Snoqualmie Pass Area

[Amaury]

So, I found this image on Flickr, with a sign in the background: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/3229808558

It's this sign: https://goo.gl/maps/iRnksaTmnPHLfC4Y9 Although it's currently broken and needs repairs, which I've mentioned. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out when this image was taken, because the alignment of the road is completely different, And even if I go back to earlier Google Maps captures, to before they did all that work in that section of I-90, taking out the snowshed and all that, that doesn't help, because it appears that sign was installed after the improvements in the area. At the very least, I can't find where it would be before the changes: https://goo.gl/maps/kUAx6aytWHM5kZwp9

EDIT: Fixed typo in title.

[Bruce]

The Flickr page says it was taken in 2003 (albeit on a default date). It matches the general timeline for the massive, slow-moving expansion and rebuild of the Snoqualmie Pass East project, which began in 2009 and is set to wrap up in 2029 (or a bit later).

[Amaury]

There's no 2009 capture on Google Maps, so I wonder if that was a temporary alignment while they did that phase of the work, like how the eastbound lanes are temporarily on the same side as the westbound lanes right now in the Easton area, where they're normally separated with an "island" of trees. But then again, they normally wouldn't install signs on temporary alignments, as the temporary alignment in the Easton area has no signs going eastbound. So, I don't know. LOL

I wonder what the original routing of I-90 through that area was like.

I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like. For some reason, I thought that last part they finished in 2016–started in 2014, I think–was everything they were doing, when the westbound snowshed was removed and both directions were moved more outward toward Keechelus Lake so any potential avalanches would just go below the roadway, also making the westbound lanes higher up than the eastbound lanes. I also thought that part that removed the snowshed was the only thing they had done. My mom and I went through that area a lot when I was a kid to visit my late grandfather in Lake Forest Park–being a kid at the time, I thought that was all just Seattle–but I don't really remember a lot of it, let alone what the road was like. I don't remember the years, either, and if it was before, during, or after 2003, for example. I really only noticed a major change when they were doing that work that removed the snowshed and all that. I don't remember much of the area before that.

Edit: I misread 2003 as 2009.

[Amaury]

Okay, I figured it out, I think. That control city sign used to be farther up: https://goo.gl/maps/UpAj8UejVQtjEiYPA

[jakeroot]

Thought I would pop in to mention that the image from Flickr is definitely 2003; not a single car in the picture is newer than 2003.

The listed precise date is clearly wrong, but it's likely 2003 at the latest.

[KEK Inc.]

Yeah, they finished that part of the project in 2013.   I remember it was a pain to go eastside during construction.  They're currently working on the approach from Eaton to the wildlife crossing.

[Amaury]

After looking at it again, while that sign (currently in need of repairs) definitely used to be farther up, it definitely seems the roadway was different. For one thing, there are currently no curves like that in the Keechelus Lake area, and I note that the westbound and eastbound lanes are right next to each other, even in that older 2008 Google Maps capture, with not much median space between them, unlike in the Flickr image I posted. I could be totally wrong, though, and the Flickr image just looks like that because of the angle and height the photo was taken at. I'm not sure anymore. It could have been taken from a helicopter or something. I don't know.

[sirrobyn0]

After looking at it again, while that sign (currently in need of repairs) definitely used to be farther up, it definitely seems the roadway was different. For one thing, there are currently no curves like that in the Keechelus Lake area, and I note that the westbound and eastbound lanes are right next to each other, even in that older 2008 Google Maps capture, with not much median space between them, unlike in the Flickr image I posted. I could be totally wrong, though, and the Flickr image just looks like that because of the angle and height the photo was taken at. I'm not sure anymore. It could have been taken from a helicopter or something. I don't know.

Yea, the road was different prior to around 2010.  The lanes separated as seen in the flicker picture, and the east bound lanes made a somewhat sharper curve.  They cut into the hill somewhat just past the curve and brought the east and west lanes closer to each other in an effect making the corner less sharp for east bound travelers.   Take a look at it on historical aerials and you'll see what I'm talking about.  While your there check out the aerial from 1958 and you can see the old highway 10 alignment.

[ErmineNotyours]

Here's a picture of the new westbound lanes under construction in May 2011, as a viaduct.  I couldn't figure out what they were trying to do.



A few years later I was exploring the buildings a bit south of the WSDOT maintenance area.  There are a group of buildings that used to be Hyak Lodge State Park, a former conference center.  Before that they were used as housing for the snow maintenance crew, and it stopped being a state park when the construction company needed it for the widening project.  They left behind their construction sign.

[Bruce]

Here's a picture of the new westbound lanes under construction in May 2011, as a viaduct.  I couldn't figure out what they were trying to do.

The section is elevated to allow for debris (and avalanches) to flow under the freeway instead of over it.

[ErmineNotyours]

Here's a picture of the new westbound lanes under construction in May 2011, as a viaduct.  I couldn't figure out what they were trying to do.

The section is elevated to allow for debris (and avalanches) to flow under the freeway instead of over it.

But this is the flat section near the Hyak maintenance facility.  Admittedly, it could be for better wildlife crossing.

[compdude787]

Here's a picture of the new westbound lanes under construction in May 2011, as a viaduct.  I couldn't figure out what they were trying to do.

The section is elevated to allow for debris (and avalanches) to flow under the freeway instead of over it.

But this is the flat section near the Hyak maintenance facility.  Admittedly, it could be for better wildlife crossing.

Yes, they replaced the bridges there that crossed Gold Creek, making for a gentler curve and 6 lanes instead of four.