Interstate 90 in Washington - History

History

As part of the state's first connected state highway system, the Washington State Legislature designated the Sunset Highway between Seattle and Idaho in 1913. Later in 1915, the Legislature also designated the North Central Highway between Ellensburg and Davenport. The State Highway Board selected two routes that would partially connect the main cities of Western Washington to Eastern Washington and Idaho. In 1923, by which time the entire road had been improved and a new connection had filled in a small gap, the Sunset Highway became State Road 2 (Primary State Highway 2 after 1937), but retained its name. The North Central Highway became State Road 7 (Primary State Highway 7 after 1937), but retained its name. Another highway, named Primary State Highway 18 between George and Ritzville. By that time, most of the route of Interstate 90 became US 10, which was established in 1926. Until 1940, the route headed south from Seattle to Renton, then east to Issaquah, in order to travel around Lake Washington.

Interstate 90 crosses Lake Washington between Seattle and Bellevue on a pair of floating bridges that are two of the world's longest floating bridges. The westbound lanes travel on the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, the fifth longest floating bridge, and the eastbound lanes travel on the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, the second longest floating bridge. The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, originally called the Lake Washington Floating Bridge, opened on July 2, 1940. The bridge sank during construction on November 25, 1990. It was later rebuilt and the new bridge opened later in 1993. The second bridge, the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, opened on June 4, 1989.

Later in 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 which started the construction of Interstate Highways. By 1969, US 10 was removed from the system entirely. During the construction of the freeway between Seattle and Bellevue, lawsuits were filed on May 28, 1970 and stopped construction of Interstate 90 until the early 1990s. Legally, the Washington section of I-90 is defined at Washington Revised Code § 47.17.140. In 1980, I-90 from Seattle to Thorp was designated the Mountains to Sound Greenway to protect its outstanding scenic and cultural resources.

Before 2003, Interstate 90 used to end at a signalled intersection with 4th Avenue S. However, increasing traffic from Downtown Seattle, Colman Dock, Safeco Field, and Qwest Field forced city, county, and state officials to look for improvements to the area. The first stage of the improvements, the SR 519 South Seattle Intermodal Access Project, included the construction of a new on-ramp to Interstate 90 via a new interchange with 4th Avenue S. and Edgar Martínez Drive S. (formerly S. Atlantic Street). Other projects are currently ongoing and have been completed in the recent years on I-90.