Up in the Portland-Vancouver metro again recently, I drove into Vancouver. Is NE Hwy 99 considered a state highway? I didn't see any WA-99 reassurance shields along the entire route.
My guess is it was part of US-99 at one point, and the name just stuck around. IIRC, WA-99 is up in the Seattle area, correct?
Nope. It's just a remnant of old U.S. Route 99 that really should be renamed (like many other short roads with the name "Old 99") to another name (like the generic "Pacific Highway", which it was named prior to 1926).
The only highway in Washington that can call itself 99 is State Route 99 from Fife (near Tacoma) through Seattle to Everett.
Highway 99 from Vancouver through Hazel Dell is no longer a state highway and is a remnant of US 99. It actually isn't difficult to trace old US 99 through Washington from Vancouver to where WA 99 begins in Fife and from Everett to Richmond, BC.
Whether or not Highway 99 through Hazel Dell should have been renamed or not is a topic in another thread, but I certainly wouldn't mind it getting Hist US 99 shields put up.
Quote from: Bickendan on July 07, 2015, 05:24:26 PM
Highway 99 from Vancouver through Hazel Dell is no longer a state highway and is a remnant of US 99. It actually isn't difficult to trace old US 99 through Washington from Vancouver to where WA 99 begins in Fife and from Everett to Richmond, BC.
Whether or not Highway 99 through Hazel Dell should have been renamed or not is a topic in another thread, but I certainly wouldn't mind it getting Hist US 99 shields put up.
Bingo! Historical route signs help tourists and new arrivals to an area discover the back country. We need more of this!
Rick
Quote from: nexus73 on July 07, 2015, 06:36:45 PM
Quote from: Bickendan on July 07, 2015, 05:24:26 PM
Highway 99 from Vancouver through Hazel Dell is no longer a state highway and is a remnant of US 99. It actually isn't difficult to trace old US 99 through Washington from Vancouver to where WA 99 begins in Fife and from Everett to Richmond, BC.
Whether or not Highway 99 through Hazel Dell should have been renamed or not is a topic in another thread, but I certainly wouldn't mind it getting Hist US 99 shields put up.
Bingo! Historical route signs help tourists and new arrivals to an area discover the back country. We need more of this!
Rick
A lot of the old road have been lost, or replaced with I-5. And in a few places, bisected by I-5 with no connection to or across I-5.
Quote from: TEG24601 on July 09, 2015, 07:19:12 PM
A lot of the old road have been lost, or replaced with I-5. And in a few places, bisected by I-5 with no connection to or across I-5.
Routes to connect them need to be signed "To Historic US 99." :)
The best section to sign as Historic US 99 would be from Tumwater to Marysville.
The route: from I-5 exit 102 in Tumwater, up through Olympia and Lacey, briefly concurrent with I-5 across the Nisqually River and through Fort Lewis, then onto Tacoma Way, SR 99 from Fife onwards, 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle, Aurora Avenue/SR 99 towards Everett, then either Broadway or Evergreen Way into downtown Everett, North Broadway/SR 529 through North Everett and the Snohomish River delta and ending at I-5 exit 199 in Marysville.
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I can see some of these segments also forming a real BRT network (some segments already have BRT or BRT lite service, specifically from Federal Way to Tukwila [RapidRide A], Downtown to Shoreline on Aurora [RapidRide E], and Shoreline to Everett [Swift]) that could be branded as the "99 Network". Add a few special liveries for a few select coaches featuring the Historic US 99 shield and some other images (the old interurban, for example) and you've got a great brand going.
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I've traced old US 99 in Washington state from Blaine to Vancouver. Compared to California, I'm really amazed at how much of US 99 was left intact by WSDOT during the construction of I-5. Being in Arizona, not even US 66 has been kept intact that continuously. I only wish old US 99 had more kitschy tourist attractions that US 66 has. I'm glad Pick Quick Better Burgers in Fife still exists and the Oregon Vortex plus the Wolf Creek in in southern Oregon still suffice. Perhaps at least US 99 from Sacramento north and Bakersfield south will be a somewhat successful historic route someday.
Quote from: 707 on July 10, 2015, 01:34:17 AM
I've traced old US 99 in Washington state from Blaine to Vancouver. Compared to California, I'm really amazed at how much of US 99 was left intact by WSDOT during the construction of I-5. Being in Arizona, not even US 66 has been kept intact that continuously. I only wish old US 99 had more kitschy tourist attractions that US 66 has. I'm glad Pick Quick Better Burgers in Fife still exists and the Oregon Vortex plus the Wolf Creek in in southern Oregon still suffice. Perhaps at least US 99 from Sacramento north and Bakersfield south will be a somewhat successful historic route someday.
And as such, there really was no need for it to be decommissioned. To the extent that 99 served a separate corridor from I-5, it should still be signed as a US highway to denote its importance.
Quote from: mrsman on July 10, 2015, 03:31:21 PM
Quote from: 707 on July 10, 2015, 01:34:17 AM
I've traced old US 99 in Washington state from Blaine to Vancouver. Compared to California, I'm really amazed at how much of US 99 was left intact by WSDOT during the construction of I-5. Being in Arizona, not even US 66 has been kept intact that continuously. I only wish old US 99 had more kitschy tourist attractions that US 66 has. I'm glad Pick Quick Better Burgers in Fife still exists and the Oregon Vortex plus the Wolf Creek in in southern Oregon still suffice. Perhaps at least US 99 from Sacramento north and Bakersfield south will be a somewhat successful historic route someday.
And as such, there really was no need for it to be decommissioned. To the extent that 99 served a separate corridor from I-5, it should still be signed as a US highway to denote its importance.
Especially the parts between Wheeler Ridge and Redbluff as well as the part in Seattle. Although with I-7/I-9 proposed on
an existing freeway mostly the dream of US 99 being recommisioned is slim.
I'd argue (controversially) that the decommissioning of US 99 was a good thing for the cities and towns along its route. The state relinquished control and turned over maintenance to the cities, allowing them to reclaim their Main Street and it's made projects/improvements simpler to make.
For the same reason, SR 99 is no longer a state highway from SR 518 to SR 599 in Tukwila (on International Boulevard), which allowed the city to rebuild it as they saw fit without relying on WSDOT.
If US 99 were retained, it would have had a lot of big gaps. I think decommissioning was a good choice.
Where would it have gaps? There's a continuous routing possible from Ashland to Blaine.
Quote from: Bickendan on July 10, 2015, 09:21:10 PM
Where would it have gaps? There's a continuous routing possible from Ashland to Blaine.
Plenty of places where I-5 replaced US 99 and only left behind a frontage road, like from Island Crossing (exit 208) to Mount Vernon (exit 224).
You could always route these segments on even older routes used by the Pacific Highway, but that's kind of against the point.
So US 99 would mimic OR 99 or US 30 in those instances and be routed on I-5.
What would be the point, then?
Honestly, I don't like having US 30 concurrent with I-84 for so many segments and it would do much better being routed north of the river on SR 14/former US 830.
Quote from: Bruce on July 10, 2015, 01:21:20 AM
The best section to sign as Historic US 99 would be from Tumwater to Marysville.
The route: from I-5 exit 102 in Tumwater, up through Olympia and Lacey, briefly concurrent with I-5 across the Nisqually River and through Fort Lewis, then onto Tacoma Way, SR 99 from Fife onwards, 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle, Aurora Avenue/SR 99 towards Everett, then either Broadway or Evergreen Way into downtown Everett, North Broadway/SR 529 through North Everett and the Snohomish River delta and ending at I-5 exit 199 in Marysville.
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There is no "Tacoma Way", it's South Tacoma Way. South is part of the street name, not a directional designation (South Tacoma is the name of the neighborhood it passes through). It's frequently labeled incorrectly on maps.