State Route 4 (SR 4) is a
state highway, serving the southwestern region of 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 sove ...
of
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, also known as Ocean Beach Highway, travels east along the
Columbia River from
U.S. Route 101 (US 101) at
Johnston's Landing through
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
,
Wahkiakum and
Cowlitz Cowlitz may refer to:
People
* Cowlitz people, an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest
** Cowlitz language, member of the Tsamosan branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages
* Cowlitz Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of ...
counties to an interchange with
Interstate 5 (I-5) in
Kelso. SR 4 is designated as part of the
Lewis and Clark Trail Scenic Byway, a
state scenic byway, as well as part of the
National Highway System.
The highway, along with I-5 and
SR 14, forms the former route of
US 830, which ran along the Columbia River from Johnston's Landing to
Maryhill
Maryhill ( gd, Cnoc Màiri) is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road.
The far north west of the area is served by Maryhill railway station.
History
Hew Hill, ...
from the creation of the
United States Numbered Highways
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 ...
in 1926 until 1968. US 830 was co-signed with
Primary State Highway 12 (PSH 12) from Johnston's Landing to Kelso and was created in 1937 as the successor to various
unsigned state highways.
Route description
![Naselle Road](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Naselle_Road.JPG)
SR 4 begins at an intersection with
US 101 at
Johnston's Landing, located on the
Naselle River in rural
Pacific County
Pacific County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,365. Its county seat is South Bend, and its largest city is Raymond. The county was formed by the government of Oregon Territory in Feb ...
. The highway, designated as the
Lewis and Clark Trail Scenic Byway,
travels southeast along the Naselle River and serves as the northern terminus of
SR 401 in the
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...
of
Naselle before leaving the Naselle River. SR 4 continues east along Salmon Creek and the
Deep River into
Wahkiakum County before it intersects the former route of
SR 403 in
Rosburg. The highway travels upstream along the
Grays River and turns southeast towards
Skamokawa, passing east of the
Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer on the shores of the
Columbia River.
SR 4 continues east through the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of
Cathlamet and intersects the former terminus of
SR 407 and the northern terminus of
SR 409. The highway travels into
Cowlitz County and intersects the western terminus of
SR 432, which serves the
Port of Longview
The Port of Longview is a deep-water port authority located in Longview, on the Columbia River in southwest Washington, United States. It was established in 1921 by Washington state law, and operates as a unit of local government. The port is o ...
, in
West Longview. SR 4 continues through the northern part of
Longview and passes the campus of the
Lower Columbia College before traveling onto Cowlitz Way. Cowlitz Way intersects the former
spur route of
SR 411 and crosses over SR 411 and the
Cowlitz River
The Cowlitz River is a river in the state of Washington in the United States, a tributary of the Columbia River. Its tributaries drain a large region including the slopes of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens.
The Cowlitz has a d ...
into
Kelso before SR 4 splits into a
one-way pair
A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities.
Descripti ...
traveling south through downtown Kelso.
SR 4 turns east onto Allen Street and continues to its eastern terminus, 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
I-5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
north of the
Three Rivers Mall
Three Rivers Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Kelso, Washington that opened in 1987, on the site of a former golf course adjacent to Interstate 5. Previously owned by General Growth Properties, the mall was one of 30 malls that was sp ...
.
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. Established in 1905, it is ...
(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 ...
(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 4 was the intersection with Catlin Street in Kelso west of the Cowlitz Way Bridge, serving 34,000 vehicles daily, while the least busy section was between Rosburg and Cathlamet in rural Wahkiakum County, serving less than 1,000 vehicles per day.
The entire route of SR 4 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 from US 101 at Johnston's Landing to SR 432 in West Longview,
which includes highways that connect major communities in the
state of Washington.
History
The present route of SR 4 was codified into the state highway system in 1915 as
State Road 19, connecting
Naselle,
Cathlamet,
Longview, and
Kelso along the
Columbia River.
The highway was built by
Pacific County
Pacific County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,365. Its county seat is South Bend, and its largest city is Raymond. The county was formed by the government of Oregon Territory in Feb ...
in the Naselle area and
Cowlitz County between
Stella and Kelso, while the
Department of Highways built a road connecting Cathlamet to
Skamokawa by 1915.
State Road 19 was officially designated as the
Ocean Beach Highway in 1919 and renumbered to
State Road 12 in 1923.
The highway was incorporated into
US 830 during the creation of the
United States Numbered Highways
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 ...
in 1926, traveling east along the Columbia River from
US 101 at
Johnston's Landing to
US 97 in
Maryhill
Maryhill ( gd, Cnoc Màiri) is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road.
The far north west of the area is served by Maryhill railway station.
History
Hew Hill, ...
.
The highway was paved with the
macadam method between Johnston's Landing and
Grays River and between Skamokawa and Kelso by 1931.
The remaining gap was constructed of gravel by 1933 and the entire highway was paved by 1939.
State Road 12 was replaced by
PSH 12 in 1937,
traveling west from
PSH 1 and
US 99 in
Chehalis to
PSH 13 in
Raymond
Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...
, south on
US 101 to Johnston's Landing, and east on US 830 to PSH 1 and US 99 in Kelso.
During the
1964 highway renumbering, US 830 replaced PSH 12 between Johnston's Landing and Kelso and was designated as part of the
Lewis and Clark Trail Scenic Byway during the creation of the
state scenic highway system in 1967.
US 830 was
decommissioned in 1968 and was replaced with SR 4;
however, the highway was proposed as a route for
US 12 before it was extended west via
White Pass
White Pass, also known as the Dead Horse Trail, (elevation ) is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada. It leads from Skagway, Ala ...
to
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
.
Major intersections
References
External links
Highways of Washington State
{{DEFAULTSORT:State Route 004
004 004, 0O4, O04, OO4 may refer to:
* 004, fictional British 00 Agent
* 0O4, Corning Municipal Airport (California)
* O04, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation
* Abdul Haq Wasiq, Guantanamo detainee 004
* Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine
* Lauda Ai ...
Transportation in Pacific County, Washington
Transportation in Wahkiakum County, Washington
Transportation in Cowlitz County, Washington