Washington State Route 99

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State Route 99
Defined by RCW 47.17.160, maintained by WSDOT
Length:	49.11 mi[1] (79.03 km)
Formed:	late 1960s
South end:	I-5 in Fife
Major junctions:	SR 18 in Federal Way SR 509 through Federal Way SR 516 in Des Moines SR 518 in SeaTac SR 599 in Tukwila SR 509 in Seattle SR 104 in Edmonds SR 524 in Lynnwood SR 525 in Mukilteo
North end:	I-5/SR 526/SR 527 in Everett
State highways in Washington < US 99 SR 100 > Lists: current - Interstates - U.S. Routes - 1937-70 - 1964 renumbering

State Route 99, abbreviated SR 99, commonly called Highway 99, is a numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Washington extending just under 50 miles (80 km) from Fife in the south to Everett in the north, with a 2-mile (3.2 km) gap in Tukwila.

Route description

SR99 has two separate divisions:

Southern division

SR 99 originates at Interstate 5 in Fife, near its own intersection with 54th Avenue E. From there, it heads eastward to Federal Way where it becomes Pacific Highway South and intersects SR 18 just west of its interchange with I-5. It then begins to travel north, through Des Moines, overlapping SR 509 for a few miles. The route becomes a little difficult to identify for several miles, as there are no reassurance signs until entering SeaTac. Once there, it becomes International Boulevard and forms the eastern boundary of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport until crossing SR 518, where the southern division ends.

Northern division

Aurora Avenue with the George Washington Memorial Bridge and downtown Seattle in the background

The northern division begins at a freeway interchange marking the terminus of SR 599 and proceeds north from there as a freeway until a complicated interchange with SR 509 at the southern end of the First Avenue South Bridge. This freeway alignment is also called West Marginal Way. The designation passes over the bridge and onto East Marginal Way which transects the industrial and warehouse district known as Sodo. Near the eastern end of the West Seattle Bridge, SR 99 returns to freeway status along a surface portion of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. SR 99 follows the viaduct to its terminus in the north at the Battery Street Tunnel, a route it continues along.^[2]

Once SR 99 exits from the tunnel, it continues through the neighborhoods of North Seattle as Aurora Avenue North. Aurora Avenue snakes its way around Queen Anne Hill, crosses the Lake Washington Ship Canal on the George Washington Memorial Bridge (1932), bisects Woodland Park. Aurora Avenue leaves Seattle and enters Shoreline at the west terminus of SR 523, which signed as North 145th Street on both sides of Aurora Avenue North. The former Interurban Railway right-of-way crosses Aurora Avenue near the intersection with North 155th Street. Aurora Avenue continues north to the King County - Snohomish County line at an intersection with North 205th Street (signed as 244th Street Southwest in Snohomish County).^[2]

Upon entering Snohomish County and the city of Edmonds, the highway changes names to Pacific Highway North and crosses interchange with SR 104. The highway continues north into Edmonds.^[2]

Southbound SR 99 at the 112th Street SE intersection

North of Edmonds, SR 99 enters Lynnwood, where it is known as Highway 99. SR 99 intersects SR 524 at 196th Street Southwest. SR 99 intersects SR 525 (known as the Mukilteo Speedway) at a partial interchange near Serene Lake. This interchange marks the northern end of the SR 525 freeway, which is an extension of Interstate 405.

After a journey through Lynnwood, SR 99 enters Everett, where it becomes known as Evergreen Way, until 3 miles (4.8 km) south of its terminus. At an intersection of Evergreen Way and Everett Mall Way, SR 99 goes northeast on Everett Mall Way. SR 99 passes the Mall near its interchange/intersection with Interstate 5, SR 526, and SR 527.

SR 99 used to follow Evergreen Way into downtown Everett before completion of Interstate 5 and the Boeing Freeway. The Evergreen Way alignment used to carry US Route 99. As Evergreen Way continues north in Everett, it becomes Rucker Avenue just south of 41st Street. Rucker Avenue intersects the former alignment of SR 526 at 41st Street. The old SR 99 alignment follows Rucker Avenue into downtown. In the vicinity of Hewitt Avenue, the former SR 99 headed east to Broadway, north on Broadway, and north on the current SR 529 expressway into Marysville.

Designated alignments

SR 99 is designated along the following streets from south to north:

Southern

• 54th Avenue East
• Pacific Highway East
• 70th Avenue East
• Pacific Highway South

Northern

Everett Mall Way approching the Everett Mall

• West Marginal Way
• First Avenue South Bridge
• East Marginal Way
• Alaskan Way Viaduct
• Battery Street Tunnel
• Aurora Avenue North
• Highway 99
• Evergreen Way
• Everett Mall Way

History

Alaskan Way Viaduct under construction, 1952.

Battery Street Tunnel under construction, 1953.

• State Route 99 was originally named Pacific Highway 1, which itself had been built over an earlier wagon road named R.F. Morrow Road.^[3]
• SR 99 is a short remnant of US 99, which extended from the Canadian Border at the Peace Arch in Blaine, Wa. at the Canadian Border to Vancouver, Wa. at the Oregon Border. SR 99 is primarily the route of US 99 where building Interstate 5 along the same route would have been prohibitively expensive, or would not have served the greater good. Also, with the exception of the freeway sections, and from the Battery Street Tunnel to the north side of the George Washington Bridge (Aurora Bridge), SR 99 is tightly lined with stores, making any expansion nearly impossible.
• SR 99 used to be both US 99 and Primary State Highway (PSH) 1. As I-5 was built, these designations were moved to the new alignments from state line to international border until I-5 began being designated over the route. They were then co-signed briefly, and later, around the time of the 1964 state highway renumbering, SR 99 was redesignated over much of its former route. Slowly, over time, SR 99 was cut back to the current routing from Fife to Everett.
• US 99 originally was routed through the downtown Seattle streets, along 1st Avenue and 1st Avenue South. When the viaduct was built and US 99 was transferred to it, the old route became U.S. Route 99 Alternate (later Business).
• SR 99 formerly extended through downtown Everett. However, shortly after the opening of the Boeing Freeway and the Everett Mall, SR 99 was rerouted via Everett Mall Way to terminate at the interchange of the Boeing Freeway (SR 526), SR 527, and I-5, but part of SR 99 still extends from the northern part of Everett as State Route 529, becoming State Street through Marysville, then Smokey Point Boulevard.
• On the Alaskan Way Viaduct, near its southern terminus, there are ghost ramps on the east side of the structure. These were the only interchange structures created when the viaduct was first built in anticipation of the US 10 freeway (now Interstate 90) being completed into Seattle, and being extended to SR/US 99. However, the construction of Qwest Field and Safeco Field have made the possibility of this occurring remote. Some other connection may be made when the viaduct is replaced in the near future.
• Many cities and towns along the I-5 corridor in Washington have streets named 'Highway 99', 'Old Highway 99', 'Pacific Highway', or simply 'Old 99' all used to be part of US 99. Those cities with the streets still designated 'Highway 99' can cause confusion with people unfamiliar with the area, as they expect the street to be part of SR 99. This is most apparent in Vancouver, Washington whose "Hwy 99" is often confused for a state route.
• To this day, an older US 99 sign is still in place on an overhead sign at the Columbia Street onramp to the Alaskan Way Viaduct in downtown Seattle.
• In 2004 the state legislature removed the SR 99 designation from the part of the route along Tukwila International Boulevard in Tukwila. The same act also specified that the alignment south of SR 18 will be abandoned once the new SR 509 freeway is completed from Tacoma to Federal Way.^[4]

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[5]	Destinations	Notes
Pierce	Fife	0.00	I-5 – Tacoma, Seattle	Interchange
		0.18	Pacific Highway – Fife	Former SR 99 south
	Milton	1.62	Porter Way	Former SR 514
King	Federal Way	4.49	SR 18 east (South 348th Street) to I-5 – Auburn, North Bend
		7.72	SR 509 south (South Dash Point Road) – Dash Point State Park	South end of SR 509 overlap
		8.83	16th Avenue South – Saltwater State Park	Former SR 509 north
	Kent	11.84	SR 516 (SR 509 north) to I-5 – Des Moines, Kent	North end of SR 509 overlap
	Des Moines
	Seatac	15.11	South 182nd Street – Sea-Tac Airport
		16.73	SR 518 to I-5 / I-405 – Burien, Renton	Interchange; south end of gap
	Tukwila
		19.33	SR 599 south to I-5	Interchange; north end of gap
		South end of freeway
		19.98	West Marginal Place South	Northbound exit and entrance
	Seattle	21.17	Des Moines Drive, 14th Avenue South
		21.75	South Cloverdale Street	Northbound entrance only
		22.37	South Kenyon Street – South Park	No northbound exit
		North end of freeway
		22.40	South Holden Street – South Park Industrial Area
		22.79	SR 509 south / West Marginal Way Southwest – Burien	Interchange
		First Avenue South Bridge over the Duwamish River
		23.14	To I-5 / Michigan Street	Interchange
		South end of freeway
		24.82	Spokane Street – West Seattle	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		25.40	West Seattle Bridge – Harbor Island	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		27.03	Safeco Field, Ferries	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		27.58	Seneca Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		28.30	Western Avenue
		28.72	Denny Way – Downtown Seattle	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		North end of freeway
		29.13	Broad Street	Interchange; no northbound exit
		29.13	To I-5 / Mercer Street	Interchange; no southbound exit
		29.25	Seattle Center (Valley Street)	Southbound exit and entrance
		30.45	Queen Anne Drive	Interchange
		Aurora Bridge over Lake Union
		31.10	Bridge Way, North 39th Street	Interchange
		31.74	Green Lake Way, North 46th Street	Interchange
		32.57	North 65th Street, West Greenlake Way North	Interchange
		36.75	SR 523 east (North 145th Street) to I-5
	Shoreline
		39.87	SR 104 to I-5 – Edmonds, Kingston Ferry, Mountlake Terrace, Lake Forest Park	Partial Interchange
Snohomish	Edmonds
	Lynnwood	43.12	SR 524 (196th Street Southwest)
		46.90	SR 525 to I-5 south / I-405 south / Alderwood Mall Parkway – Mukilteo, Whidbey Island Ferry	Partial Interchange
	Everett	51.67	I-5 – Seattle, Marysville
		51.67	SR 526 west / SR 527 south (19th Avenue Southeast/Bothel-Everett Highway) – Mukilteo, Whidbey Island Ferry
		51.67	Broadway	Continuation beyond SR 526/SR 527

References

Notes

The cutout of the Viaduct, is just one of several unique features of the structure

• Near the northern terminus of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, the southbound section of the viaduct is cut away to make room for a brick building that was there at the time of construction. This provides an interesting visual; although the structure of the building extends only a few inches into the viaduct, it is nonetheless unusual to see part of a building in the road, on a bridge, 50 ft (15 m) in the air.
• At no point is SR 99 more than 5 miles (8.0 km) west of I-5.
• At SR 99's northern terminus, there is no direct connection to southbound I-5. Traffic must continue ¼ mile north of the terminus before reaching the entrance ramp to Southbound I-5.

External links

• Highways of Washington State