State Route 260 (SR 260) 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

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

and Adams counties 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 sover ...

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 on ...

. The highway begins at SR 17 west of Connell, and travels through the Washtucna Coulee to Kahlotus, forming the southern terminus of SR 21 and the northern terminus of SR 263, before a

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with SR 261 to SR 26 in Washtucna. SR 260 had previously existed as a gravel road between Connell and Kahlotus in 1916 and was designated as Secondary State Highway 11A (SSH 11A) from

Yakima Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninco ...

to Connell and Secondary State Highway 11B (SSH 11B) from Connell to Washtucna in 1937. SSH 11A in the Connell area became an extension of SSH 11B in 1957, which in turn became SR 260 in the 1964 highway renumbering.

Route description

SR 260 begins at an intersection with SR 17 west of Connell in rural Franklin County. The highway travels east and turns southeast into Connell, traveling over a rail line owned by

BNSF Railway 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 ...

and used on the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northe ...

'' route between Pasco and

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

. After intersecting U.S. Route 395 (US 395) in the busiest section of the entire route, 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 ...

that received a daily average of 2,800 vehicles in 2011, the roadway continues east through the Washtucna Coulee and passes south of Sulphur Lake before entering Kahlotus. As SR 260 passes through Kahlotus, it forms the southern terminus of SR 21, going north towards

Lind Lind is a surname of both Swedish and Estonian origin. In Swedish, it is the word for the linden tree. In Estonian, it is the word for bird. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 36.1% of all known bearers of the surname ''Lind'' were residents ...

, and the northern terminus of SR 263, serving the

Lower Monumental Dam Lower Monumental Lock and Dam is a hydroelectric, concrete, run-of-the-river dam in the northwest United States. Located on the lower Snake River in southeast Washington, it bridges Franklin and Walla Walla counties; it is south of Kahlotus ...

. The road exits the city travelling east to Lake Kahlotus and Washtucna Lake, paralleling 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. ...

northeast to the beginning of a

with SR 261. The two highways enter the Adams County city of Washtucna and become Main Street before an intersection with SR 26, where SR 260 ends and SR 261 continues 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, ...

History

The current route of State Route 260 (SR 260) first appears in a 1916 map as a road between Connell and Kahlotus. The highway was designated as part of Secondary State Highway 11A (SSH 11A) from

to Connell and Secondary State Highway 11B (SSH 11B) from Connell to Washtucna in 1937, during the creation of the Primary and secondary state highway system. SSH 11A was re-aligned in 1957 and the route in the vicinity of Connell became part of SSH 11B. During the 1964 highway renumbering, SSH 11B became SR 260, being unpaved from newly created SR 17 to a short

with U.S. Route 395 (US 395) By 1981, the entire route was paved and the concurrency with US 395 was removed and replaced by an intersection with a bypass of Connell. No major revisions to the route of SR 260 have occurred since the 1980s. The western section of the highway between SR 17 and Connell was considered for removal by a legislative committee in 1986.

Major intersections

Washtucna Washington Main Street IMG 1246

References

External links

Highways of Washington State
{{State highways in Washington related to SR 26 260 Transportation in Franklin County, Washington Transportation in Adams County, Washington