Washington State Route 900 - History

History

• Before April 1, 1992, SR 900 continued west (compass north) along Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and Rainier Avenue to end at I-90 exit 3. The west end of SR 900 is now milepost 5.93 due to this truncation; the east end is milepost 21.64.
• Before the Lake Washington Floating Bridge was built across Lake Washington in 1940, SR 900 was one of the major roads east from Seattle, taking US 10 and Primary State Highway 2 around the south side of the lake. It had been established by the legislature as a State Highway in 1909, and PSH 2 was completed for through traffic in 1915 (the last section being east of SR 900, through Snoqualmie Pass). The opening of the bridge in 1940 moved US 10/PSH 2 to the direct route, and the old alignment became Alternate US 10 and PSH 2 RE (for Renton). In 1955, Alternate US 10 was dropped, and it became SR 900 in 1964.