Washington State Route 203 - History

History

SR 203 was originally four roads that linked each other and their communities, Fall City, Carnation, Duvall and Monroe, named Fall City–Carnation Road, Carnation–Duvall Road, Duvall–Monroe Road and Lewis Street, respectively; these names are still used to identify the route. Lewis Street became the first portion of the highway to be paved when the City of Monroe improved it in 1912. The roads paralleled the former Monroe–Tanner route of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. All four roadways were later combined to form Secondary State Highway 15B (SSH 15B) in 1937, during the creation of the Primary and secondary highway system. The Washington State Legislature renumbered and changed the system in 1964 and SSH 15B became SR 203.

Recently, smaller projects arranged by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) have helped improve traffic on SR 203. Completed in 2004, a roundabout was constructed at the NE 124th Street intersection, located south of Duvall. During 2002, the first 4 miles (6.44 km) stretch of the highway suffered from four fatal collisions and WSDOT responded by obtaining funding for a new project that would install rumble strips and guard rails along the 18.07 miles (29.08 km) of the road within King County. The project is scheduled to be advertised to contractors in October 2009. A similar project will take place on the 6.19-mile (9.96 km) stretch in Snohomish County, where 348 collisions occurred between 2002 and 2009, 120 causing injuries. At North High Rock Road, there will be a new left turn lane installed and the rest of the route will have guard rails, rumble strips, updated signage, pavement markings and new lighting. The project will be advertised to contractors in November 2009 and the construction is set to begin in spring 2010.