U.S. Route 97 in Washington

U.S. Route 97 In Washington

In the U.S. state of Washington, U.S. Route 97 (US 97) is a 322-mile (518 km) route which traverses from the Oregon state line at the northern end of the Sam Hill Memorial Bridge in Maryhill, north to the Canadian border in Okanogan County near Oroville. The highway serves major cities such as Goldendale, Yakima, Ellensburg and Wenatchee before continuing towards the Alaska Highway at the Yukon border as British Columbia Highway 97. Along the length of the roadway, US 97 is concurrent with State Route 14 (SR 14) in Maryhill, Interstate 82 (I-82) and US 12 between Union Gap and Ellensburg, I-90 briefly in Ellensburg, US 2 between Peshastin and rural Douglas County and SR 20 near Omak. An alternate route connects the highway with Chelan.

The first segment of what is now US 97 in Washington to be included in the state highway system was a road extending from Wenatchee to Twisp, designated in 1897. Since, four early highways formed the modern route of the roadway: State Road 8, State Road 3, State Road 2 and State Road 10, all signed in 1923. The United States Numbered Highways were established in 1926 and US 97 was co-signed with all four state roads, including two concurrencies with US 410 and US 10. The state roads became Primary state highways in 1937, keeping their numbers from the previous system and US 10 was moved south in 1940 and its original alignment, including the concurrency, became US 2 in 1946. The Sam Hill Memorial Bridge, originally named the Biggs Rapids Bridge, was first opened on November 1, 1962, but the river has been crossed by a ferry at the same location since the early 1920s. During the 1964 highway renumbering, all four highways were replaced by US 97 and in 1956, the Interstate Highway System was established, including two highways (I-82 and I-90) concurrent with US 97. US 12 replaced US 410 during its extension west in 1967 and US 97 was moved across the Columbia River in Chelan County, establishing US 97 Alternate and decommissioning SR 151 in 1987. Until 2006, US 197 was co-signed with SR 14 between Dallesport and Maryhill. The bridge deck was replaced between 2007 and 2009 and the bridge was closed in 2008. Five other minor projects, such as repavings and sidewalk additions, have already been completed, but eight projects have yet to be completed.