State Route 127 (SR 127) is a

state highway 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 ...

serving the eastern region of the

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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 highway, listed on the National Highway System, begins in rural Garfield County at U.S. Route 12 (US 12) and travels north across the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

on the Elmer Huntley Bridge. The roadway continues into Whitman County before it ends at SR 26 in

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. SR 127 formed a section of the

Inland Empire Highway Primary State Highways were major state highways in the U.S. state of Washington used in the early 20th century. They were created as the first organized road numbering system in the state in stages between 1905 and 1937 and used until the 1964 ...

and Primary State Highway 3 (PSH 3) prior to becoming US 295 in 1926. US 295 was decommissioned in 1968 and replaced by a longer SR 127, traveling its full length from

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

to Colfax from its establishment in 1970 until an extension of SR 26 to Colfax in 1979.

Route description

SR 127 begins at an intersection with US 12 in the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

, located between Starbuck and Pomeroy in rural Garfield County. The highway travels north around Dodge Hill and into the hills along New York Gulch before reaching the

. SR 127 crosses the Snake River on the Elmer Huntley Bridge into Whitman County east of the former

Central Ferry State Park Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. The highway continues northeast up the Central Ferry grade to

, where SR 127 ends at an intersection with SR 26. Every year, the

Washington State Department of Transportation 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 (state), Washington. Establi ...

(WSDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of

average annual daily traffic Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...

(AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2012, WSDOT calculated that the busiest section of SR 127 was its northern terminus at SR 26, serving 1,000 vehicles. The entire route of SR 127 is designated as part of the National Highway System, a highway system that includes roadways important to the national economy, defense, and mobility; and as a Highway of Statewide Significance by WSDOT, which includes highways that connect major communities in the

state of Washington Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

History

The present route of SR 127 was added to the Washington state highway system in 1913 as part of the

, traveling in a

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from

Ellensburg Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 at the 2020 census. and was ...

through the Yakima Valley and into the

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towards the

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in Laurier. The Inland Empire Highway was numbered as State Road 3 in 1923 and PSH 3 in 1937 as part of the primary and secondary state highways. The

United States Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

was adopted on November 11, 1926 by the

American Association of State Highway Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United St ...

(AASHO) and included US 295, traveling northeast from US 410 at

to US 195 in Colfax and crossing the

at Central Ferry. US 295 succeeded PSH 3 during the 1964 state highway renumbering, but was decommissioned in 1968 before the new state highway system was codified. The roadway was re-designated as SR 127 after the new sign route number system was 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 (state), Washington. Temporary laws such as appropriations acts are excluded. It is published by the Washington State S ...

in 1970, traveling from US 12 at Dodge to US 195 in Colfax and crossing the Snake River on the Elmer Huntley Bridge, completed in 1969. SR 127 was truncated to its present route after SR 26 was extended east to Colfax over the former route of SR 127.

Major intersections

References

External links

Highways of Washington State
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington State Route 127 127 Transportation in Garfield County, Washington Transportation in Whitman County, Washington