What do we have here? An original I-90 trailblazer, complete with green sign back. We found a few of these in Spokane, and several modern copies with the old-style shield.

Someone made this gantry, with correct distances and accurate 1930s Washington style, for his own front yard.

Sunset in Idaho.

This may very well be the oldest sign in Washington. The 97 covers up an outline shield! It does not reflect very well after about 52 years of service.

I have no idea what is under the greenout.

The 97C shield is a patch – and no, I have no idea what is under that either.

The Crowsnest Trail gets gets its own distinct route marker. That’s a patch too – underneath it is an ordinary 3 shield.

And we’re back in the US. Here is the beginning of US-97, with the very first marker. The border patrol gave us the whole nine yards. Apparently, wanting to return to the US to catch a flight out of Seattle is, in some way, highly suspicious. Nobody drives the Alaska Highway! Ever! [Dan photo.]

This isn’t an old sign, but the style – with the pointed directionals with city names inside – is reminiscent of what Washington did from the 1920s to the 60s or so.

An older ALT 97 shield with the classic shield shape, and the period after ALT.

The highway 150 bridge over the Columbia River in Washington.

Heading north on highway 17. The sign is barely legible, but the photo is in perfect focus. See the full-sized photo for how much the road was shimmering from the heat.

Everyone’s favorite town name. At least, it was Dan’s.

Another old 90 trailblazer, which is in slightly better shape.

Bicycle shields of Spokane, showing all the major routes through there.

This sign, complete with somewhat goofy-looking mix of 1958 and 1961 specs on the I-90 shield, also dates back to the opening of the route.

How long ago was the Maple St. Bridge tolled? Long enough that Washington still hadn’t started using button copy (mid-1960s), and the toll was a whopping 10 cents.

Ominous (but ultimately harmless) clouds over US-2 as we head northeast out of Spokane into Idaho.

A deer, by the side of an old US-2 alignment.

Almost in Idaho on US-2.

More overhead virga, but no actual rain.

We sure arrived at the wrong time of day to take photos of this old gantry at the Idaho/Washington state line. Note the black outline on the route 2. The gantry is of Idaho origin, except the state line sign was provided by Washington. Also, note in the background the green and white outline shield on the State Ave. street blade. I only spotted that when reviewing the photos – and that is not something I’ve ever seen anywhere else! [Dan photo.]

The second US-2 reassurance gantry has both the Panhandle and Selkirk route markers, as well as the Idaho scenic brown shield.

Getting near the end of sunset.

Trees to the south.

A perfectly reflecting lake behind this little tree.

The view to the north.

Sandpoint features several of these old green signs all down the main drag.

Some signs reflect better than others.

Several route 200 shields are the wide variety, but they are uncommon. [Dan photo.]

An awful photo of two signs that have lost nearly all reflectivity.

Idaho experimented with some retroreflective-background button copy signs in the 1980s.

Look at that, we’re in Montana. We were on the trail of a rumored cutout US-2 marker. We found no such thing, unfortunately.

End of route 200. We were in Montana only briefly, and cut across from 2 to 200 on state highway 56. 200 runs for over 1358 miles with a single number, running into US-2 again just west of Duluth, MN. It was given the number in the 1969. Washington route 20 was almost numbered 200 as well, but it would have split off from US-2 after a multiplex long enough that it was given a separate number. [Dan photo.]

95 does not enter Washington – and even when it did, it was for only a mile or so – but there are trailblazers for it in several places in the state. [Dan photo.]

A very thin-stroke variant of Series B, that looks pretty close to Series A, on numbers 27 and 272.

This 1960s I-90 shield survives. It may be the last 21×18 shield in Washington. [Dan photo.]

These 1960s green signs can be found at a lot of interchanges with I-90 in the Snoqualmie Pass area.

And we’re back in Seattle. Most of these green signs with both 5 and 90 on them were replaced when the Mariners got their new stadium, but a few survive.

Washington’s always liked putting their interstate shields on white squares.

This shield is old enough to have a black scotchlite (black, but retroreflects white) arrow under it. It goes back to the 1960s.

A City of Seattle sign – note the upside down letter “S”. Oh, and yes, the speed limit is six. You don’t see that very often.

Excellent old button copy in Tacoma.

An attention-getting speed limit sign made up of LEDs. [Dan photo.]

I don’t think the street where this sign is found is actually state route 7 anymore.

Tacoma’s main drag.

Getting close to the airport because we’ve got a flight to catch.

And that’s the end. About a tenth of a mile before the rental car return. Over 6500 miles in 7 days of driving.

Some photos in this post brought to you by Daniel Brim. We have an equitable arrangement: he provides talent at taking photographs, I run us off the road only occasionally.

Somewhere over the Rockies. Between Denver and Seattle for sure.

And here’s the northern lights! Just north of Prince George, British Columbia, which is well south of where such a strong display tends to usually appear. About twelve hours after landing … mission accomplished. Now all we had to do was drive the Alaska Highway!

And one more northern lights photo, this time from Dan. Hmm, I wonder which one of us has a better camera!

Utah, maybe?

My guess is I-15 and US-91 somewhere in Utah or Idaho.

A pair of volcanoes.

Heading up the Rockies.

Further north in Idaho.

This definitely looks like the deserts of eastern Oregon.

Mount Baker on the horizon, about 100 miles north of Seattle – this is a very zoomed-in shot to the north.

Remember this number well – we will add quite a bit to it.

A very old white sign in Seattle.

And some even older green ones. These square-corner signs with the narrow mixed-case font go back to the 60s. [Dan photo.]

Here’s the last remaining US-99 shield in existence. Still surviving as an on-ramp sign to the Alaskan Way Viaduct. [Dan photo.]

Seattle skyline, as seen from the Alaskan Way Viaduct northbound. The southbound lanes are directly underneath. This freeway was built in 1952 and is slated for replacement with something a tad more earthquake-proof. [Dan photo.]

Look at that, we’re successfully in Canada, after minimal interference from the border patrol – most of the questioning based on the fact that we didn’t know the difference between Prince George and Prince Rupert. [Dan photo.]

British Columbia uses cutout route markers. A lot of them have this classic font.

Others, unfortunately, use Arial. [Dan photo.]

One of each kind on this set of overhead green signs. Don’t ask me why they’re mounted diagonally. [Dan photo.]

British Columbia uses black signs in one context: weather advisory variable-message signs. [Dan photo.]

This older sign shows the narrowest of the British Columbia fonts – which looks nothing like the wider ones. And no, I have no idea what is underneath the greenout. [Dan photo.]

Older sign: all caps. (As seen in the Surrey photo several back, even the brand new town limit signs are white.) [Dan photo.]

Clearview also shows up on the newest signs.

Scenery, and more Clearview. The 3 shield (much more visible in the large version of the photo) has a crow on it, as 3 is the Crowsnest Trail – a Rocky Mountain pass.

An older non-crow sign. (All older guide-sign shields are black and white.) [Dan got this one through the back window!]

We start to go up the pass on highway 5. [Dan photo.]

Getting near dark. [Dan photo.]

The same mountain, just a few minutes later when the sun is setting.

The top of the pass. [Dan photo.]

And here we see the wide style of British Columbia marker.

An infrequently seen non-cutout marker. The Yellowhead Highway splits into routes 16 and 5 on the British Columbia side of the Rockies – 16 proceeding to the coast at Prince Rupert, and 5 connecting with Trans-Canada 1 to head to Vancouver – and both branches are signed with distinctive markers. [Dan photo.]

Dan manages to capture this old guide sign. How old? Note the striping – that’s indicative of 1960s Silver Scotchlite reflective sheeting! Also, this photo is notable as it is one of our first 97 shots. We will be seeing a lot of 97 as we proceed northward.

“100 Mile House” is one hundred miles from Vancouver on 99, and then 97.

Here is the end of route 99, which at one point was the continuation of US highway 99 all the way up from Calexico, CA. For some reason, they chose 97 to be the route that continued all the way to Alaska, even though that route stops in Weed, CA at old US-99 – never mind that all the Mile Houses were numbered along the route that started as 99.

Just some classic old-font shields at the 24 junction.

The town of Williams Lake (to which the city center is referring) is just past 150 Mile House. [Dan photo.]

Testing for northern lights. This is Dan holding the camera relatively still and doing a 30 second exposure while I find a straight stretch of road. And indeed, there be the northern lights, past the various internal reflections from the dashboard.

And you’ve seen the rest of the photos from the night at the top of this post, so this is where we leave off. We reach Dawson Creek by dawn, and therefore start the Alaska Highway proper on the second day.

The Milky Way. Near Mount Rainier; well past the lights of the I-5 corridor.

The arc trail, by the way, is an airplane – note the break in the trail which occurred while I restarted the exposure.

And the find of the trip – this old-style Oregon 126 eagle highway marker. Marked 1/17/73 on the back; this style dates to 1948.

Mount Rainier at sunset.

The last remaining US-99 shield in Washington state. The Alaskan Way Viaduct was renumbered to state route 99 in 1969, but this shield remains at one of the on-ramps.

A waterfall by the side of state route 410 (former US-410).

Just before dawn, beside US-12.

A lake at sunrise.

Some old signs featuring the smallest number on an interstate shield ever.

This I-205 shield is in Washington, at the Oregon border. Alas, no state name. Those are all long gone.

Old Interstate 205 sign in Washington.

And in Oregon now, where they insist on giving the interstate shield to far too many things, like state route 99W. It was, at one point, US-99W, but it certainly was not ever an interstate.

Guide sign gantry in Eugene, Oregon with oddly fonted shields.

State-named shields in Oregon are very rare. Here are two out of three known.

Old green signs. Under Tigard, it clearly used to say Portland, but I have no idea what it said under the current Portland. Perhaps it said Seattle before I-205 was built.

End of US-26 at US-101.

Crossing into Washington, where they promptly mislabel US-101 as a state route. Oops!

Somewhere around Raymond, Washington, this old sign still remains.

Highway 101 curves around the Olympic Peninsula. Here it is signed north, but one may follow this route all the way to Los Angeles.

Here, 101 is signed east-west.

A village somewhere on the Olympic Peninsula.

US-101 with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

This should be state highway 112 here.

Nearing the northwest corner of the peninsula – and, by extension, the lower 48 states.

An older state highway 112 shield on a classic white wooden picket.

The patch on the 113 shield covers up a “131″.

This older Interstate 5 shield may not survive the construction equipment directly behind it.

Button copy is very scarce in Washington – here is some left on Interstate 5 northbound. Even older is the sign on the left: under the 167 patch is a state route 410 shield. The switch happened in 1973. Before 1964, the route was US-410.

The next sign is equally as old.

More great old button copy – on the ramp from 5 to 405.

The last known state-named I-405 shield. The entire gantry dates back to the 1960s.

An older airport trailblazer, featuring a very 1950s-looking jet airliner.

At present Division Street provides the main route to the growing northern suburbs. The surface highway carries six lanes overall through a busy commercial corridor. To alleviate the arterial, WSDOT is constructing a new freeway for U.S. 395 in conjunction with the FHWA between Interstate 90 and U.S. 395 near Wandermere Golf Course (north of the U.S. 2 and 395 split at Country Homes).

U.S. 2 & 395 follows the one-way couplet of Ruby Street (north) and Division Street (south) east of downtown Spokane, and Division Street wholly from Cleveland Avenue northward. Division Street consists of a six-lane arterial through the intersection of Central Avenue (pictured here). Washington 291 (Francis Avenue) intersects U.S. 2 & 395 at a busy intersection in two blocks. Photo taken 09/01/06.

Construction began on August 22, 2001 on initial grading and drainage projects associated with the northernmost freeway alignment at Farwell Road and U.S. 2. Work continues at the Farwell Road interchange and overall corridor between Francis Avenue and U.S. 395 (Wandermere) with a potential opening by 2009. Additional freeway north of the Spokane River may open as soon as 2011 depending upon funding. However the freeway south of the Spokane River to Interstate 90 may take as long as 20 years to complete at current levels of funding due to a $3.3 billion overall price tag.

A look at the North-South Freeway corridor between U.S. 2 and Hawthorne Avenue.

 

Origins for the North Spokane Corridor date as far back as a 1956 proposal for a $13 million North-South Freeway in Spokane. By 1958 the Interstate system arrived and construction efforts focused on Interstate 90, and instead an expansion of Division Street was pursued, an idea never realized and dropped by 1965. In 1970, the Department of Highways issued “Corridor Study for North Spokane and North Suburban Area Freeway”. This version of a North-South Freeway followed the Helena and Nevada Street corridor from Interstate 90 northward toward U.S. 2.

Construction commenced quickly on a directional interchange along Interstate 90 at Liberty Park with the intentions that it would tie into the Helena-Nevada freeway corridor. The interchange opened in 1971. Opposition formed to the Helena-Nevada corridor in 1972 and the idea was dropped in 1973 after unfavorable public and local legislator opinion. Funding evaporated with gas tax shortages spawned by the oil embargo.

In 1983 ramps from the Liberty Park interchange were extended northward, including a new bridge over the Spokane River, to Hamilton Street and Washington 290 (Trent Avenue). Studies followed from 1985 onward on North-South corridors associated with regional transportation plans. Hamilton Street’s corridor was dropped from the project in 1991, but work on the project EIS continued until its release in 1995. The Final EIS and Record of Decision followed in 1997 and by 2000 land purchasing began along the freeway corridor north of the Spokane River.

Hamilton Street transitions into a freeway spur between Washington 290 (Trent Avenue) and Interstate 90. The limited-access connector was built in anticipation of the older North-South Freeway corridors including the one along Helena and Nevada Streets. Today the “glorified on-ramp” exists to link Washington 290 with Exit 282 of Interstate 90. Photo taken 09/01/06.

Design work continued on the corridor south of the Spokane River through to 2003; work on the project around Farwell Road began in 2001 and was initially complete by June 2005. Construction also began in 2005 on the segment of freeway between Gerlach and Wandermere. The five-mile freeway between Wandermere and Francis Avenue, initially forecast to cost $189 million, now may cost $321 million.

Planned interchanges along the ten-mile freeway include those with U.S. 395 at Wandermere, U.S. 2 and Farwell Road, Parksmith Drive and Hawthorne Road, Francis Avenue and Freya Street, Wellesley Avenue, Washington 290 (Trent Avenue), and a high-speed directional at Interstate 90.

Sources:

1. WSDOT – Project – US 395 – North Spokane Corridor.
2. “North-South Freeway still on schedule.” The Spokesman-Review, March 22, 2007.

We resumed our journey along Idaho 13 north to U.S. 12 east for the eastward trek into Montana. U.S. 12 is considered a scenic route throughout its routing in Idaho, so signs are all coloured brown (shades of the old Florida days, I tell you!). The road lives up to its scenic designation, paralleling the Lochsa River from Lowell east to McConell Mountain and Lolo Pass. Surprisingly, the road moves fast and passing opportunities are available more than you would think.

Westbound reassurance shield for U.S. 12 posted at the settlement of Lowell. The Lochsa River flows into the Clearwater Middle Fork river at Lowell. U.S. 12 parallels the waterway west to Kooskia and Kamiah.

 

At the Montana state line, which occurs at Lolo Pass (elevation 5,235 feet) is the Lolo Pass Visitor Center and Lewis and Clark Interpretive exhibit. The facility doubles as a welcome center for both states, and we were able to obtain official state maps for both Idaho and Montana there. Once U.S. 12 enters Montana, the road straightens somewhere and a generous 70 mph speed limit ensues. Much to my surprise, we encountered several tractor trailers using the road as a through route.

U.S. 12 descends to its junction and merge with U.S. 93 at Lolo. The two highways join together along a four-lane highway northward to the city of Missoula, which is the home of the University of Montana. Missoula sees U.S. 12 and 97 split, with each highway having a Business Loop to boot. The city overall acts as a regional economic hub with your typical array of strip malls, fast food chains, car dealerships, etc. on the south side. Downtown lies adjacent to the Univ. of Montana campus, and the main streets reflect that spatial relationship with a wide array of businesses and residences. Missoula bustled on our visit to the city with college students and visitors alike.

U.S. 12 east parts ways with U.S. 93 north on the south side of Missoula. U.S. 93 follows a newer bypass route to the west, while original U.S. 93 carries the Business loop moniker with U.S. 12 into downtown. The U.S. 93 bypass is not access-controlled, so businesses and other structures line the route.

Business Loop Interstate 90 cuts a swath through downtown along Broadway Street. Although the route may be officially decommissioned, signs are still in place along the entire routing. Just north of the city the land rises in the form of mountains. A Union Pacific Railroad line and the Interstate 90 freeway segregate the city from the hillside.

Business Loop Interstate 90 and U.S. 12 Business merge at the intersection of Broadway Street and Higgens Avenue in downtown Missoula. Here we look east at a reassurance shield assembly on Broadway Street as it heads toward Interstate 90 Exit 105. The University of Montana campus lies just southeast of downtown..

Montana is as they say, Big Sky Country. Our trip justified that nickname with crystal clear deep blue skies on the drive west to Idaho. Interstate 90 was lightly traveled and was one of the smoother freeways we encountered in the Pacific Northwest. Speed limits are set at 75 mph, and we averaged 75-80 along with everyone else.

Along most of Interstate 90 in western Montana are parallel alignments of old U.S. 10. Interstate 90 replaced U.S. 10 completely from Billings west to the Seattle area, however many of the old sections remain in use as Interstate Business loops (even though those also are falling by the wayside).

We spotted this old U.S. 10 bridge spanning the Clark Fork river at St. Regis (Exit 33 of Interstate 90). The old alignment spurs east to Four Mile Road, which just loops back to old U.S. 10 near this bridge. Montana 135 provides the only route out of town outside of the freeway.

One of the last undivided sections of Interstate highway is no more as widening of Interstate 90 on its trek through Lookout Pass is complete. The drive is still dramatic however, with a fast descent to Mullan some six miles west of the state line. There lies one of a handful of remaining business loops for Interstate 90 in Idaho.

At 4,680 feet, Lookout Pass represents the Montana and Idaho state line along Interstate 90. The boundary also represents the edge of the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones. For Interstate 90 westbound motorists, a 6% grade carries drivers downward over the next five miles to Mullan.

At Wallace, one of, in my humble opinion, the more interesting facets of Interstate history lies. Dubbed “the last traffic light on Interstate 90″, the signal at the intersection of Business Loop I-90 (Bank Street) at 6th Street remains in place in a permanent flash cycle. The town was bypassed by a sleek modern viaduct just north of downtown in 1991. A ceremony was actually held to bury the last traffic light hindering Interstate 90′s free flow across the country. However signals still hang on span wires in the heart of town.

A sign attached to a small wagon in Wallace directs drivers on Business Loop I-90 westbound into the heart of town where the famous last I-90 stop light remains in place. The sleek peach coloured viaduct carries four lanes of Interstate 90 overhead.

All Idaho business loops for Interstate 90 west of Osburn were decommissioned in 2005 with the exception of the one at Post Falls. Signage, for the most part, was altered to reflect the loop removals. At Coeur d’Alene, the largest city of northern Idaho, Interstate 90 straddles the scenic Coeur d’Alene Lake ahead of the city center. If you think that sprawl cannot penetrate far northern Idaho, you are sadly mistaken, as Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls are undergoing tremendous growth, and the traffic along Interstate 90 definitely reflected that.

I am unclear if Coeur d’Alene generates enough job and industry to consider itself independent of the much larger Spokane to the west. The close proximity however may relegate the city to bedroom community status to the eastern Washington city. Bedroom community status most certainly applies to Post Falls however with regards to Spokane, but perhaps also its neighbor to the east. Nonetheless all three cities are substantial for the placement in the far northwest Rockies.

Sherman Avenue eastbound at 2nd Street in downtown Coeur d’Alene. Sherman Avenue and 15th Street represent the historical path of Business Loop Interstate 90 through town. However as of 2006, all signs were removed of the designation. The city otherwise is gaining condo high rises of all things. Two were already in place along Sherman Avenue to the west of downtown, and the tall crane in the background here is in place to construct a third high rise.

Interstate 90 maintains just four lanes through the Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls area, but the freeway widens to six lanes through metro Spokane. Spokane itself looks like an older city with older high rise buildings and a more established suburban expansion. The commuting axis appears to be based upon U.S. 2 & 395 (Division Street) rather than Interstate 90. If that is the case, it is definitely a departure from the norm (see Boise and Tucson as good cases in point).

U.S. 2 east & 395 north (Division Street) northbound on the approach to Bridgeport Avenue in Spokane. The tandem follow Interstate 90 east into Spokane through to Exit 281. Division Street carries the highways north from there six miles to their split at Newport Highway.

While in town, we picked up a friend of Chris’s in north Spokane, and that took us upon Division Street for a few miles. The four to six-lane arterial teems with traffic and well established businesses and other structures. For the growing traffic woes that occur along the north-south road, WSDOT is building a new freeway for U.S. 395 to the east. Upon completion, the North Spokane Corridor (NSC) freeway will join Interstate 90 with U.S. 395 north of its split with U.S. 2 near Mead. This will alleviate traffic on Division Street for commuters between downtown and Spokane Valley to the north.

Spokane’s other freeway? Well technically it acts like a glorified off-ramp, but a short section of freeway joins Exit 282 with Washington 290 (Trent Avenue) between Interstate 90 and eastern reaches of the downtown area. For those curious about the numbering, it is not a failed Interstate 290, but rather Washington 2-90 as it relates to U.S. 2(-90). Washington, like South Carolina, uses a state road numbering system that implies loops and spurs from parent routes. So instead of South Carolina 762, it is technically South Carolina 7-62. This is why there are so many highways in the Washington 500 series.

Traveling south on the freeway connector between Washington 290 (Trent Avenue) and Interstate 90. A half-diamond interchange along the short freeway serves Second Avenue. The other Spokane area freeway carries U.S. 2 to Spokane International Airport from Interstate 90.

Sunset on us earlier that I had hoped, claiming our daylight by the time U.S. 395 splits from Interstate 90 west at Ritzville. Twilight carried us west to the magnificent Columbia River valley at Vantage. There we stopped at a view point and gazed at the deep valley below where Interstate 90 spans the Columbia along a four-lane cantilever span.

With the stars and moon overhead, Interstate 90 descends in dramatic fashion into the Columbia River valley at the town of Vantage. The Columbia flows south from British Columbia to the Tri-Cities before turning west along the Oregon and Washington border to the Pacific.

The rest of the drive was done in darkness, but we did note that only the Moses Lake Business Loop for Interstate 90 remains signed along the Interstate 90 mainline. However we did receive reports since then that the one in Cle Elum is still kicking outside of the freeway. Otherwise the drive west over the Cascades was amazing in that the Labor Day rush of traffic eastbound resulted in a 3o miles of traffic congestion well outside of the Seattle metro area. Our drive was relatively easy fortunately.

After we parted ways with Chris and Curt, we traveled south to Olympia, covering the suburban Washington 167 and 512 freeways on the way. Both roads were underpowered with just four lanes overall and an occasional six-lane section with auxiliary lanes. Without daylight, we gathered that both were rather nondescript. Day 8 took us around downtown Olympia and then south to Portland International Airport.

Chris Kalina joined Andy and I for the two-day marathon drive from Seattle east to Montana and back. To get as far east during daylight hours, the day began before sunrise in Burien, Washington with myself loading up on coffee at 5:45 am (!). We arranged to meet Chris at a park and ride lot next to Interstate 405 at Bellevue by 6:30, but a gnarly traffic accident clogged the northbound lanes of I-405 at 6:15, causing us to get there 15 minutes late. Chris also showed up late, so all was ok, and we piled into our rental car and ventured east toward Snoqualmie Pass by 7 am.

The climb eastward into the Cascade Mountains was magnificent with layers of low clouds and fog shrouding the valleys and passes of Interstate 90.

Climbing toward the West Summit interchange (Exit 52) on Interstate 90 east. Snoqualmie Pass rises to 3,022 feet and is snow covered for most of the year. During this last day of August, the temperature was already down to 37 degrees!
 

One brief stop just west of the Pass revealed a small section of two-lane concrete original U.S. 10. Old U.S. 10 is partially signed as Washington 905, and a stretch of the original roadway passes under I-90 next to a babbling brook. Also of note at the Pass are Interstate 90 Washington shields on overhead signs at Exit 64.

As we lowered into the rainshadow of the Cascades, tall trees gave way to low scrub brush and vast farmland. Just east of Cle Elum at the town of Ellensburg is the Interstate 90 junction with Interstate 82 & U.S. 97. Interstate 90 continues east to the Columbia River Valley, but Interstate 82 & U.S. 97 immediately ascend dramatically to Vanderbilt Gap.

Interstate 82 would lead us southeast to rejoin Interstate 84 near Hermiston, Oregon, rejoining that freeway en route to Boise, Idaho. Along the southward drive to the Columbia River are the longest concrete arch bridges in the United States. Named the Fred G. Redmon Memorial Bridge, the 1971-completed spans travel 1,336 feet over the Selah Creek Canyon.

Peering east at the bridge from the adjacent westbound side rest area. An eastbound area lies north of the bridge.

Further south Interstate 82 & U.S. 97 join U.S. 12 through the Yakima area. U.S. 97 veers southwest from south Yakima, but U.S. 12 remains overlapped east to junction Interstate 182. U.S. 395 later joins Interstate 82 south from the Tri-Cities to Umatilla, Oregon. 

What is wrong with this picture? Upon entering the state of Oregon, Interstate 82 splits with U.S. 395 at Exit 1, junction U.S. 730. The pull-through overhead refers to Interstate 84, even though Interstate 82 does not reach that freeway for another 10 miles! Bad ODOT!

U.S. 730 is the highest numbered U.S. highway in existance. It was number two originally as the decommissioned U.S. 830 once held the crown. That route is now Washington 14, and it meets Interstate 82 at its final Washington interchange.

Back on Interstate 84, we continued east on the freeway all the way to Boise, Idaho. Along the way are the small cities of Pendleton, La Grande, Baker City, and Ontario, all of which appear to be original railroad towns in the desert or high country of eastern Oregon. Also noteworthy along the way is the freeway rise to Deadman Pass at Umatilla Indian Reservation. Carriageways of Interstate 84 partition there to make the climb/descent between the low desert and mountains. Near the pass itself is a vista point giving drivers a vast view of the western desert. 

A phenominal view of the Oregonian desert is found at the view point pull-off of Interstate 84 eastbound on the rise to Deadmans Pass. Looking west here, Interstate 84 climbs upward to the right and vast fields of farmland spread south from Pendleton to the left.

Tree lined hills overtake the landscape from Emigrant Springs State Park eastward. The landscape remains similar through to La Grande, when Interstate 84 enters a wide plateau. Beyond there the mountains are devoid of trees for the most part as another rain shadow sets in place. By Ontario Interstate 84 lowers again and travels through farmland to the Snake River, the Idaho State line. 

U.S. 30 is relegated to act as a business loop to the Interstate 84 mainline through the cities of eastern Oregon. Here U.S. 30 departs the freeway for a short stretch of independent routing through La Grande. Farmfields and dry hillsides encompass the landscape from La Grande southward along Interstate 84.

Speed limits increase from 65 to 75 mph once Interstate 84 enters the Gem State. The 75 mph speed limit provides for a fast drive to the sprawling metropolitan area of Boise. The capital city lies within an area known as the Treasure Valley. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the Rocky Mountain states.

A bank of shields display Interstate 84 and U.S. 20-26-30 along their brief overlap through Caldwell. Welcome to the capital city metro area!

The metro area extends west to include Caldwell, Nampa, and Meridian, and traffic congestion reflects that outward expansion. A business loop for Interstate 84 serves Caldwell and Nampa, and at Caldwell (Exit 26) U.S. 20 and 26 join Interstate 84 and its companion U.S. 30 for a four-way overlap through town. A new interchange was under construction to join Interstate 84 and U.S. 30 with relocated Idaho 55 at Exit 33. The old Idaho 55 follows Nampa Boulevard north from Business Loop I-84 to Exit 35. Upon completion, the new interchange will allow for Idaho 55 through traffic to bypass Nampa by joining the freeway more directly from the west. 

Idaho 55 joins 30 on Interstate 84 east from Nampa all the way to Exit 46 at Meridian. The state highway departs via a wide and congested arterial north to Idaho 44 at Eagle (we’ll visit that in a bit). Interstate 84 meanwhile abruptly widens from four to eight lanes at Exit 44 (Idaho 64). When we say abrupt, we mean it as westbound traffic was solid for two miles between Exits 46 and 45 reflecting the quick lane reduction at Idaho 69.

Approaching the Exit 38 interchange with Business Loop Interstate 84 (Garrity Boulevard) east of Caldwell. Much to our surprise, a good deal of button copy remained in use along Interstate 84 throughout the Boise metropolitan area.

The traffic crazyness continues as Interstate 84 splits with Interstate 184 at Exit 49, the so-called “Flying Y” interchange. Interstate 184 constitutes a freeway spur into downtown Boise from the west, ending a short distance from the state capital complex. The freeway carries six lanes and was busy in both the inbound and outbound directions between 4-5 pm. Recent reconstruction of the western terminus entailed building wider high speed ramps between the only two Boise area freeways. It seems to have worked for now… 

Traveling east toward downtown Boise along the busy Interstate 184. The Sawtooth Range makes up the eastern horizon for the metropolitan area. This reminded me a lot of Tortugas Mountain east of Las Cruces, New Mexico, which makes up the eastern horizon for that city.

In downtown, Interstate 184 merges with U.S. 20 & 26 at the Boise before ending in the central business district. U.S. 20 & 26 follow the busy one-way street couplets of Myrtle and Front Streets from the freeway east to Broadway Avenue. Broadway Avenue provides the main route to Boise’s Airport and points southeast.

A brief drive through downtown later, we head back west on Interstate 184 to Interstate 84 and all of its traffic congestion. For the orientation of the Treasure Valley, Interstate 84 provides the only freeway between the growing suburbs and city core. Other area roads seemed to fare worse, as many of the interchanges suggested. One such road to suffer from amazing amounts of traffic was Idaho 55. We traveled that north to reach Hells Canyon and did not expect its routing along Eagle Road to be so busy and overwhelmed with motorists.

Traffic trudged from Interstate 84 northward between traffic light cycles along Idaho 55. A “Game crossing” sign posted near the north end elludes to a likely different landscape at the time it was posted compared to the sprawly landscape today.

Turning onto the Idaho 44/55 overlap did not seem to help matters much either, as the sprawl continued to their split east of the Eagle business district. Idaho 55 continues north from there with five overall lanes to the Payette River Scenic Byway north of Beacon Light Road. A lengthy descent carries the state highway over the 4,242 foot Horseshoe Bend Hill north of the Boise County line. A 7% grade awaits northbound travelers over the course of five miles from the hill’s crest to into the village of Horseshoe Bend itself.

>Beginning the descent from the top of Horseshoe Bend Hill along Idaho 55 northbound. Four runaway truck ramps lie along the five-mile descent to Horsehoe Bend.>

A brief jaunt west took us to Gem County along Idaho 52. From there we continued north along Idaho 55 through the scenic Payette River Valley. Construction along the narrow roadway involved repairing a concrete arch bridge over the North Fork of the Payette River toward the village of Cascade. I highly recommend the drive to anyone who enjoys mountain scenery! 

The southbound beginning of Idaho 55 at its junction with U.S. 95 in New Meadows. Idaho uses brown shields for both U.S. and State Highways when a scenic designation is applied.

By the time we reached junction U.S. 95, the sun was about to set for the day. We turned northward to Grangeville, grabbing some dinner at a local diner in Riggins. North of there is a tied-arch bridge of all things nestled within the canyon walls.

Once at Grangeville, we learned that all of the motel rooms in town were booked, so we had to continue another 20 miles or so along Idaho 13 to Kosskia where we found a vacancy for the night. All in all a long day, but with the early start, we saw most of what we wanted during the daylight hours with the exception of U.S. 95 north of Idaho 55…

As mentioned previously, Interstate 5 through central Seattle features reversible express lanes and a couple of cut and cover tunnels. The freeway’s interchange with Interstate 90 is stacked, and Interstate 90 itself is double-decked.

Interstate 5 leaves the interchange with Interstate 90 and approaches downtown Seattle. The express lane split occurs ahead of the cut-and-cover tunnel sections.

North of downtown both Interstate 5 and Washington 99 span Lake Union on high level bridges. The reversible express lanes of Interstate 5 enter the bridge from a tunnel system to the south. It is also within this vicnity that the Mercer Street Merge is located, so traffic is generally heavy during most daylight hours. With Interstate 405 already clinched, we opted to just continue north along Interstate 5 to its northern terminus, and from there to the city of Everett, home of the west end of the western U.S. 2.

U.S. 2 travels initially as a freeway east from Interstate 5 and Walnut Street across the Snohomish to junction Washington 204 and then southeast toward junction Washington 9. The highway follows an expressway bypass Snohomish from near Washington 9 south. Construction in the area of the western terminal interchange resulted in a new flyover ramp to Broadway (Exit 192), and will result in the extension of the inner-most HOV-2 lanes northward through Everett.

The first of many U.S. 2 eastbound reassurance markers, posted on the Snohomish River bridge leading east from Interstate 5 and Everett. U.S. 2 ends in northern Michigan, and resumes at Rouses Point, New York.

Continuing northward, Interstate 5 carries six lanes of traffic to Mount Vernon (Exit 244 – Old Hwy 99 S), and four lanes from there to the International Border. A truss bridge exists along the southbound lanes over Stillaguamish River between Everett and Mt. Vernon, and along the overall lanes over the Skagit River north of Mt. Vernon.

Crossing the Skagit River on Interstate 5 northbound at Mt. Vernon. There are three truss bridges along Interstate 5 between Seattle and the Canadian border.

Once north of Burlington, the freeway loses traffic and changes character into more of a rural freeway. Further north at Lake Samish, Interstate 5 resembles the freeway in central Oregon, with sweeping carriageway splits in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains. The speed limit drops to 60 mph here, but the scenery swings upward in a big way!

Interstate 5 winds through the mountains near Lake Samish.

At Exit 252 Interstate 5 enters the city of Bellingham area. The highway changes its cosmetics again, switching to more of an urban freeway with narrow shoulders and a tight right-of-way. The 60 mph speed limit remains in place as well, with a barrage of on and off-ramps over a short period of time, and a narrow truss bridge over the Nooksack River.

Interstate 5 southbound at the Exit 256 off-ramp north of downtown Bellingham.

From Bellingham northward, Interstate 5 travels along a forested plain to the town of Blaine and the British Columbia line. Traffic pretty much consists of motorists bound to and from Vancouver, Washington, but with that stated, it was pretty light.

Interests to Vancouver are provided with two ports of entry at Blaine. The main port is that of Interstate 5, which transitions into British Columbia 99 (numbered from its previous connection with U.S. 99). Commercial vehicles however are relegated to the port of entry via Washington 543 (13th Street), about 8/10ths of a mile to the east. The segregation allows the Interstate 5 border crossing to function more smoothly.

Of interest at the north end of Interstate 5 is Peace Arch State Park, a greenspace area encompassing lands along the International Border, Semiahmoo Bay, and the Interstate 5 right-of-way. There visitors can park and walk across the border legally while taking in the beautiful landscaping, the Peace Arch itself, and at the time of our visit, art sculptures that were on exhibit. The park was built as a tribute to the long-lasting peace between the United States and Canada and as an acknowledgment of the long unfortified border between the two countries.

Looking up at the Peach Arch from British Columbian sol. You can literally walk into Canada between the travel lanes of Interstate 5.

On the way back south we took a short sidetrip along Washington 532 to Stanwood and Island County. How that area resembles the Lake Champlain Region!

South from there, we drove Interstate 5 south to the West Seattle Bridge and Washington 99 again through downtown, including another walk along the waterfront (Alaskan Way) for a bit too. To make it back for dinner, we headed back to Burien via Washington 99, Washington 599, and Interstate 5, noting that the “mainline” of Washington 99 at the split with Washington 509 is misleading and difficult to follow and also that Washington 99 follows an expressway from the partition to the split with Washington 599, and not a freeway as some maps suggest.

The view of the downtown Seattle skyline from Washington is virtually unobstructed and extremely impressive! Pictured also in this scene is the ramp stub for the unconstructed on-ramp from Interstate 90 west.

Looking northward at the Alaskan Way viaduct (Washington 99) from the parallel surface boulevard. You can get an idea why so many want this highway torn down, and why they hoped the 2001 earthquake would get the job done.

The day started off with some typical Seattle weather, even with it being late August. A rainy mist converted into light rain and then a solid sheet of rain as we ate breakfast at a local diner in Shoreline, Washington. Since Chris had to work this day, we decided for some local road stuff before dropping him off in downtown Seattle.

First up with Interstate 5 north to Interstate 405′s northern terminus. There are end and begin signs posted on the I-405 overpasses above I-5, and the freeway itself converts into the Washington 526 freeway spur north to Washington 99. Andy’s one cousin said to us “you should never take Interstate 405 under any circumstance”, or something to that effect, because of its traffic. Even with it being around 11:30 am, traffic definitely complied with that statement. As for Washingotn 526, which technically is Washington 5-26, as Washington uses an impliled route family numbering system neaning that 500 is 5-00, 501 is 5-01, etc, it provides a continuation of “the 405″ (thanks L.A.) northward to Washington 99 at Lynwood.

Interstate 405 southbound at directional-cloverleaf interchange with Washington 522 at Bothell. Washington 522 provides a freeway spur east to Woodinville. We headed south to get out of the rain, and mother nature actually complied for all points south of Interstate 90!

Next we continued south on Interstate 405 to the Washington 520 floating bridge west across Lake Washington to Interstate 5. With the afternoon now in progress, we needed to get Chris dropped off to work, so we opted for the floating bridge to I-5 to Washington 99 and downtown. The floating bridge is one of two across Lake Washington (I-90 being the other), and one of Seattle’s many congested freeways. Washington 520 carries four lanes with no shoulders, and similar to the three-mile bridge of U.S. 98 at Pensacola, it is unlawful to run out of gas along the span. However with that stated, WSDOT does that one more, but also “outlawing” breaking down on the bridge as well. Since there are no shoulders, either running out of gas or breaking down blocks one of the two travel lanes in either direction, so it’s rather detrimental to traffic. Crews will come and move/tow the offending vehicle, and officers will follow that up with a citation. Sure enough as we took Washington 520 west, there was a disable red pick-up truck in the left-lane of eastbound, causing a midday back-up all the way to Interstate 5 from near the east end of the span.

Washington 520, the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge according to Navteq, spans Lake Washington between Medina and the north Seattle area, home to the University of Washington. As mentioned above, a disable pick-up truck blocked the inner most lane of eastbound, causing a massive back-up all the way to Interstate 5. Also note the eddy created by the floating bridge to the right. Waves kicked up by the south wind at the time were negated by the wall created by Washington 520. Later on during our trip, a similar thing occurred with white caps on one side of Interstate 90 and calm waters on the other.

Washington 520 joins Interstate 5 just north of the Mercer Street off-ramp. It’s this setting with oncoming traffic from WA 520 to the left and outgoing traffic to north of downtown to Mercer Street and the right, that a crippling traffic situation emerges. Known locally as the “Mercer Street Merge”, the configuration causes congestion on a regular basis (and we encountered it just above every time we traveled through there!).

Interstate 5 southbound passes over Union Bay and approaches the Mercer Street Merge. Traffic accordingly slows to a craw…

Futher south, Interstate 5 splits into a local/express configuration as it travels along the eastern reaches of the central business district. Much of the freeway travels through cut and cover tunnels near the skyscrapers of the Emerald City. The median lined express lanes are reversible depending upon time of day, while the outer lanes facilitate travel to Interstate 90, the eastern suburbs, and stadium district.
Washington 99 meawhile travels along a surface boulevard/hybrid expressway southward to the Alaskan Way tunnel and viaduct. The state highway serves the zoo area and Space Needle before emerging along the wharf district of the Seattle waterfont. A double-decker freeway carries the former U.S. 99 southward to the West Seattle Bridge (freeway) and industrial area/port of Seattle. The state highway continues south first as a surface boulevard parallel to railroad lines, and then again as an expressway from Washington 509 to junction.

Southbound at the Denny Way off-ramp of Washington 99 (Aurora Avenue) south. It is at this point that Washington 99 converts from an expressway into a full freeway, descending into a pair of two-lane tunnels ahead. Denny Way serves the Belltown area of Seattle and the Space Needle.

The double-decked section of Washington 99 includes a pair of ramp stubs in both directions for an unconstructed interchange with Interstate 90! Here’s the southbound “off-ramp to Interstate 90 east” from Washington 99′s lower deck. Thanks to Chris for enlightening us with that info!.

After parting ways with Chris, we poked around downtown a bit, taking in the only original U.S. 99 sign around, the overhead at the Columbia Street on-ramp at the intersection with 1st Avenue. There are a handful of state-named shields for Interstate 5 and 90 also around downtown, so we documented a few of those as well.

And the remaining U.S. 99 overhead posted over the Columbia Street on-ramp to the southbound freeway viaduct. The shield itself is hand-painted and the only shield from the actual U.S. 99 signing known in existence. When I saw the sign the night before, I thought, where have I seen this before? Thanks Steve Alpert, it was your website!

Back in the car, we decided to clinch Interstate 405, and then head south toward the sun in Tacoma. Tacoma is the site of a major Interstate 5 widening for the addition of HOV lanes. It also is home to interstatew 705, the shortest three-digit Interstate in Washington. Interstate 705 provides a spur into downtown Tacoma and also to the waterfront and port areas north of the cbd. Also tieing into I-705 is Washington 509, an east-west freeway leading to the industrial areas north of Interstate 5, and ultimately as a surface road/freeway variation to Burien (Washington 509 merges with Washignton 99 in south Seattle).

Washington 509 follows a freeway east from the SPUI with Interstate 705 in Tacoma across a cable-stayed bridge. The freeway serves the port area ahead before ending at the signalized intersection with Alexander Avenue. There’s a wide grassy median here and a birm that leads one to think that the freeway may be extended…

Interstate 705 southbound transitions into the short freeway stub of Washington 7 south of Interstate 5. 34th Street in south Tacoma travels high above the freeway via a concrete arch bridge. Washington 7 transitions into a surface street at the interchange with 38th Street in one quarter mile. A freeway stub exists there, hinting at a planned yet unconstructed southward extension.

Before heading back to Burien for dinner and such, we decided to take Washington 16 north across the famous Tacoma Narrows Bridge. WSDOT is in the progress of constructing a new suspension bridge for southbound Washington 16, while overall widening and modernizing the freeway on both approaches. From how the traffic was at 3:30 pm, it definitely needs it!

Looking southeast from the park at the end of Lucille Parkway at the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge (foreground) and original (background). By Summer 2007, the new bridge will carry motorists with a temporay lane configuration. At that time a retrofit of the 1950-completed bridge begins for a Spring 2008 completion.
The original Tacoma Narrows Bridge (well replacement of the one that fell into the Narrows), will be retained for northbound. The southbound span will be a toll bridge, the only highway with a fee in the Seattle area. There’s a bridge view area at a narrows-side park that we took advantage of for views of the span from the west.

We trudged back northward via Interstate 5 through Tacoma, Fife, and Federal Way to Burien via Washington 518. Like Washington 522 to the north, Washington 518 also provides a state-highway freeway spuring from the end of Interstate 405. Washington 518 spurs west to SeaTac International Airport and junction Washington 509 at Burien.

Salmon was on the meal for dinner, as was good company and great conversation. That’s all for Day 4!!

Looking west at the Bridge of the Gods and the Columbia River from a pier at Stevenson, Washington.

We first crossed the Bridge of the Gods and visited Stevenson, soaking in the view along the river’s edge itself for awhile before heading back to Interstate 84 and resuming our eastward push to Interstate 82. Along the way we stopped and Bonneville Dam, home to a hydro-electric power plant and fish ladder. The facility is home to exhibits on both facilities, but only the fish ladder was open the day we were there. It being late August, Steelhead and Chinook were busy swiming upstream, and we saw several fighting against the current through the fish ladder windows. Very fascinating stuff…

The Bonneville Dam fish ladder.

Once back to Interstate 84, we beelined east to The Dalles, stopping briefly at the Columbia River Interpretive Center, and again in town for gas/lunch. Temperatures rose into the mid 90s as we progressed into the desert, which lead us to U.S. 197 and its fanstastic crossing of the Columbia River, U.S. 730′s western terminus, and the east end of Interstate 82.

Orange cantilever bridge carrying U.S. 197 across the Columbia River. U.S. 197 ends at Washington 14 four miles to the north of Interstate 84. AASHTO is voting on a request by WSDOT to truncate U.S. 197 officially from the junction of U.S. 97 & Washington 14 to the intersection across the river. The vote occurs on October 24, 2006 andwill just affirm what Washington State has already done to U.S. 197 in the field.

Our later trip would take us to Montana and Idaho via Interstate 82 and 84, but we needed to head back to Seattle to meet up with our frined Chris, so we opted for Interstate 82 west (north) into Washington. A brief stop took us to the final Oregon exit of I-82, that of the overlap between U.S. 395 and 730, that is quite possibly the highest numbered overlap of any U.S. highway.

The bridge that Interstate 82 takes across the Columbia River originally carried no number. In fact the southbound span features superstructure with it being the older bridge, while the northbound bridge is an unremarkable concrete structure. U.S. 395 joins Interstate 82 for the trek to Washington’s tri-cities, and is later replaced by U.S. 12 and 97 as Interstate 82′s companions.

Approaching the Columbia River Bridge along Interstate 82 westbound. Washington 14 ends its long journey at Exit 131, just north of the river. McNary Dam lies just east of the freeway crossing.

As for the Tri-cities themselves, the cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland make up the member cities. Interstate 182 provides access to the communities from Interstate 82 to the east, providing a conduit for suburban sprawl from Richland westward. The freeway itself is around 15 miles in length, and carries a good amount of traffic given its isolation from the rest of the Interstate system. The Columbia and Snake Rivers also pass through the area, and the bridges between Kennewick and Pasco were gems unknown to us as we approached on Interstate 182.

Interstate 182 itself ends just east of the interchange with U.S. 395 along U.S. 12, with U.S. 12 continuing east across the Snake River as an expressway to Burbank. As for other area roads, Washington 240 represents a freeway loop between Interstate 182 at Richland and the U.S. 395 expressway at Kennewick. A reconstruction project is underway involving the entire freeway. U.S. 395 follows a freeway north from the Washington 240 junction across the “Blue Bridge” to Interstate 182 & U.S. 12. Washington 397 meanwhiles spans the Columbia along a 1978-constructed cable-stayed bridge. Who knew right?

Washington 397 cross the Columbia along the Cable Bridge (Ed Hendler Bridge) between Kennewick and Pasco. The bridge opened on September 16, 1978 at a cost of $23 million.

The U.S. 395 freeway travels north from its interchange with Washington 240 and Columbia Drive along the “Blue Bridge” to a trumpet interchange with Interstate 182 & U.S. 12 at Pasco. U.S. 395 joins Interstate 182 & U.S. 12 briefly to make the dog leg east on its trek toward Spokane. The Blue Bridge derives its name from its colour, and opened July 30, 1954 at a cost of $6.5 million. It originally carried U.S. 410.

After spending a couple of hours in the tri-city area, including a walk along the Columbia River pedestrian/bikeway, we headed back west to Interstate 82 and Yakima. Once in Yakima, we searched in vein for Business Loop I-82, driving the entire length of the former highway through downtown. Parts of Yakima looked like El Centro, with its architecture and streetscape. We also poked around the U.S. 12 freeway spur west from Interstate 82, and found three old bridges with superstructure west of town (two on current U.S. 12, and a steel arch bridge along parallel old U.S. 12) over the Naches River.

A pair of truss bridges carry U.S. 12 across the Naches River west of Yakima. U.S. 12 upgrades to a freeway from here east to its merge with Interstate 82. West Powerhouse Road (old U.S. 12) spans the same river nearby with a simarly coloured bridge.

Continuing north, Interstate 82 travels along its own set of cantilevered truss bridges over the Naches River, before leaving Yakima for open desert. A dramatic ascent, including the longest concrete arch bridge in the United States, awaits Intestate 82 westbound drivers as they ascend to Vanderbilt Gap. The last ten or so miles can be driven with the car in neutral, as the freeway descends dramatically to its west (north) end at Interstate 90 near Ellensburg.

Interstate 90 provides the main route from Seattle to the Cascade Range to the east. The freeway itself also provides the main commerce link from the ports to Midwest and points southeast. Along the route into Seattle is often trecherous Snoqualmie Pass. The Cascade Mountain Pass is often snow covered during the colder months, and a source of travel congestion and other delays during heavy snow events. With that stated, the scenery is spectacular, drawing comparsons to Interstate 80 from Verde, Nevada to Donner Pass. The slow ascent, truck traffic, and advent of snowstorms allow for Interstate 80 to expand to as much as eight lanes in the high country east of Seattle! That’s an important fact, as downtown Seattle lies just 50 or so miles west of the pass.

Interstate 90 westbound at the Exit 53 off-ramp to Washington 906 (Gold Creek Road) at Snoqualmie Pass. Washington 906 parallels Interstate 90 for a short distance at Snoqualmie over the original U.S. 10 alignment. Snoqualmie Pass averages 108 inches of snow in January alone!

Once Interstate 90 descends to Issaquah (Exit 18), suburban Seattle begins and encompasses the landscape through to Interstate 405 and Lake Washington. The freeway becomes more urban as it continues west across Mercer Island, the Lake Washington floating bridges, and then the International District of central Seattle. A system of tunnels lie on both Mercer Island and then at the west end of the floating bridges. A double-decked freeway carries Interstate 90 west from the Int’l District tunnel through its interchange with Interstate 5 toward the western terminus. The freeway draws to a close adjacent to Safeco and Qwest Fields at Edgar Martinez Drive and 4th Avenue South.

The sunset as we entered Seattle, but with four hours to kill before Chris got off work, we spent that time walking around downtown Seattle and along the waterfront.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct (Washington 99/former U.S. 99) travels parallel to the Alaskan Way surface boulevard along the downtown Seattle waterfront along Elliott Bay. The mayor and other government officials are studying ways to replace the viaduct, which has long since been referred to as both a barrier and eye sore for downtown Seattle. The options considered includ building a new higher viaduct, building a cut and cover tunnel, or replacing the freeway with a Washington 99 surface boulevard. The prohibitively high costs of options one and two are leading officials to consider the no-build option.

Downtown Seattle and Alaskan Way as seen from a pedestrial overcrossing looking south. The Alaskan Way viaduct descends into a tunnel by this point north along the water front.

My flight took me to Albuquerque, New Mexico as the stopover point, my first time there, and from there northwest to Portland International Airport. Coming in over the virtual desert of southeastern Oregon, the air thickened with smoke due to area wild fires and stagnent air from very hot weather. The peaks of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams peaked above the purple haze below, and the Columbia River did not reveal itself until we sunk below the pollution deck.

After picking up checked bags, and taking the shuttle to the off-site car rental office, we headed north on Interstate 205, quickly crossing into Washington (my 42nd state at the time) en route to Matt’s house. The numbered street grid of Vancouvers transitions abruptly with the street grid of Battle Ground’s, so it took a while for us to meet up with Matt. Once we did, he showed us Mt. St. Helens from his backyard, and we had pizza at an eatery in town. Matt creates highway guides for Oregon and Washington on westcoastroads.com for those who might not know, and the three of us discussed roads, mountains, weather, etc. etc.

Although it was around 10:30 when we parted ways, Andy and I needed to get down to the Belt Line Road interchange of Interstate 5 in Eugene to clinch the freeway in Oregon. Rather than backtracking that far in the morning, we opted for it in the dark of night. Little did we know that the University of Oregon would be starting class the following week, so every motel and hotel in town was booked. Time to head back north, and check Albany, Corvallis, or Salem. Well by 0dark30, we found a place with a vacany in Corvallis, even with it being the home to the Oregon State University, which was also about to start its semester!

Taking off over Albuquerque, New Mexico, as I look east toward Sandia. Albuquerque is a large city with just two freeways…

After getting our rental car, we headed west onto Airport Way and quickly encountered Interstate 205. The partial-cloverleaf interchange features a high-speed flyover from I-205 north to Airport Way west and PDX International Airport.

A six-lane span carries Interstate 205 over the beautiful Columbia River and Governor’s Island. Looking east, even with the haze, Mt. Hood rises majestically along the horizon.

Welcome to Washington! Interstate 205 quickly enters Vancouver, Washington and meets the Washington 14 freeway. Washington 14 begins at Interstate 5 near downtown and travels east along the north banks of the Columbia River to junction Interstate 82 & U.S. 395. The freeway portion entails the state highway between I-5 and Camas. All of Washington 14 was originally part of U.S. 830.

And Washington posts end shields with some consistency, including this one for Interstate 205′s north end at the partial “Y” merge with I-5. Traffic also merges from the on-ramp emanating from Northeast 120th Avenue and Northeast 134th Street too.

Thus is the end of the day’s photography; but the day’s driving would not conclude until 2:30 am!