Existed: 1926 – present Length 588.3 km | North end: I‑5 in Olympia Constructed 1926 | |
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Tourist
routes: Lewis and Clark Highway (from SR-401 to SR-103) South end: US 101 at Oregon state line Counties Pacific County, Washington | ||
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.
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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 Pleasant. After a mile of going east, US 101 enters its second segment in the Olympic National Park, about one-mile (1.6 km) east of the west shore of Lake Crescent and then exits at the eastern shore of the same lake.
After exiting park boundaries, US 101 intersects SR 112. Shortly later, it intersects SR 117 (the Tumwater Truck Route) in an odd interchange/intersection hybrid. It then enters Port Angeles and turns onto Lincoln Street. It then turns onto a one-way couplet of First and Front streets, which lasts until Golf Course Road. There, the roads merge into one four-lane road, divided only by a two-way left turn lane, and leaves Port Angeles.
Following the dangerous Morse Creek S-Curves is a Rest Area and viewpoint at the Deer Park Loop interchange. The road then becomes a divided expressway until it reaches Carlsborg and crosses the Dungeness River. It enters the town of Sequim and turns into a super-two expressway, bypassing the town. East of Sequim, the road turns back into a standard two-lane road and goes to Sequim Bay and then Discovery Bay, where it intersects SR 20 and turns south. After a short distance, US 101 intersects the western end of SR 104. The road then turns south to the town of Quilcene. Exiting Quilcene, the road heads southwest into Olympic National Forest and crosses a 227 m (744 ft 9 in) pass between Mount Walker and Buck Mountain, after which it proceeds sharply downhill southeast towards Dabob Bay, where it continues following the shore and reaches 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 near Tumwater.
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. 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.
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 eliminated 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.
Ilwaco alternate
U.S. Route 101 Alternate is a 0.61-mile (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.