The 1964 state highway renumbering was a reorganization of

state highways A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. The new system, based on sign routes (SR, later changed to state routes), replaced the primary and secondary highway system implemented in 1937. It was first signed in January 1964 and codified into the

Revised Code of Washington The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) is the compilation of all permanent laws currently in force in the U.S. state of Washington. Temporary laws such as appropriations acts are excluded. It is published by the Washington State Statute Law Committ ...

in 1970.

History

The former numbering system of primary and secondary state highways, using lettered suffixes and unnamed branches, created confusion for motorists as the system expanded. The system also ignored, or conflicted with, the federal highway system and the then-developing

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

. The state highway department originally planned for a major highway renumbering in 1957, expanding on the existing primary and secondary system with numbers as high as 59, but serious consideration of a full-scale renumbering began in 1962. It had the specific goal of replacing letter suffixes with two- and three-digit numbers, which would not repeat or conflict with each other or with federal route numbers. In 1963, the

Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State Sena ...

passed a law authorizing the creation of a new state highway numbering system under the direction of the

Washington State Highway Commission The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is ...

. The law came in response to confusion experienced by tourists visiting during the

1962 World's Fair The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington, United States.Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

. The highway commission approved its numbering plan on June 19, 1963, using even numbers for east–west routes and odd numbers for north–south routes; primary routes would have lower numbers, while secondary routes would use the first digit to indicate its parent route. Federal highways, including Interstate highways, would retain their designations and be incorporated into the system. The new numbering system took effect on January 15, 1964, and new signs were posted at a cost of $115,000.

Route renumbering

New Sign Route numbers

References

Identification of State Highways
December 1, 1965

External links

Highways of Washington State
{{DEFAULTSORT:1964 State Highway Renumbering (Washington) Renumbering Renumbering State Highway Renumbering (Washington), 1964 State Highway Renumbering (Washington), 1964 History of Washington (state) Lists of roads in Washington (state) Highway renumbering in the United States