State Route 3 (SR 3) 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 ...

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 o ...

, serving the

Kitsap Peninsula The Kitsap Peninsula () lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound, in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal separates the peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula on its west side. The peninsula, a.k.a. "Kitsap", encompasses all of Kits ...

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

and Kitsap counties. The highway begins at U.S. Route 101 (US 101) south of

Shelton Shelton may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire *Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire *Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfor ...

and travels northeast onto the Kitsap Peninsula through Belfair to Gorst, where it intersects SR 16 and begins its freeway. SR 3 travels west of

Bremerton Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...

, Silverdale and

Poulsbo Poulsbo ( ) is a city on Liberty Bay in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is the smallest of the four cities in Kitsap County. The population was 9,200 at the 2010 census and an estimated 10,927 in 2018. The area was historically in ...

before it terminates at the eastern end of the

Hood Canal Bridge The Hood Canal Bridge (officially William A. Bugge Bridge) is a floating bridge in the northwest United States, located in western Washington. It carries State Route 104 across Hood Canal of Puget Sound and connects the Olympic and Kitsap P ...

, signed as SR 104. The highway is designated as a Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET) corridor under the National Highway System as the main thoroughfare connecting both parts of

Naval Base Kitsap Naval Base Kitsap is a U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state, created in 2004 by merging the former Naval Station Bremerton with Naval Submarine Base Bangor. It is the home base for the Navy’s fleet throughout ...

and is also part of the Highways of Statewide Significance program. SR 3 was established during the 1964 highway renumbering and codified in 1970 as the successor to Secondary State Highway 14 (SSH 14) from Shelton to Belfair, Primary State Highway 14 (PSH 14) from Belfair to Gorst, and PSH 21 from Gorst to the Hood Canal Bridge. PSH 21 was previously part of State Road 21 from 1915 to 1937, while PSH 14 was part of State Road 14 and the

Navy Yard 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 ...

from 1919 to 1937. The present SR 3 freeway was opened in 1968 in the Bremerton area and was extended north to Silverdale in 1973, to Bangor in 1981, and to Poulsbo in 1983.

Route description

SR 3 begins at 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 ...

with US 101 south of

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Mason County on the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...

. The highway travels north into Shelton at the end of

Oakland Bay Oakland Bay seen from the juncture with Hammersley Inlet, looking north. Oakland Bay is a tidal estuarial body of water near the town of Shelton, Washington. It is connected to the larger Puget Sound via Hammersley Inlet. The community of Bay ...

on 1st Street and crosses over a

Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad The Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad operates over 150 miles of track serving the U.S. State of Washington, and is headquartered in Centralia, Washington where interchanges with the BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad are made. History ...

line and Goldsborough Creek. SR 3 turns east on Pine Street and leaves Shelton, traveling northeast along Oakland Bay and a

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

rail line. The highway continues north along Oakland Bay and Case Inlet past heavily forested areas to

Allyn-Grapeview Allyn-Grapeview is a former census-designated place (CDP) in Mason County, Washington, United States. At the 2010 census, the CDP was separated into Allyn and Grapeview. The combined 2010 population of the two new CDPs was 2,917. The community- ...

, where it serves as the western terminus of SR 302 at

North Mason High School North Mason High School is a public high school located in Belfair, Washington. It was constructed in 1982-1983 as part of North Mason School District and was replaced in fall of 2015 as a 95,000 square foot building for grades 9-12. It is one of t ...

. SR 3 travels towards the southern end of the

Hood Canal Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins,SR 106 and SR 300 in Belfair. The highway continues northeast past

Bremerton National Airport Bremerton National Airport is eight miles southwest of downtown Bremerton, in Kitsap County, Washington. It is owned by the Port of Bremerton. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''general aviation ...

towards the community of Gorst in

Kitsap County Kitsap County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 275,611. Its county seat is Port Orchard, and its largest city is Bremerton. The county was formed out of King County and Jefferson County on ...

, where it forms the western terminus of SR 16. SR 3 becomes a four-lane

divided Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the ways that numbers are combined to make new numbers. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication. At an elementary level the division of two natural numb ...

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

and travels northeast along the

Sinclair Inlet Sinclair Inlet is a shallow embayment in the western part of Puget Sound in Kitsap County, Washington, USA. It has a maximum depth of 20 meters. It is the southwestern extension of Port Orchard, and it touches the shores of three of Kitsap County' ...

to an interchange with SR 304 in Navy Yard City, serving the city of

and

Naval Station Bremerton Naval Station Bremerton is a former station of the United States Navy that was merged with Naval Submarine Base Bangor into Naval Base Kitsap in 2004. Kitsap serves as host command for the Navy's fleet throughout the Pacific Northwest. It is home ...

. The freeway continues through western Bremerton past the

with SR 310 and the community of Chico along

Dyes Inlet Dyes Inlet is an inlet on the Kitsap Peninsula in western Washington, USA. Silverdale, Washington is located on the north shore of the inlet and has a marina, waterfront park, boat ramp, and boardwalk. The west shoreline is part of Chico, Washingto ...

. SR 3 travels west of Silverdale past the western terminus of SR 303 at the

Kitsap Mall Kitsap Mall is an indoor shopping mall in Silverdale, Washington, United States. Its anchor tenants include JCPenney, Macy's Northwest, Macy's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Kohl's, Barnes & Noble, Cost Plus World Market, and WinCo Foods; it has 73 reta ...

and east of

Naval Submarine Base Bangor Naval Submarine Base Bangor is a former submarine base of the United States Navy that was merged with Naval Station Bremerton into Naval Base Kitsap in 2004. History The Naval Support Base Bangor's naval history began in 1942 when it became a sit ...

in Bangor. The freeway continues north towards

past the termini of SR 308 and SR 305, which serve Keyport and

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

respectively. SR 3 travels north from Poulsbo as a two-lane road towards Port Gamble and ends at the eastern approach of the

at an intersection with SR 104. 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 2011, WSDOT calculated that the busiest section of SR 3 was between SR 16 in Gorst and SR 304 in Navy Yard City, serving 69,000 vehicles, while the least busiest section was southwest of Allyn-Grapeview at an intersection with Grapeview Loop Road, serving 6,600 vehicles. SR 3 is designated as a STRAHNET corridor within National Highway System, connecting Naval Base Kitsap to the state highway system between Gorst and Bangor, while the rest of the highway is part of the system, which includes roadways important to the national economy, defense, and mobility. WSDOT designates the entire route of SR 3 as a Highway of Statewide Significance, 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

WA-3 southbound from WA-304, Navy Yard City

SR 3 follows the route of a paved section of State Road 21 between Belfair and Port Gamble on the

that was added to the state highway system in 1915. The highway was later split between the

from Belfair to

and State Road 21 from Bremerton to Port Gamble in 1919. In 1923, the state highway system was restructured and the Navy Yard Highway was numbered as State Road 14, while State Road 21 kept its designation. The Navy Yard Highway, an unpaved highway connecting

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

to Charleston, was dedicated on June 12, 1923. During the creation of the primary and secondary state highway system in 1937, the paved State Roads 14 and 21 kept their numerical designations and became PSH 14 and PSH 21, respectively. PSH 21 was extended southwest from Bremerton on the former Navy Yard Highway to Gorst, while PSH 14 turned south at Gorst and headed towards Tacoma. A branch of PSH 14, named SSH 14A, was designated on a gravel road that connected the main highway at Belfair to US 101 in

. In 1955, PSH 21 was extended southwest along PSH 14 from Gorst to

, shortening PSH 14 to its current route as SR 16. During the 1964 highway renumbering, a new state route system replaced the existing primary and secondary state highways and SR 3 was designated along SSH 14A, PSH 14, and PSH 21 on its present route when it was codified in 1970. Construction of the freeway section of SR 3 began in 1963 between SR 304 in Navy Yard City and Silverdale west of Bremerton and was opened in February 1968 at a cost of $2.2 million. The freeway was extended north towards

in late 1973, and further north to

in 1981 after the arrival of ''Ohio''-class submarines at Bangor. The Poulsbo section was widened and extended through an interchange with SR 305 in the early 1990s. The freeway was originally intended to connect with SR 16 (itself upgraded to a freeway in the 1970s and 1980s) with a bridge across the Sinclair Inlet. In the 2000s,

WSDOT 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 ...

re-built the interchange between SR 3 and SR 303 in Silverdale at a cost of $26 million, paid for by a 2003 gas tax. The new interchange, opened in November 2007, split the western terminus of SR 303 between two exits, signed as 45A and 45B, and removed a loop ramp that created turning conflicts. WSDOT began study of a Belfair bypass in 1966 and completed a provisional report in 2010 that did not recommend constructing a bypass of the community, instead opting for a project to widen the highway and add safety improvements that began work in late 2013. The project was revived later in the decade and is scheduled to be completed by 2026, carrying the new alignment of SR 3 while the existing road remains as a business route through Belfair.

Major intersections

References

External links

Highways of Washington State
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington State Route 003

003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: *003, fictional British 00 Agent *003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) *1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway *''O03 (O2)'' and other related ...

Transportation in Mason County, Washington Transportation in Kitsap County, Washington