Washington State Route 17

State Route 17 is a highway in the state of Washington, U.S.A. It extends about 137 miles (220 km) from U.S. Route 395 in the tiny town of Mesa, in the south central part of the state, to U.S. Route 97 at the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers near Brewster.

Route description

State Route 17 begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 395 just southeast of Mesa. It then heads in a northwesterly direction, first intersecting SR 260 near Connell, and then intersecting SR 170 and SR 262 near Warden and Potholes Dam, respectively. The highway then crosses over State Route 26 as it passes by Othello, and finally has an interchange with Interstate 90 near the city of Moses Lake. North of Moses Lake, has a junction with both SR 171 and SR 282, which heads northwest towards Ephrata.

North of Interstate 90, SR 17 travels through the Grand Coulee for about 20 miles (32 km), along the shores of Soap Lake, Lenore Lake, Blue Lake, and Park Lake, all remnants of a major river that flowed through this part of the state about 2 million years ago. In Soap Lake, SR 17 has a four-way junction with high-speed Washington State Route 28. SR 17 meets U.S. Route 2 at the southern shore of Banks Lake, then leaves the coulee and extends due north through farmland for about 20 more miles before merging left onto SR 174 and following a dry river bed into Bridgeport, where it crosses the Columbia on the Bridgeport Bridge just west of Chief Joseph Dam. SR 173 meets SR 17 right outside of Bridgeport. The highway follows the east bank of the Columbia for a few more miles inside the Colville Indian Reservation before terminating at US 97 east of Brewster.

Mileposts on SR 17 begin with milepost 8, posted about half a mile north of the highway's origin at US 395. Prior to 1979, SR 17 began at Eltopia, about 7½ miles south of Mesa. That year, US 395 was rerouted from what is now Blanton Road in Franklin County to its current routing, which eliminated the portion of SR 17 that formerly ran between Eltopia and Mesa. SR 17 now originates in Mesa, but new mileposts have not been posted on the route reflecting the highway's new starting point.

Major intersections

References

External links

• Highways of Washington State