Existed: 1964 – present Counties: Whitman Constructed 1964 | Length 15.92 km | |
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State Route 270 (SR 270) is a 9.89-mile-long (15.92 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway, located entirely within Whitman County, connects the city of Pullman to U.S. Route 195 (US 195) at its west end and Idaho State Highway 8 near Moscow, Idaho on its east end.
Contents
Map of WA-270, Pullman, WA 99163, USA
Route description
SR 270's western terminus is at U.S. Route 195 west of Pullman. It travels east along NW Davis Way into Pullman. At Grand Avenue, it connects with its parent route, State Route 27. SR 270 turns south onto N. Grand Ave and briefly runs concurrent with SR 27. At E. Main St, a one-way couplet begins. Eastbound SR 270 proceeds south one block on S. Grand Ave and turns east on SE Paradise Street. Westbound SR 270 uses E. Main Street. About four blocks east of Grand Ave, the couplet ends at a Y-shaped intersection of Main St and SE Paradise St.
SR 270 continues east on E. Main St and crosses a bridge over Paradise Creek and railroad tracks and forms the south border of the Washington State University (WSU) campus. Three major cross streets provide access to significant parts of Pullman: NE Stadium Way accesses the WSU campus, SW Bishop Boulevard serves south Pullman residential and commercial areas including Pullman Regional Hospital, and Pullman Airport Road connects the highway to Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport and provides secondary access to the WSU campus.
After Pullman Airport Road, SR 270 leaves Pullman city limits and enters an agricultural area. About one-half mile east of Pullman city limits, WSDOT proposes to build an interchange at the east terminus of SR 276 (the future North Pullman Bypass). SR 276 is a proposed highway that would bypass the City of Pullman and connect to US 195 northwest of Pullman. The Bill Chipman Palouse Trail runs parallel to and south of SR 270 from the Paradise Creek bridge to Moscow. The trail is a paved pedestrian and bicycle route connecting Pullman and Moscow. A decommissioned railroad grade, the Chipman Trail was dedicated in April 1998. After 4.57 miles (7.35 km), SR 270 intersects the Pullman Airport Road, which completes its loop around the airport north of SR 270. This eastern junction of the highway and Pullman Airport Road serves Idaho residents using Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport. SR 270 ends 0.82 miles (1.32 km) later at the Idaho state line, the Moscow city limits.
History
The original highway, today's "Old Moscow-Pullman Road," was completed as a gravel road in 1929. Prior to the state highway renumbering in 1964, SR 270 was a spur of Primary State Highway 3. East of the city limits, the highway was targeted for widening for decades. It was expanded to four lanes within the last decade, with ground broken in June 2006. The original design of a 60-foot (18 m) center median, similar to a rural interstate highway, was revised due to right-of-way costs. The project was completed in October 2007 and added lanes from just east of SE Bishop Blvd to the Idaho state line. The improved SR 270 is now a four-lane arterial from its junction with SR 27 (Grand Avenue) to the Pullman city limits and a four-lane divided highway to the state line. The improved SR 270 also has a median separating opposing traffic; in places, the median becomes a two-way left turn lane to provide safe access to adjacent property. Safety was listed as a main concern for the improvements. A highly publicized triple-fatality collision in 2001 likely hastened the long-standing project's revival and completion.
Major intersections
The entire highway is in Whitman County.