Washington State Route 9

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State Route 9
Defined by RCW 47.17.040, maintained by WSDOT
Length: 97.61 mi[1] (157.09 km)
Formed: 1964
South end: SR 522 near Woodinville
Major
junctions:
US 2 near Snohomish
SR 530 in Arlington
SR 20 in Sedro-Woolley
SR 542 in Deming
North end: BC 11 in Sumas
State highways in Washington
< SR 8 US 10 >
Lists: current - Interstates - 1937-70 - 1964 renumbering

State Route 9 is a state highway in Washington, U.S.A. It extends from just north of Woodinville in the Puget Sound region to the United States-Canada border at Sumas, a distance of about 98 miles.

Contents

[edit] Route description

State Route 9 is a north-south highway, generally lying just east of Interstate 5, and extending from the Seattle metropolitan area in the south to the Canadian border near Sumas. The majority of the highway is a two-lane rural road. It begins in the south at State Route 522 near Woodinville. It then heads north through King and Snohomish Counties, intersecting U.S. Route 2 just north of the town of Snohomish. In the town of Arlington, State Route 9 has a short concurrency with State Route 530. After entering Skagit County and crossing the Skagit River, it winds through the town of Sedro Woolley, and has a concurrency with State Route 20, the North Cascades Highway.

In Whatcom County, SR 9 passes east of Lake Whatcom, bypassing the city of Bellingham. Before entering the town of Deming, it intersects State Route 542, Mt. Baker Highway, running concurrent with it westerly to Nugents Corner. It then turns north again, passing through the towns of Nooksack and Sumas, intersecting with State Route 547 less than a mile from the Canadian border.

For most of its distance, SR 9 largely parallels Interstate 5 to the west, crossing the Snohomish, Skagit, Stillaguamish and Nooksack rivers, and coming within about 17 miles of Mount Baker. The Sumas border crossing provides easy access to Abbotsford, British Columbia, and is usually a less busy alternative to the nearby I-5/Hwy 99 crossing at Blaine.

[edit] History

What is now State Route 9 was established as a state highway in 1937 as Secondary State Highway 1-A, a branch of Primary State Highway 1. (What is now State Route 544 was also part of SSH 1-A.) In the 1964 renumbering, the road received its current designation.

[edit] Future developments

In order to accommodate the massive suburban sprawl going on in Snohomish County, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is making headway on a multi-million dollar project to widen the highway from north of Woodinville all the way to Arlington. Ever since the 1990s when cities like Lake Stevens, Snohomish and Marysville experienced major population growth, the original two-lane road has suffered high traffic volume from commuters traveling to jobs in the Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond areas. The road is also notoriously dangerous, as the speed limit fluctuates between 40 and 55 mph with no center divider. Construction from SR 522 in Woodinville to SR 524 near Bothell to widen the road to four lanes with a center turn lane started in 2005, and is expected to finish in Spring 2008.[2] Construction between 176th Street and Marsh Road in Snohomish is expected to start in Spring 2008 and complete in 2010. [3]

[edit] Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Destinations Notes
Snohomish 0.00 SR 522Bothell Interchange
1.57 SR 524
6.97 SR 96 (Lowell Road)
Snohomish 9.56 Snohomish (2nd Street) Interchange
12.21 US 2Everett, Seattle, Wenatchee, Monroe Interchange
15.76 SR 204 west – Everett
Lake Stevens 17.49 SR 92 east – Granite Falls
19.26 SR 528 west – Marysville
26.05 SR 531 west
Arlington 29.46 SR 530 west to I-5 South end of SR 530 overlap
29.57 SR 530 east – Darrington North end of SR 530 overlap
Skagit 29.94 SR 534 west to I-5
49.68 SR 538 west – Mount Vernon
Sedro-Woolley 55.77 SR 20 west – Burlington South end of SR 20 overlap
57.04 SR 20 east – Concrete North end of SR 20 overlap
Whatcom 79.24 SR 542 east – Glacier, Mt. Baker South end of SR 542 overlap
83.83 SR 542 west – Bellingham North end of SR 542 overlap
Nooksack 90.18 SR 544 west – Everson
93.43 SR 546 west – Lynden, Bellingham
Sumas 96.94 SR 547Mt. Baker
97.44
SR 9 Spur (Garfield Street)
97.61 Canadian border

[edit] References

[edit] External links