State Route 23 (SR 23) 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 ...

traversing Whitman and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

counties in 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 extends northwest from (US 195) in Steptoe through

Sprague Sprague may refer to: Places ;Canada * Sprague, Manitoba, a small town near the Minnesota/Manitoba border ;United States * Sprague, Alabama, Montgomery County, Alabama * Sprague, Connecticut * Sprague, Missouri * Sprague, Nebraska * Sprague ...

to an intersection with in Harrington. It serves as a route from and in Sprague towards Pullman via US 195, and has a longer child route, that travels north from SR 23 near Sprague to Reardan and

Chewelah Chewelah ( ) is a city in Stevens County, Washington, United States. It is located approximately northwest of Spokane, Washington, Spokane. The population was 2,607 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, a 19.3% increase from 2000. Hist ...

. SR 23 was formally established in 1964 using roadways that have existed since 1937 as Secondary State Highway 11F (SSF 11C) from Sprague to Harrington and Secondary State Highway 11C (SSH 11C) from Steptoe to Sprague. SSH 11C was removed from Steptoe to

Ewan Ewan is an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name Eòghann. It is possibly a derivative of the Pictish name, ''Vuen'' (or 'Wen'), "The Warrior" or "born of the mountain". It is most common as a male given name in Scotland and Canada. I ...

in 1943 and became an extension of Primary State Highway 18 (PSH 18) and was completely designated as PSH 18 in 1953 and removed from the highway system in 1961. A second child route, , is proposed to be built from

Ritzville Ritzville () is a city in Adams County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,673 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Adams County. The city is part of the Othello, WA Micropolitan Area, which comprises all of Adams County, ...

to Ewan, but has not been built.

Route description

State Route 23 (SR 23) originates as Cashup Avenue at an intersection with (US 195) in Steptoe, about north of Colfax. The road has 2 undivided lanes as it travels west through mostly rural areas and becomes Front Street in Saint John. Leaving the town, the highway turns northwest following Pleasant Valley Creek, intersecting the proposed terminus of in

and a road serving

Lamont Lamont or LaMont may refer to: People *Lamont (name), people with the surname or given name ''Lamont'' or ''LaMont'' * Clan Lamont, a Scottish clan Places Canada *Lamont, Alberta, a town in Canada * Lamont County, a municipal district in Albert ...

, passing several lakes, and leaving Whitman County. After entering Lincoln County, the highway crosses over

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

and

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

rail lines, then passes through

. The highway serves as exit 245 on (I-90) and in a

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...

, and is the busiest point on the route with an

annual average 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 ...

of 1,300 vehicles in 2011. North of the interchange, splits off and travels north towards Reardan, being longer than SR 23. The highway continues northwest into Harrington, intersecting Coal Creek Road serving Harrington High School and becoming Sherlock Street. The road crosses a BNSF rail line and turns north, becoming 3rd Street until the route ends at .

History

SR–23 was formally established in 1964, but the roadway has existed as early as 1926. The road was officially added to the state highway system as two highways in 1937 as Secondary State Highway 11C (SSH 11C) from Steptoe to

and Secondary State Highway 11F (SSF 11C) from Sprague to Harrington. SSH 11C was shortened in 1943 to a

–Sprague route and the former section to Steptoe became part of an extension of Primary State Highway 18 (PSH 18). SSH 11C was completely removed from the system in 1951, and it took effect in 1961 as the number was reused elsewhere. SR 230 is proposed to connect SR 23 at Ewan to (I-90) in

, but has not yet been built.

Major intersections

References

External links

Highways of Washington State
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington State Route 023 023 Transportation in Lincoln County, Washington Transportation in Whitman County, Washington