State Route 26 (SR 26) is a
state highway in central
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 ...
in the United States. It travels east–west for from
Interstate 90 (I-90) near
Vantage to
U.S. Route 195 (US 195) in
Colfax. The highway intersects several major north–south highways, including
SR 24,
SR 17,
US 395, and
SR 261 before ending in Colfax. The route serves as a connector between Vantage,
Royal City
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a ...
,
Othello,
Washtucna,
La Crosse, and Colfax.
The easternmost section of SR 26, between
Dusty
Dusty may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Dusty, New Mexico, an unincorporated community
* Dusty, Washington, an unincorporated community
* Dusty Glacier, Washington
People
* Dusty (given name)
* Dusty (nickname)
* Slim Dusty, Austra ...
and Colfax was formerly part 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
US 295 for most of the early 20th century. The rest of modern SR 26 was added to the state highway system in 1937 and 1951 as Secondary State Highway 11B (SSH 11B) from Washtucna to Dusty and SSH 7C from Vantage to Washtucna, respectively. The two highways were combined to form SR 26 in the
1964 state highway renumbering, but several sections of the highway were not completed until the 1970s. SR 26 initially terminated at Dusty, but was extended to Colfax over
SR 127 in 1979.
Route description
SR 26 begins at an interchange with
I-90 on the east end of the
Vantage Bridge on the
Columbia River, opposite the town of
Vantage and the
Ginkgo/Wanapum State Park. The highway travels south for to the mouth of the Sand Hollow, where it intersects
SR 243, which continues downriver to
Mattawa and the
Vernita Bridge.
SR 26 turns southeast and travels up the barren Sand Hollow to the Royal Slope and its irrigated fields, situated between the
Frenchman Hills to the north and the
Saddle Mountains
The Saddle Mountains consists of an upfolded anticline ridge of basalt in Grant County of central Washington state. The ridge, reaching to 2,700 feet, terminates in the east south of Othello, Washington near the foot of the Drumheller Channel ...
to the south. The highway continues east across the plateau's farms and turns southeast at
Royal City
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a ...
, near which it intersects
SR 262. SR 26 crosses into the
Columbia National Wildlife Refuge in the foothills of the Saddle Mountains and enters
Adams County near
Tauhton.
The highway follows a section of the
Royal Slope Railroad, operated by the
Port of Royal Slope and connecting to the
Columbia Basin Railroad, into
Othello.
SR 26 crosses over
SR 24, which it intersects via two side streets, and continues along the southern outskirts of the city to an interchange with
SR 17. From Othello, the highway runs east across the rural Paradise Flats, home to
Othello Municipal Airport and a field research outpost for the
Washington State University
Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...
's
Irrigated Agricultural Research and Extension Center. SR 26 then descends into the
Hatton
Hatton may refer to:
Places Canada
* Hatton, Saskatchewan
England
* Hatton, Cheshire West and Chester, a former civil parish
* Hatton, Derbyshire
* Hatton, Lincolnshire
* Hatton, London, in the London Borough of Hounslow
* Hatton, Shropshire, a ...
Coulee, where it reaches a
rest area
A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway serv ...
and an interchange with
US 395, a freeway that connects to the
Tri-Cities. The highway continues east across the Rattlesnake Flat, where it intersects
SR 21, and descends into Washtucna Coulee. SR 26 reaches the town of
Washtucna, where it intersects the concurrent
SR 260 and
SR 261, which continue south to
Kahlotus and north to
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, ...
, respectively.
SR 26 follows the
Columbia Plateau Trail
The Columbia Plateau State Park Trail is a , corridor in eastern Washington state maintained as part of the Washington State Park system. The rail trail runs along the abandoned right-of-way of the former Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. ...
and the
Palouse River
The Palouse River is a tributary of the Snake River in Washington and Idaho, in the northwest United States. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 3, 2011 southw ...
through the rough terrain of the
Palouse
The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, prima ...
.
It crosses into
Whitman County east of
Hooper, where the state-owned
Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad
The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primar ...
splits from the
Union Pacific Railroad
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 ...
. The highway continues to follow the railroad, now traveling along Willow Creek, and passes the town of
La Crosse and its
municipal airport. SR 26 crosses several miles of farms in the rolling Palouse hills before reaching
Dusty
Dusty may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Dusty, New Mexico, an unincorporated community
* Dusty, Washington, an unincorporated community
* Dusty Glacier, Washington
People
* Dusty (given name)
* Dusty (nickname)
* Slim Dusty, Austra ...
and an intersection with
SR 127, which connects with
US 12 on the south side of the
Snake River.
After following Alkali Flat Creek for a short distance, the highway turns northeasterly and ascends a section of the Palouse. SR 26 passes the
Port of Whitman Business Air Center Airport and
Whitman County Fairgrounds before rejoining the railroad and Palouse River at the west end of
Colfax.
The highway crosses the river and travels through an industrial area before terminating at an intersection with
US 195 on the north side of downtown Colfax.
A short
spur route connects to southbound US 195 by crossing over a section of the Palouse River.
The section between Hooper and Colfax is defined as part of the
Palouse Scenic Byway, which encompasses a number of state highways in the Palouse region.
SR 26 is maintained by 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. Established in 1905, it is ...
(WSDOT), which conducts an annual survey on the state's highways to measure traffic volume 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 ...
. Average daily traffic volumes on the highway in 2016 ranged from a minimum of 1,200 vehicles on the section between SR 21 and Wastucna to a maximum of 7,000 vehicles west of Othello.
The entire route of SR 26 and its spur route are designated as part of the
National Highway System, a network of roads identified as important to the national economy, defense, and mobility. SR 26 is also considered the main link between
Western Washington
Western Washington is a region of the United States defined as the area of Washington state west of the Cascade Mountains. This region is home to the state's largest city, Seattle, the state capital, Olympia, and most of the state's residents. T ...
and the Washington State University campus in
Pullman and sees a noticeable spike in traffic during football games and school holidays. The highway is characterized as "dull and boring" by students, prompting towns along the route attempting to lure drivers with scenic
guidebook
A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...
s and posters.
History
The easternmost section of SR 26 roughly follows the Old Territorial Road, a
military road
{{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The following is a list of military roads worldwide.
Australia
* Part of the A8 (Sydney) between Neutral Bay and Mosman
* Military Road, part of Route 39, Melbourne
* Military Road, off Wanneroo Road just nort ...
constructed in the 1870s between
Fort Walla Walla
Fort Walla Walla is a United States Army fort located in Walla Walla, Washington. The first Fort Walla Walla was established July 1856, by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Steptoe, 9th Infantry Regiment. A second Fort Walla Walla was occupied Septem ...
to
Fort Colville
Fort Colville was a U.S. Army post in the Washington Territory located north of current Colville, Washington. During its existence from 1859 to 1882, it was called "Harney's Depot" and "Colville Depot" during the first two years, and finally " ...
, passing through the Palouse. The road was improved by county governments and incorporated into 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 ...
, part of the initial system of state-designated highways adopted in 1913. The highway was numbered as State Road 3 in 1923 and split between several highways under the federal government's system enacted in 1926, including
US 295 between
Dodge and
Colfax.
The state legislature reformed the highway system in 1937, adopting a new numbering scheme consisting of primary and secondary routes, and took over maintenance of roads using
gas tax
A fuel tax (also known as a petrol, gasoline or gas tax, or as a fuel duty) is an excise tax imposed on the sale of fuel. In most countries the fuel tax is imposed on fuels which are intended for transportation. Fuels used to power agricultural v ...
revenues. The Inland Empire Highway became
Primary State Highway 3 (PSH 3) and a county road from
Connell to
Washtucna and
Dusty
Dusty may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Dusty, New Mexico, an unincorporated community
* Dusty, Washington, an unincorporated community
* Dusty Glacier, Washington
People
* Dusty (given name)
* Dusty (nickname)
* Slim Dusty, Austra ...
was designated as Secondary State Highway 11B (SSH 11B). The remainder of modern-day SR 26, from Vantage to Washtucna, was little more than a collection of unpaved local roads that ran further north along Crab Creek. SSH 7C was established by a legislative act in 1951, intending to replace existing county roads from a junction with
PSH 7 (
US 10) on the east side of the
Vantage Bridge to
PSH 11 (
US 395) near Othello. The highway was then extended east to Washtucna in 1957 and supplemented with a branch route connecting to the
Vernita ferry on SSH 11A. The Othello–Washtucna highway and a series of connecting
farm-to-market road
In the United States, a farm-to-market road or ranch-to-market road (sometimes farm road or ranch road for short) is a state highway or county road that connects rural or agricultural areas to market towns. These are better quality roads, usually ...
s were built from 1957 to 1965 by the state highway department, bypassing existing county roads. The Vantage–Othello highway was completed concurrently in the early 1950s.
SR 26 was established during the
1964 state highway renumbering, with instituted a system of sign routes (now state routes) to replace the earlier system of primary and secondary highways. SR 26 was created as a new east–west trunk highway and replaced all of SSH 7C and the eastern half of SSH 11B, terminating in the west near Vantage and in the east at Dodge. US 295 was decommissioned from the national highway system in 1967 and wholly replaced by
SR 127. SR 127 was truncated to its present terminus at Dusty in 1979, allowing SR 26 to be extended east to Colfax.
A couple of recent and current construction projects are occurring along SR 26. One of which, involves illuminating the highway's intersection with B SE, which was finished in 2008, and Reynolds Road, to be done in 2009, west and east of
Othello, respectively. Another project added a left turn lane at a dangerous intersection between SR 26 and South Thacker Road west of Othello. The most major of the recent projects include the addition and demolition of ramps at the
I-90 interchange. Another minor project, a bridge fixing project, was completed in 2007, located northeast of Dusty and southwest of
Colfax.
Collisions on the highway, blamed partly on Washington State University traffic, have prompted new initiatives to improve its safety. New
passing lane
A passing lane (North American English) or overtaking lane (English outside of North America) is a lane on a multi-lane highway or motorway closest to the median of the road (the central reservation). In some countries, lanes are described as bei ...
s are scheduled to be constructed by 2025 as part of the statewide transportation package passed in 2015, but fatal collisions in the 2010s led to petitioning from students and families for accelerated safety projects.
Spur route
SR 26 has a short
spur route in Colfax that runs for ,
connecting the highway to the southbound lanes of US 195. The two-lane road crosses the Palouse River and merges with US 195 in an
uncontrolled Y intersection
A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T i ...
at the north end of downtown Colfax.
In its annual traffic counts, WSDOT measured a
daily average of 3,200 vehicles using the spur route.
Major intersections
References
External links
Highways of Washington State
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington State Route 026
026
026
Transportation in Grant County, Washington
Transportation in Adams County, Washington
Transportation in Whitman County, Washington