History
Before the Primary and Secondary system, SR 8 in 1923 was part of a branch of State Road 9, from Elma to Grand Mound. Later, in 1937, the route from Elma to Grand Mound became part of Elma – Grand Mound branch of Primary State Highway 9 (PSH 9 EG). PSH 9 EG became SR 8 in 1964 during the 1964 highway renumbering, in which the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) replaced the previous system of Primary and Secondary Highways with a new system called State Routes, which is still in use today.
Later in 1967, US 12 was extended from Lewiston, Idaho westward to Aberdeen. It was approved on 20 June 1967, and it replaced the route of US 410, therefore making the highway obsolete. Since US 12 used the all-weather White Pass and SR 8 from Elma to Grand Mound, and US 410 used Chinook Pass, which was closed during the winter, US 12 bypassed US 410 and what is now SR 8. Signs were changed in late December 1967, and the bypassed segments of US 410 became a new SR 8.
On 9 June 2007, a tanker fire occurred on SR 8 when a tanker truck with 10,000 gallons of fuel collided with another vehicle and started a fire. The fire caused SR 8 to close for a couple of hours except for the westbound left lane, which crews used to get oil out of the soil underneath the highway. During the Winter 2007 storm, a slope that held up SR 8 was eroded by floodwaters. The slope, located on SR 8 west of the US 101 interchange, and is scheduled to begin this season and last 2 months. In 2010, WSDOT aims to rebuild the columns that support the SR 8/US 101 interchange and reduce the risk of failure in an earthquake, such as the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.
Read more about this topic: Washington State Route 8
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