Primary State Highway 2 (Washington)
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| Primary State Highway 2 |
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| Sunset Highway Maintained by WSDOT |
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| Existed: | 1937 – 1964 | ||||||||||||
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| West end: |   PSH 1/US 99 in Seattle |
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| East end: |  US 10 at Idaho state line |
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Primary State Highway 2, the Sunset Highway, was a highway in the state of Washington, U.S.A., from 1937 to 1964. The Sunset Highway was the primary east-west route through Washington, with the main (trunk) route of the highway extending from Seattle in the west through Spokane in the east, terminating at the Idaho state line.
PSH 2 was originally established as "State Road No. 2" by the state legislature in stages between 1905 and 1909.[1][2] State Road No. 2 would later share its routing with portions of two auto trails: the National Park to Park Highway for the state road's entire length, and the Yellowstone Trail between Seattle and Cle Elum and between Spokane and the Idaho state line. State Road No. 2 was designated Primary State Highway 2 by the state legislature when it created the primary and secondary state highways systems in 1937. When commissioned, PSH 2 coincided with U.S. Route 10 for most of its length. By the early 1940s, US 10 between Teanaway and Spokane had been rerouted onto the more southerly alignment currently used by Interstate 90; the northern route was initially designated Alternate US 10 and then, in 1948, U.S. Route 2.
Originally, PSH 2 (and US 10) took a southerly route around Lake Washington through Renton. When the Lacey V. Murrow Floating Bridge opened in 1940, both highways were routed onto the bridge and through Mercer Island and Bellevue, rejoining their original alignments in Issaquah. PSH 2 crossed the Cascade Range at Snoqualmie Pass, 3010 feet above sea level.
At Teanaway, PSH 2 turned north and followed U.S. Route 97 on a zigzag course through the Cascade foothills, crossing the Columbia River at Wenatchee. Leaving the riverbank about 15 miles north of Wenatchee, PSH 2 headed east along the new US 2 alignment into Spokane, where it again joined up with US 10, and ended at the Idaho state line a few miles east of the city.
Highways in Washington were renumbered in 1964, and PSH 2 was removed from the state highway system. Today, PSH 2 between Seattle and Teanaway is part of I-90; between Teanaway and Orondo, US 97; between Peshastin and Spokane, US 2 (overlapped US 97 for about 30 miles between Peshastin and Orondo); and I-90 again between Spokane and the Idaho state line.
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[edit] Branches
PSH 2 had three named branches.
- When the Lacey V. Murrow Floating Bridge opened in 1940, PSH 2 was rerouted onto the bridge and the highway's original alignment through Renton was designated PSH 2 RE, the Renton Branch. Today, PSH 2 RE from Tukwila to Issaquah is SR 900.
- PSH 2 BO, the Bothell Branch, was an alternate route around Lake Washington to the north, beginning in downtown Seattle and proceeding through Bothell, Woodinville, Redmond, Fall City, and Snoqualmie, before terminating at the PSH 2 trunk in North Bend. Today, PSH 2 BO between north Seattle and Woodinville is SR 522; between Woodinville and North Bend, SR 202.
- PSH 2 AN, the Auburn-North Bend Branch, was built in the early 1960s as a more direct route between Auburn and PSH 2 at North Bend. Construction was not completed until 1965, by which time the route had been re-signed as SR 18, which it remains today.
[edit] Secondary State Highways
PSH 2 had 12 secondary branches; see secondary state highways as branches of Primary State Highway 2.
