State Route 906 (SR 906) 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 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 ...

, serving

Snoqualmie Pass Snoqualmie Pass is a mountain pass that carries Interstate 90 (I-90) through the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Washington. The pass summit is at an elevation of , on the county line between Kittitas County and King County. Snoqualmie ...

and its associated

ski areas A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and Kittitas counties. The highway travels southeast between two interchanges with

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

(I-90) in

and Hyak. SR 906 was formed out of segments of the former Sunset Highway that were bypassed by the construction of the

controlled-access 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 i ...

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

over the pass. Between 360 and 2,100 vehicles use the road on an average day in 2012.

Route description

SR 906 begins at a

half-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-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

, exit 52, in

, King County. North of I-90, Summit Road provides access to the

Alpental Alpental, named after the German word for ''alpine valley'', is both a valley in eastern King County, Washington, United States and a ski area in the valley. The valley is about 50 miles (80 km) east of Seattle, Washington and is north ...

ski area A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. ...

. Only the first of the highway is in King County, with the remainder of the highway in Kittitas County. After crossing the county line, SR 906 is bounded by Summit West on the west side of the highway and the Snoqualmie Pass Traveler's Rest

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 servi ...

on the east side. Access to the

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

is provided from the one of Summit West's parking lots. Just south of the rest area is an intersection with Yellowstone Road, which links back to I-90 at a full

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 ...

. Yellowstone Road was once a part of the

Yellowstone Trail The Yellowstone Trail was the first transcontinental automobile highway through the upper tier of states in the United States, established on May 23, 1912. It was an Auto Trail that ran from the Atlantic Ocean in Plymouth, Massachusetts, throug ...

, a cross-country auto-trail. Summit Central borders the west side of the highway with parking lots for the ski area on the east side of the highway, as the two-lane speed limited road enters the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of Hyak and continues southeastward. The highway comes to a four-way intersection, and SR 906 turns to the north to meet I-90 at exit 54. SR 906 Spur, a

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...

continues east through the intersection to serve 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) maintenance facility. Summit East is served by the roadway that continues south from the four-way intersection. A hybrid

partial cloverleaf A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...

serves as the eastern terminus of SR 906 as it reconnects to I-90. The roadway continues north past the interchange as Lake Mardee Road, named after the nearby lake of the same name. Every year, 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 2012, WSDOT calculated that, on average, 360 vehicles used the highway near its eastern terminus, and as many as 2,100 vehicles used the highway just west of Yellowstone Road. Truck traffic was not reported between 2009-2012, and traffic counts have remained steady over the same period.

History

Automobile roads over

date back to 1905, when the first car traveled over the pass. A one-lane road was competed by 1909 to promote the

Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition The Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, acronym AYP or AYPE, was a world's fair held in Seattle in 1909 publicizing the development of the Pacific Northwest. It was originally planned for 1907 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Klondike Gold R ...

in Seattle, complete with a race over the pass. The Sunset Highway was built as a two-lane road in 1915, and rebuilt along the abandoned

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

of the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experience ...

in 1926. The Sunset Highway was a part of the

, a transcontinental auto-trail. In 1926 the

United States Numbered Highway System 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 h ...

was established, and the highway over Snoqualmie Pass was designated U.S. Route 10 (US 10). The bridge that carries SR 906 over

Hyak Creek Hyak may refer to: * Hyak, Washington, United States * MV Hyak * Hyak (steamboat 1909) ''Hyak'' was a wooden-hulled steamship that operated on Puget Sound from 1909 to 1941. This vessel should not be confused with the sternwheeler ''Hyak'' wh ...

was built in 1928. The road was first able to be kept open all winter by 1931, and in 1934 it was numbered Primary State Highway 2 in addition to US 10. The highway was paved between 1931 and 1939. SR 906 came to be the name of the highway during the construction of Interstate 90 over the pass. Parts of US 10 were not up to the new

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

standards, so a new

limited-access highway A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

was built, bypassing older alignments of roadway. The roadway now known as SR 906 was a bypassed section of the old Sunset Highway that was not up to Interstate Highway standards on May 11, 1967.

Major intersections

Spur route

State Route 906 Spur (SR 906 Spur) is a

located entirely within the

of Hyak, Kittitas County. It branches from its parent just before SR 906's eastern terminus at I-90. The highway travels southeast, between I-90 and the Iron Horse Trail, and ends at a

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 ...

maintenance facility located at the north end of

Keechelus Lake Keechelus Lake () is a lake and reservoir in the northwest United States, near Hyak in Kittitas County, Washington. Approximately southeast of Seattle and a few miles southeast of Snoqualmie Pass, it is the source of the Yakima River. Keechel ...

. The old Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad-Hyak Depot is accessible from SR 906 Spur, which now acts as a trail head for the Iron Horse

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

. WSDOT conducts a series of surveys to measure traffic volume in terms of

AADT 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 ...

and calculated that 300 vehicles-per-day used the spur route in 2012. This number has remained steady between 2009 and 2012.

Major intersections

References

External links

*
SR 906 at AA Roads
{{State highways in Washington related to I-90

906 __NOTOC__ Year 906 ( CMVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 27 – Battle of Fritzlar: The Conradines defeat the Babenberg co ...

Transportation in King County, Washington Transportation in Kittitas County, Washington

Route description

History

Major intersections

Spur route

Major intersections

See also

References

External links