-182 actually covers 15 miles between SR 12 and I-82.  The shortest interstate highway is I-705 in the Puget Sound area. This 1.5 mile highway connects I-5 with downtown Tacoma.

So, now you know a little more about the highways in our state, perhaps someday you will have driven on most, if not all, of them.