State Route 20 (SR 20), also known as the North Cascades Highway, is a state highway that traverses the U.S. state of Washington. It is the state's longest highway, traveling 436 miles (702 km) across the northern areas of Washington, from U.S. Route 101 (US 101) at Discovery Bay on the Olympic Peninsula to US 2 near the Idaho state border in Newport. The highway travels across Whidbey Island, North Cascades National Park, the Okanagan Highland, the Kettle River Range, and the Selkirk Mountains. SR 20 connects several major northâ€"south state highways, including Interstate 5 (I-5) in Burlington, US 97 through the Okanoganâ€"Omak area, SR 21 in Republic, and US 395 from Kettle Falls to Colville.
SRÂ 20's path across the Cascades follows one of the oldest state roads in Washington, established in 1896 as a wagon route. The wagon road fell into disuse within a decade, and the state government postponed the construction of a new route across the North Cascades for several decades. The development of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project spurred boosters to lobby the state for a new route across Washington Pass, which was opened in 1972. SRÂ 20 originally ran from the Mount Vernon area to Okanogan. By 1973, SRÂ 20 was extended over existing state highways in northern Washington, replacing portions of SRÂ 113 and SRÂ 525 near Port Townsend; SRÂ 30 and SRÂ 294 from Tonasket to Tiger; and part of SRÂ 31 from Tiger to Newport.
Although US 12 has a larger eastâ€"west extent, SR 20 is the longest highway in Washington at 436.13 miles (701.88 km), only 5.3 miles (8.5 km) longer than US 12. The highway has been called "The Most Beautiful Mountain Highway in the State of Washington."
Route description
SRÂ 20 begins at a wye junction with USÂ 101 at the southwest end of Discovery Bay, just north of the terminus of SRÂ 104. The highway travels northerly through the Quimper Peninsula, along the east shore of Discovery Bay, passing Jefferson County International Airport. SRÂ 20 intersects SRÂ 19 west of Fort Townsend State Park before entering the city of Port Townsend. Within Port Townsend, the highway travels east through suburban areas as Sims Way and towards the historic downtown as Water Street.
SRÂ 20 then travels to the ferry terminal at the southern edge of historic downtown Port Townsend. The route then travels via the Port Townsend-Keystone route of the Washington State Ferries to Keystone on Whidbey Island.
Once on Whidbey Island SRÂ 20 travels eastward along former tidal flats between Admiralty Inlet and Crocket Lake to the Northern Terminus of SRÂ 525. The route turns north, supplanting SR 525, and travels through Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve to the town of Coupeville. While traveling near Coupeville, eastbound lanes are traveling westward, and vice versa, often causing confusion when directing tourists. The route continues west toward Fort Ebey, then travels along the western shore of Penn Cove, through the former town of San De Fuca, before turning northward to Oak Harbor. Once in Oak Harbor, SRÂ 20 follows the route of Pioneer Way to its intersection with Oak Harbor St., at which point SRÂ 20 turns onto Oak Harbor St. After less than one mile (1.6Â km), SRÂ 20 veers off of Oak Harbor St. onto its own right of way that it follows out of Oak Harbor. The route again travels in the wrong direction along the northern border with Whidbey Island NAS, in order to avoid the station's runways. The route then enters Deception Pass State Park and travels over Deception Pass and Canoe Pass over the Deception Pass Bridge (and Canoe Pass Bridge), to Fidalgo Island.
The route weaves through the rocky landscape of Fidalgo Island to Sharpes Corner, on the outskirts of Anacortes, where it meets the eastern terminus of SRÂ 20 Spur, a four-lane expressway. SRÂ 20 turns east onto the expressway, traveling through the Swinomish Reservation, over the former tidal flats of the Skagit Valley. It intersects SRÂ 536, which the route supplanted to this point. SRÂ 20 veers slightly northward along a new portion of the expressway, completed in 2009, which it follows to Burlington, where it intersects I-5. As SRÂ 20 follows the city's streets to avoid downtown, it gains its nickname of "The North Cascades Highway". SRÂ 20 follows a former railroad grade to Sedro-Woolley, where it is again routed around the downtown, and is overlaid with SRÂ 9. On the north side of Sedro-Woolley, SR 9 departs the route, and SRÂ 20 begins the slow climb through the Cascade Mountains to Washington Pass, via Concrete and the northern/eastern terminus of SRÂ 530.
SRÂ 20 travels through the towns of Winthrop and Twisp as it travels down the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains. Just south of Twisp, SRÂ 20 meets SRÂ 153, before turning eastward to Okanogan. Just south of Okanogan, SRÂ 20 is overlaid with USÂ 97. SRÂ 20 stays with US 97 to the city of Tonasket, where it continues its eastward journey.
Scenic byway designations
Portions of this route of SR 20 are designated as a Washington State Scenic Byway and a National Forest Scenic Byway. The scenic byway begins at Republic, and extends 40 miles (64 km) east across the mountainous Kettle River Range, Colville National Forest, and the Columbia River to Kettle Falls. The route reaches Sherman Pass (elev. 5,575 feet or 1,699 meters)â€"the highest mountain pass open all-year in Washington stateâ€"18 miles (29 km) east of Republic. The highway continues through Colville before reaching its final destination of Newport as US 2 approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) from the Washingtonâ€"Idaho state line.
Annual closure
SR 20 is one of only three State Routes in Washington that have portions closed in the winter (the others being SRÂ 410 and SRÂ 123). Washington Pass (elev. 5,477 feet or 1,669 meters) and nearby Rainy Pass (elev. 4,875 feet or 1,486 meters) annually receive up to 15 feet (4.6Â m) of snow throughout the winter, and are prone to avalanches leaving over 20 feet (6.1Â m) of snow on the road.
As of December 2014, the median first open date was April 21. The median final closure date was November 26. During the drought of the winter of 1976/77, the highway was not closed.
History
What is known today as the North Cascades Highway was originally the corridor used by local Native American tribes as a trading route from Washington's Eastern Plateau country to the Pacific Coast for more than 8,000Â years. After the California Gold Rush of 1849, white settlers started to arrive in the North Cascades looking for gold as well as fur-bearing animals. This far north, the settlers needed a clear route through some of the most rugged terrain in Washington Territory.
It wasn't until 1895, however, that funding to explore a possible route through the Cascade Range was appropriated.
After one year of surveying possible routes in the Upper Skagit River region, the State Road Commission concluded in 1896 that the Skagit gorge was not a practical route. Instead, the commission settled upon the Cascade Pass route, several miles south of the Skagit gorge. The Cascade Pass route began to be roughed out in 1897 and shortly afterward, state highway maps showed the road as either State Highway 1 or the Cascade Wagon Road. In the following years, floods on the Cascade River took out most of the work completed on the road and led Washington's first State Highway Commissioner to report in 1905 that almost all the money appropriated for the road had been wasted. After these unsuccessful attempts to build a northern cross-mountain highway, the state designated that a highway be built along the Methow River from Pateros to Hart's Pass, high above Eastern Washington's Methow Valley. This road was completed in 1909.
By 1936, both of Seattle City Light projects, Gorge Dam and Diablo Dam had been completed and were attracting visitors and families to the area. In 1940, the first stage of the completion of Ross Dam was reached. Because this influx of population and interest in the area once again demonstrated the need for a northern route over the high Cascades, highway promoters began to try and persuade other boosters to finally abandon the idea of the ill-fated Cascade Pass route and instead look to agreeing on a route across Rainy and Washington Pass. In 1953, the North Cascades Highway Association was formed with politicians, lobbyists, and business owners from both sides of the North Cascades taking part. As these boosters pushed Olympia harder to move forward on the highway plan, more and more requests for huge sales of old-growth timber from along the highway corridor came in. These increasing timber requests were used to support the need for a highway.
Finally, in 1958, the State of Washington appropriated funds to build a highway from the Seattle City Light company town of Diablo to Thunder Arm, a southern arm of Diablo Lake. Funds were also allotted to improve access roads on both sides of the North Cascades and construction on this section of the highway began in 1959. Over the next nine years, construction of the road would continue along with the signing of the North Cascades National Park bill by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. With this bill, the hope of using the highway as access for high-dollar timber sales was quashed. Nonetheless, businessmen and residents on both sides of the North Cascades were hopeful and supportive of the tourist dollars that would be seen with the opening of the "North-Cross Highway".
Moreoever, the Methow Valley town of Winthrop, Washington was in the process of transforming itself from a sleepy cow-town into a tourist town with a western-style theme, complete with false-front buildings and boardwalk sidewalks. Finally, in mid-1972, the more-than-a-century-old idea of connecting western Washington with eastern Washington by a northern highway route had come to fruition.
Amidst fanfare, music provided by the Concrete High School Band, and ribbon cutting, Highway 20 was officially connected from western to eastern Washington via Washington Pass on September 2, 1972. Then-governor Daniel J. Evans, a host of state dignitaries, and then-President Richard M. Nixon's brother Donald were in attendance for the opening and vehicle procession over the Cascade Mountains.
Associated routes
From 1964 until 1973, SR 20 was designated as SR 113 from Discovery Bay to Coupeville. The route had historically been the Port Townsend branch of Primary State Highway 9 (PSH 9 PT) and a branch of Secondary State Highway 1D (SSH 1D) in 1937, during the creation of the Primary and secondary highways. In 1964, these two highways became SR 113, as part of a new numbering system created by the Washington State Legislature and the Washington State Department of Transportation. When SR 20 was extended west from Fredonia in 1973, SR 113 was decommissioned. The Port Townsendâ€"Keystone ferry wasn't technically part of SR 20 until 1994 when all of the Washington State Ferries routes were added to the state highway system.
From Coupeville to Sharpes Corner (just outside Anacortes), the modern SR 20 was designated SR 525, and prior to 1964 as SSH 1D. When the North Cascades Highway was completed, and the SR 20 designation extended Westward, the SR 525 designation was supplanted to Coupeville.
From Mt. Vernon to the Anacortes Ferry Terminal, the modern SR 20 (and SR 20 Spur, west of Sharpes Corner) was designated SR 536, and prior to 1964 as the Anacortes Branch of PSH 1. When the North Cascades Highway was completed, and the SR 20 designation extended Westward, the SR 536 designation was supplanted, and the SR 20 Spur designation created to keep the route to the ferry terminal within the highway system.
From 1964 to 1973, the route from Colville to Tiger was designated as SR 294, and the route from Tiger to Newport as SR 31.
Major intersections
Spur and business routes
SR 20 Spur
State Route 20 Spur (SR 20 Spur, also State Route 20 North and the Paul Luvera Sr. Memorial Highway) is a 7.78-mile (12.52 km) spur route of State Route 20 in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels north from SR 20 to the Anacortes Ferry Terminal, entirely within the city of Anacortes in Skagit County, except the ferry portion, which travels within San Juan County. The roadway was established in 1937 as the western segment of the Anacortes branch of Primary State Highway 1, which became SR 536 in 1964 and renumbered to SR 20 Spur and SR 20 in 1973. In 1994, SR 20 was extended along the San Juan Islands ferry, which serves Lopez Island, Shaw Island, Orcas Island and San Juan Island.
State Route 20 Spur (SR 20 Spur) begins at an intersection with State Route 20 southeast of downtown Anacortes at the southern end of Fidalgo Bay in a dense forest. From the terminus, the roadway travels northwest and later west near the bay to become Commercial Avenue in downtown Anacortes at a turn when the road goes north. The street travels through downtown Anacortes before turning west to become 12th Street and later goes southwest along the waterfront as Oakes Avenue to an intersection with Sunset Avenue after passing Anacortes Airport. At Sunset Avenue, SR 20 Spur becomes Ferry Terminal Road and curves north to the Anacortes Ferry Terminal in Ship Harbor. The roadway after the intersection with SR 20 had a daily average of 23,000 motorists in 2007.
SRÂ 20Â Spur was established in 1937 as the Anacortes branch of Primary State Highway 1 (PSHÂ 1Â AN), which ran from the Anacortes ferry terminal to PSHÂ 1 in Mount Vernon, using the current highway along with State Highway 20 and SR 536. The route intersected Secondary State Highway 1D (SSHÂ 1D, now SRÂ 20) in Anacortes, SSH 1C (former SR 237) in Fredonia and a SSHÂ 1C branch (became PSH 16, now SRÂ 20). PSHÂ 1Â AN was later renumbered during the 1964 highway renumbering to SRÂ 536, SSHÂ 1D became SRÂ 525 and PSHÂ 16 became SRÂ 20. When SRÂ 20 was extended west to Discovery Bay from Fredonia in 1974, SRÂ 536 was shortened and SRÂ 20Â Spur was created. The roadway ended at the Anacortes ferry terminal until 1994, when the route was routed onto the San Juan Islands ferry operated by Washington State Ferries.
SR 20 Business
SR 20 Business was a bannered route through Okanagan and Omak that followed the former route of SR 20 and US 97, while SR 20 bypasses the cities along with US 97 along the East Bank of the Okanogan River. This route has been replaced with SR 215.
See also
- U.S. Roads portal
- Washington portal
References
External links
- Sherman Pass Scenic Byway from Washington State Department of Transportation
