State Route 904 (SR 904, named the Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson Memorial Highway) is a long

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 of Washington, located entirely in Spokane County. The route starts at an interchange with (I-90) and (US 395) in

Tyler Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

and travels to Cheney, serving

Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington. It also offers programs at a campus in EWU Spokane at the Riverpoint Campus and other campus locations throughout the state. Founded in 1882, the university is ...

, before ending at I-90 and US 395 in Four Lakes. The roadway, named First Street in Downtown Cheney, is paralleled by three rail lines, a

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 ...

route that carries Amtrak's '' Empire Builder'', a Union Pacific route and the

Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad The Washington Eastern Railroad is a shortline railroad located in Eastern Washington in the United States. It runs on the CW Branch built by the Northern Pacific Railway from 1889–1890 and was previously used by the Eastern Washington Gatew ...

. The

Central Washington Highway U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs from California to the inland regions of Oregon and Washington. It travels north–south through Washington, including long concurrencies with Interstate 82 (I-82) ...

was established in 1913 and served Cheney via the current route of SR 904. The highway's designation was changed starting in 1923, when it became . US 395 was extended southwest from Spokane to Pasco between 1933 and 1939. In 1937, State Road 11 became (PSH 11), which was concurrent with both US 395 and by 1940. A

bypass Bypass may refer to: * Bypass (road), a road that avoids a built-up area (not to be confused with passing lane) * Flood bypass of a river Science and technology Medicine * Bypass surgery, a class of surgeries including for example: ** Heart bypas ...

of Cheney between Tyler and Four Lakes was planned at the same time as the Interstate Highway System. I-90 was created and PSH 11 was routed onto the future alignment in 1957. Secondary State Highway 11H (SSH 11H) used the original route and became SR 904 during the 1964 highway renumbering. The Cheney bypass was opened in 1966. After the Space Shuttle ''

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

'' disintegrated during re-entry during STS-107 in 2003, killing all seven crewmembers, the road was renamed the Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson Memorial Highway after the mission's payload commander who was raised in Cheney. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is currently planning to widen SR 904 between Cheney and Four Lakes from two to five lanes as part of the route development plan, but no funds have been made available for the work.

Route description

State Route 904 (SR 904) begins at a diamond interchange with (I-90), concurrent with (US 395) in

. Traveling northeast over an unnamed

creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: People * Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans ...

to Babb, the highway becomes parallel with a rail line owned by

and used by Amtrak's '' Empire Builder'' route from Portland, Oregon to Spokane. The BNSF line is paralleled by a Union Pacific rail line while the roadway and railways enter Cheney. Within Cheney, the road is named First Street and passes

. SR 904 turns north, now parallel to the

, at an intersection with the Cheney–Spokane Road, which was the busiest intersection on the highway, with an estimated daily average of 13,000 motorists in 2007. After the intersection, the road turns northwest to exit Cheney and intersect the old alignment of (PSH 11). Shortly afterwards, the roadway enters Four Lakes, passing Meadow Lake and leaving the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad before ending at a trumpet interchange with I-90 and US 395.

History

The first state–maintained highway to serve Cheney using the present-day route of SR 904 was the

, added to the state highway system in 1913. The highway served Pasco, Ritzville, Cheney and Spokane, but the segment between Cheney and Four Lakes wasn't completed until after 1919. The Central Washington Highway became in a 1923 restructuring of the highway system. Between 1933 and 1939, (US 395) was extended southwest from Spokane to Pasco, via Cheney. The state roads became Primary state highways in 1937 and hence, (PSH 11) was established to replace State Road 11. later became concurrent with US 395 and PSH 11 in 1940 after it was moved to a southern alignment. On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law, establishing a system of freeways that would later become the Interstate Highway System. Included in the system was , which was to replace US 10 and become concurrent with US 395, while bypassing Cheney. PSH 11, US 395 and I-90 were rerouted onto the future bypass in 1957. The former highway from

to Four Lakes became Secondary State Highway 11H (SSH 11H) in 1961; the Cheney bypass opened on November 18, 1966. During the 1964 highway renumbering, SSH 11H became SR 904, part of the new highway system, then named the "sign routes". During STS-107, a NASA Space Shuttle mission,

Lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Michael P. Anderson Michael Phillip Anderson (December 25, 1959 – February 1, 2003) was a United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut. Anderson and his six fellow crew members were killed in the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster when the craft disintegrat ...

, a Cheney native, along with the rest of the ''

's'' crew, were killed when it disintegrated during re-entry on February 1, 2003. SR 904 was posthumously renamed to the Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson Memorial Highway in his honor later that February. The official dedication ceremony was held on August 1, 2003. Increasing traffic accidents and traffic has caused the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to create plans to widen the roadway between Cheney and Four Lakes. The plans, later named the route development plan, calls for a five-lane highway with new intersections built on the highway.

Major intersections

References

External links

Highways of Washington StateI-90 Tyler Interchange (SR 904) WSDOT Traffic Camera
{{good article 904 Transportation in Spokane County, Washington