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Washington State Route 11

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

State Route 11 marker
State Route 11
Chuckanut Drive
SR 11 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by WSDOT
Length21.30 mi[1] (34.28 km)
Existed1964[2]–present
Major junctions
South end I-5 in Burlington
North end I-5 in Bellingham
Location
CountiesSkagit, Whatcom
Highway system
← SR 10→ US 12

State Route 11 (SR 11) is a 21.28-mile (34.25 km) long state highway that serves Skagit and Whatcom counties in the U.S. state of Washington. SR 11, known as Chuckanut Drive, begins at an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) north of Burlington and continues northwest through several small towns and the Chuckanut Mountains to the Fairhaven district of Bellingham, where the highway turns east and ends again at I-5.

A segment of what is now SR 11 was originally added to the state highway system in 1895 as a Blanchard – Whatcom County line road. The highway became State Road 6 in 1905 and was named Waterfront Road in 1907. The road was incorporated into the Pacific Highway in 1913 and U.S. Route 99 (US 99) in 1926. After an inland bypass was designated by the state to become US 99 in 1931, Chuckanut Drive became U.S. Route 99 Alternate. During the 1964 highway renumbering, the road became SR 11. In 1987, SR 11 was realigned through Bellingham, shifting its northern terminus south to Fairhaven.

Route description[]

Trees forming a canopy over the highway.
SR 11 in the Chuckanut Mountains south of Bellingham

SR 11, also named Chuckanut Drive, begins north of Burlington at a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-5. The interchange includes two roundabouts that also connect with Burlington Boulevard and Josh Wilson Road. The highway travels northwest through farmland at the north edge of the Skagit Valley, generally following the BNSF Bellingham Subdivision, a railroad that also carries Amtrak's Cascades passenger trains.[3][4] SR 11 then turns north at a junction with Bow Hill Road (formerly SR 537)[5] near the communities of Edison and Bow at the head of .[6][7]

The highway crosses over the railroad near Blanchard and turns northwest to follow Samish Bay around the west side of at the south end of the Chuckanut Mountains.[8] A sculpture of the Loch Ness Monster in Samish Bay is visible from the road and was installed by a local artist in the 2010s.[9] Chuckanut Drive then passes an oyster farm and traverses a pair of hairpin turns at Oyster Creek near Pigeon Point. SR 11 crosses into Whatcom County and travels northwest through Larrabee State Park, the oldest state park in Washington, serving its trailhead parking lots, campgrounds, and a boat launch.[10] Leaving the state park, the highway follows the Interurban Trail along Chuckanut Bay and through residential areas on the sides of the mountains.[6][10]

Chuckanut Drive then enters the city of Bellingham and travels around an estuary near Teddy Bear Cove, a former nude beach, as it leaves the Interurban Trail.[11] It travels through a residential neighborhood and descends into Fairhaven, a historic business district on Bellingham Bay with an Amtrak station and the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, the southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway ferry.[12] The highway turns east onto Old Fairhaven Parkway and travels through a residential neighborhood as it heads uphill along Padden Creek. SR 11 then terminates at an interchange with I-5 in southern Bellingham, with the road continuing as Connelly Avenue towards the Lake Padden neighborhood.[6][13]

SR 11 is designated as the Chuckanut Drive Scenic Byway, a state scenic byway, and is maintained by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).[14] WSDOT conducts an annual survey on state highways to measure traffic volume in terms of annual average daily traffic. Average traffic volumes on SR 11 in 2016 ranged from a minimum of 2,300 vehicles near Bow Hill Road to a maximum of 14,000 vehicles near Fairhaven.[15] Chuckanut Drive is generally two lanes wide with a narrow shoulder and has seasonal peaks in use based on recreation and farming.[3]

History[]

Alt plate 1961.svg

U.S. Route 99 Alternate marker

U.S. Route 99 Alternate

LocationBurlington–Bellingham
Existed1937–1967

Parts of modern SR 11 have been part of the state highway systems in Washington since 1895, when a road from Blanchard to Whatcom County became a state-maintained roadway.[16] The road became State Road 6 in 1905 and was named Waterfront Road in 1907.[17][18] A survey of a north–south highway from Blaine to Vancouver was approved in 1909,[19][20] and the highway was built as the Pacific Highway in 1913. In Skagit County, the Pacific Highway utilized the pre-existing State Road 6.[21][22] Chuckanut Drive, a 20-mile-long (32 km) section of the Pacific Highway in the Chuckanut Mountains, was opened as a gravel road during the spring of 1916 and paved in 1921.[23][24] The Pacific Highway became State Road 1 in a 1923 restructuring of the highway system, at which time State Road 6 was completely replaced.[25] When the U.S. route system was formed in 1926, the Pacific Highway became US 99.[26] In 1931, an inland bypass via Lake Samish was added to State Road 1 and US 99.[27][28]

US 99 became Primary State Highway 1 (PSH 1) in 1937 and US 99 Alternate became the Chuckanut Drive branch of the main highway, running from Burlington to downtown Bellingham.[29][30] A 1964 renumbering introduced a new system of sign routes that was scheduled to go into effect in 1970. As originally planned, the Chuckanut Drive branch of PSH 1—already US 99 Alternate—would be co-signed as SR 11.[2][31] In 1967, Secondary State Highway 1F (SSH 1F) was established, connecting US 99 Alternate to US 99 via Fairhaven.[32] During the same year, I-5 replaced US 99, leading to the removal of the US 99 Alternate designation from what would become SR 11.[33] In 1970, the SR 11 designation went into effect, running from Burlington to Downtown Bellingham.[2]

SR 11 originally continued northeast through Downtown Bellingham to a terminus at a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-5 just northeast of the downtown district. From Old Fairhaven Parkway, the route continued north on 12th Street in Fairhaven before turning northeast on Boulevard Street. The street split into a pair of one-way streets, Forest Street and State Street, south of downtown. Forest Street merged into State Street in downtown Bellingham, and State Street subsequently merged into Iowa Street soon after. From here, Iowa Street carried SR 11 east for three blocks to a junction with I-5.[34][35] In 1987, the northernmost portion of SR 11 was realigned to follow the route of former SSH 1F, then known as Old Fairhaven Parkway.[2][36]

Major intersections[]

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
SkagitBurlington0.000.00 I-5 – Seattle, Vancouver BCInterchange, continues as Burlington Boulevard
​6.9011.10West Bow Hill RoadFormer SR 237
WhatcomBellingham21.3034.28 I-5 – Seattle, Vancouver BCInterchange, continues as Connelly Avenue
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References[]

  1. ^ a b Multimodal Planning Division (January 4, 2021). State Highway Log Planning Report 2020, SR 2 to SR 971 (PDF) (Report). Washington State Department of Transportation. pp. 280–285. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Washington State Legislature (1970). "RCW 47.17.050: State route No. 11". Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Corridor Sketch Summary – SR 11: I-5 Jct (N Burlintgon) to 12th St at Old Fairhaven Pkwy (Bellingham)" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. October 28, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  4. ^ 2015 Washington State Rail System By Owner (PDF) (Map). Washington State Department of Transportation. January 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 28, 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  5. ^ Washington House of Representatives (1991). "Chapter 342, Laws of 1991: State Highway Routes – Revisions To (House Bill 5801)". Washington State Legislature. Archived from the original on August 4, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c Google (December 14, 2021). "State Route 11" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  7. ^ Egan, Timothy (June 1, 2003). "Drivers' Education: Washington; A Northwest sampler: mountains, forest and sea". The New York Times. p. TR8. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  8. ^ "Chuckanut Drive State Route 11 Corridor Management Plan". . December 18, 2003. pp. 49–54. Retrieved December 14, 2021 – via WSDOT Library Digital Collections.
  9. ^ Relyea, Kie (May 29, 2018). "Here's the 'monster' mystery behind the 'creature' in Samish Bay". The Bellingham Herald. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  10. ^ a b McQuaide, Mike (February 17, 2010). "A detour worth taking: Your mile-by-mile guide to scenic Chuckanut Drive". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on March 24, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  11. ^ Interurban Trail (Map). Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department. April 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  12. ^ Washington State Department of Transportation (2014). Washington State Highways, 2014–2015 (PDF) (Map). 1:842,000. Olympia: Washington State Department of Transportation. Bellingham inset. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  13. ^ "Corridor Sketch Summary – SR 11: 12th St at Old Fairhaven Pkwy (Bellingham) to I-5 Jct (Bellingham)" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. March 27, 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  14. ^ "Washington State's Scenic Byways & Road Trips" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. 2018. pp. 48–49. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 22, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  15. ^ 2016 Annual Traffic Report (PDF) (Report). Washington State Department of Transportation. 2017. p. 87. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  16. ^ Washington State Legislature (March 22, 1895). "Chapter 168". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1895 ed.). Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Legislature. p. 461. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  17. ^ Washington State Legislature (January 16, 1905). "Chapter 7". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1905 ed.). Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Legislature. p. 22. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  18. ^ Washington State Legislature (March 13, 1907). "Chapter 151". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1907 ed.). Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Legislature. p. 310. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  19. ^ Washington State Legislature (March 4, 1909). "Chapter 51". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1909 ed.). Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Legislature. p. 95. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  20. ^ Washington State Highways (DjVu) (Map). Washington State Highway Commission. 1909. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  21. ^ Washington State Legislature (March 12, 1913). "Chapter 65". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1913 ed.). Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Legislature. p. 221. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  22. ^ Washington State Highways (DjVu) (Map). Washington State Highway Commission. 1915. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  23. ^ Dougherty, Phil (June 20, 2011). "Chuckanut Drive opens in the spring of 1916". HistoryLink. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  24. ^ "Historic Highway SR 11". Washington State Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  25. ^ Washington State Legislature (March 19, 1923). "Chapter 185". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1923 ed.). Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Legislature. pp. 627–628. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  26. ^ Bureau of Public Roads & American Association of State Highway Officials (November 11, 1926). United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). 1:7,000,000. Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved November 7, 2013 – via University of North Texas Libraries.
  27. ^ Washington State Highways (DjVu) (Map). Washington State Highway Commission. 1931. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  28. ^ Washington State Highways (DjVu) (Map). Washington Department of Highways. 1933. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  29. ^ Washington State Legislature (March 17, 1937). "Chapter 190". Session Laws of the State of Washington (PDF). Session Laws of the State of Washington (1937 ed.). Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Legislature. p. 933. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  30. ^ Washington State Highways (DjVu) (Map). Washington State Highway Commission. 1939. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  31. ^ Prahl, C. G. (December 1, 1965). "Identification of State Highways, Part 1" (PDF). Washington State Highway Commission. p. 7. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  32. ^ Washington State Legislature (1967). "Chapter 145". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1967 ed.). Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Legislature.
  33. ^ Victoria, 1966 (Map). 1:250,000. Cartography by United States Army Corps of Engineers. United States Geological Survey. 1966. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  34. ^ Washington State Department of Transportation (May 29, 2008). "SR 5 – Exit 254: Junction Iowa Street" (PDF). Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  35. ^ Google (November 23, 2010). "State Route 11 (Former Route in Bellingham)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  36. ^ Washington State Legislature (1987). "Chapter 199". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1987 ed.). Olympia, Wash.: Washington State Legislature.

External links[]

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