THE EVOLUTION OF INTERSTATE 90 BETWEEN SEATTLE AND MISSOULA
Erick Johnson
Eastern Washington University
GEOG 330
October 1995
Revised 2006
Since the period of first white settlement, east-west travel in the Northwest has been a major concern. Terrain and distance were major challenges to road building. Early on, civic leaders saw the need to connect the cities of Seattle, Spokane, and Missoula with an east-west highway corridor. This corridor would eventually become Interstate 90. The evolution of this highway link had profound effects on regional economies, traffic patterns, and nearby built environments.
Historic Changes
The main east-west highway between Seattle and Missoula has seen many changes over the years. Originally, the route followed primitive military wagon roads. The two principal wagon routes were the Naches Pass road and the Mullan Road. The Naches Pass road went from Ft. Walla Walla through present-day Yakima, over Naches Pass, through the present-day cities of Enumclaw, Buckley, and Puyallup, to Ft. Steilacoom on Puget Sound. Congress appropriated $20,000 for its construction, and territorial governor Issac Stevens appointed Captain George McClellan to survey the route. In 1853 construction of the western portion was undertaken by local residents and this portion had just been completed when the Longmire emigrant party came over the pass, building the road as they went. (1) This route was never popular with travellers because it was quite steep in places; the "cliff" on the west side of the pass made it nearly impossible to travel from west to east.
The Mullan Road connected Ft. Walla Walla with Ft. Benton in Montana. This route passed near the present day cities of Spokane and Cheney and generally followed the present route of Interstate 90 through northern Idaho and western Montana. While the Naches Pass road wasn't popular, the Mullan Road was to become an important travel route because it passed through the Silver Valley and thus carried a lot of mining traffic.
Construction of the Mullan Road took place between March 1858 and September 1862. The person in charge was John Mullan, Captain 2nd Artillery, United States Army. In addition to building the road, Mullan was to survey possible routes for a transcontinental railroad. The only map available to him was the one produced by the Lewis & Clark expedition, which was quite primitive. Needless to say, there was a lot of guesswork involved in siting the road. The options considered were the Clark's Fork River, "St. Regis Borgia", Coeur d'Alene valley, and Lolo Pass. The route along the Coeur d'Alene valley and the "St. Regis Borgia" was the one chosen. The Clark's Fork route, which would have provided a nearly level route into Montana, was strongly considered but it would have been quite expensive to build a road along Lake Pend Orielle. After leaving Ft. Walla Walla the road proceeded northeast, passing seven miles to the south of Cheney and crossing Latah Creek near the Hangman Valley Golf Course. Then it proceeded over the hills to the Spokane Valley. In discussing the route east of Spokane, Mullan called the land "a natural wagon road." The road then went around Lake Coeur d'Alene, at first south of the lake then later north of the lake after flooding kept washing out bridges on the southern route. From there the road went up the Coeur d'Alene valley to Mullan Pass, then down the St. Regis and up the Clark Fork river valleys to present-day Missoula.(2) There are still several roads in the Northwest that follow the route of the Mullan Road.
Meanwhile, the Snoqualmie Pass area was being surveyed for a wagon road and a rail line. This survey work was undertaken by McClellan (who actually missed Snoqualmie Pass and found Yakima Pass instead), Aibel Tinkham, and J.H.H. VanBokkelen during the 1840's and early 1850's. They found that the pass was quite suitable for a road due to its low elevation. Nothing much came of these surveys until 1858 when the Indian trail through the pass was used by miners headed to the Colville area. By 1865 a crude wagon road was under construction over the pass and a wagon did pass through that year. King County improved the road in 1866-67. However, it was still quite a rough road to travel. It usually took seven to fourteen days to get from Walla Walla to Seattle. Also, sections of the road were wiped out every winter and were not rebuilt. From 1867 to 1900, various public and private interests tried to improve the wagon road. At one point in the 1880's tolls were charged. Finally, David Denny of Seattle made enough improvements to the road in 1899 to allow the first automobile to traverse the pass in 1905.(3)
Until the mid-20th century, overland travel by road was relatively rare. The roads were quite primitive, and were only open a few months of the year where they passed through the mountains. Travelling cross-state by road could take days to weeks depending on conditions. With the advent of the automobile, many municipalities formed good-roads associations to advocate and participate in highway construction. During the good-roads era (1910 - 1929), the route that would eventually become US-10 began to take shape. Local chambers of commerce and ordinary citizens participated in road construction, especially in Idaho. Sections of road constructed and improved in this manner were Appleway from the Idaho State Line to Coeur d'Alene, the road along Lake Coeur d'Alene, and the road through Fourth of July Pass.(4) The good-roads associations promoted a national road, called the "Yellowstone Trail", which would pass through or near several national parks in the Northwest. Tourist extras were established for the road, including a guidebook and emergency call boxes between Cataldo and Lookout Pass. (5) This road would include the route that would later become US-10. Today, one can still find traces of the old Yellowstone Trail in towns along I-90.
During the 1920's state governments began to get involved in highway construction. In the state of Washington, the state legislature designated three cross-state highways: the Pacific Highway (Primary State Highway 1), the Sunset Highway (Primary State Highway 2), and the Inland Empire Highway (Primary State Highway 3). These were routes promoted by the good-roads associations. In 1925 the federal government also assigned numbers to these roads, which were part of the federal highway system. The Pacific Highway became US 99, the Sunset Highway became US 10, and the Inland Empire Highway became sections of US 97, 410 (a.k.a. US 12), 195, and 395. The result was multiple names for the same road, a situation which would confuse Washington drivers for the next thirty years.
The major east-west route between Seattle and Spokane was the Sunset Highway. This road went around the south end of Lake Washington, through Renton, Issaquah, North Bend, over Snoqualmie Pass on the old switchback road between Denny Creek and the summit; through Easton, Cle Elum, and over Blewett Pass to Wenatchee (originally it was designated to go via the Vantage Ferry and up the east bank of the Columbia River to Wenatchee); through Waterville, Davenport, and Reardan to Spokane. From Spokane the highway followed Sprague Avenue and Appleway to the Idaho border.(6) This highway was also called state road # 7 from 1914 to 1920. In 1923, the state highway system was re-numbered, and the Sunset Highway was now known as Primary State Highway 2. In 1925 federal legislation designated this route as US Highway 10. (7)
In Idaho and Western Montana, US 10 generally followed the route of the Mullan Road. Here, the route was known as the Yellowstone Trail. It passed through Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene, along Lake Coeur d'Alene, over Fourth of July Pass, past the Cataldo Mission, through the Silver Valley mining towns of Kellogg, Osburn, Wallace, and Mullan; over Lookout Pass, then down the St. Regis and Clark Fork river valleys through St. Regis, DeBorgia, Superior, and Frenchtown, to the city of Missoula.
From the 1920's to the 1950's the route saw a number of subtle and major changes. The route was paved during these years. By 1922, the Sunset Highway had been re-routed over Blewett Pass.(8) In 1927, the original Vantage Bridge was built, replacing the "Kitty-Grant" toll ferry. (9) In the 1930's a tunnel was bored through the summit at Fourth of July Pass to avoid the steep grade at the top.(10) Also in the 1930's the road on the west side of Snoqualmie Pass was relocated to the old Milwaukee Road railroad grade, eliminating the switchback route (this is the route of the current eastbound lanes of I-90). New snow-removal technology allowed the pass to remain open all winter, which led to the establishment of the skiing industry on the pass. An added safety feature was the two concrete snowsheds built on the pass in 1950. (11) In the early 1940's, the highway between Moses Lake (Neppel) and Ritzville was completed, and the Cle Elum - Spokane leg of highway 10 was rerouted via PSH 3, 7, 18, and 11 through Ellensburg, Vantage, Moses Lake, Ritzville, Sprague, and Cheney.(12)
Probably the biggest change of all, however, was the completion of the Lake Washington Floating Bridge and Mt. Baker Tunnel between Seattle and Bellevue in 1940. This bridge was the first of its kind in the world and still is a Seattle landmark. The depth of the lake and soil conditions on the bottom of the lake led to the unique design. The bridge was controversial, as many residents on the east side of the lake had moved there for the rural way of life and didn't want it to change. However, residents of Mercer Island heavily lobbied the highway department in support of the project, predicting that the resulting development would be a huge money-maker. Once built, the bridge cut the commute to Seattle in half and led to tremendous growth in the communities on the east side of the lake. It also aided in the urbanization of Bellevue. Originally it was a toll bridge, but its construction led to such large traffic volumes that the bridge was paid for in nine years. By 1953, 23,000 cars a day were using this bridge.(13)
With the improvement of the cross-state highway route, travel became easier. More traffic used the highway with each passing year. In the early 1950's a plan of 4-laning the busiest stretches of highway began. One of these was the section of highway between North Bend and Easton. Survey work began in 1952. The project would be built in stages.(14) The first sections constructed were from the area of Ken's Truck Town to the middle crossing of the Snoqualmie River and from the upper crossing of the Snoqualmie (Denny Creek) to the Hyak ski area. These sections opened in 1953. (15) The next section of the project was construction of the highway from Hyak to Easton. This section involved a lot of blasting where the highway traveled along the shore of Lake Keechelus. This required the daily closure of the highway in the mornings during the summer of 1957. The closure probably wasn't as big of disruption as it would be today, however; the highway was only carrying 4500 vehicles a day in the 1950's. The stretch between the middle and upper crossings of the Snoqualmie River was also widened at this time.(16)
In the mid-1950's, the state of Washington began a program of building limited-access freeways in areas with the heaviest traffic. The first limited-access route on US-10 was the Spokane Valley Freeway, later incorporated into Interstate 90. The routing of this freeway was finalized in 1953. By placing the freeway route between Trent and Sprague avenues, it would divert traffic away from those busy arteries. The route began near Greenacres and proceeded west to the Spokane city limits where it connected with 2nd and 3rd Avenues. (17) The first section of the freeway opened was the section between the city limits and Pines Road, which opened in 1956. The freeway was modern in every respect. It had five interchanges, a median strip, mercury-vapor lights, and large, easy-to-read signs. (18) Once opened, the freeway reduced the number of accidents on Trent and Sprague due to the reduced traffic on those roads. The freeway itself also proved to be a safer route; it had only 23 reported accidents in 1956 compared to 322 on Sprague and 125 on Trent. (19) This was the first sign of bigger things to come.
The event that had the largest impact on the physical landscape, traffic patterns, and the economy was forthcoming. In 1956, the federal government passed the Interstate Highway Act. This act called for the construction of a nationwide network of controlled access multilane freeways. In Washington, one of these routes was the route of US-10. The route would now be known as Interstate 90. The construction of the freeway meant that many towns would be bypassed. After the Spokane Valley Freeway was built, the next areas to be bypassed were Moses Lake and Ritzville. The Moses Lake segment was constructed between 1957 and 1959. It bypassed Moses Lake on the south, then traveled west along the existing right-of-way to Burke Junction, near today's George. Total cost of this project was $4 million. Near Ritzville the section of I-90 from the US-395 junction to the Tokio weigh station was also constructed during these years. (20)
One of the more historic changes in the highway was the relocation of the highway at Vantage. The relocation was necessary not because of increased traffic, but because of dam building on the Columbia. A new Vantage Bridge and town of Vantage were built in 1962 south of the original sites before the reservoir behind Wanapum Dam inundated them. The new three-span continuous arch bridge and approach causeway were built at a cost of five million dollars. The 2,504 foot long bridge was 90 feet higher than its predecessor and it was 75 feet above mean reservoir level.(21) On October 4, 1962, traffic on US 10 was re-routed from the old bridge to the new bridge on Interstate 90. Soon after, the old bridge was dismantled and the piers and approach ramps blown up. The bridge was taken in pieces to Lyon's Ferry on the Snake River and reassembled where it remains today. (22) On May 21-23, 1963, the reservoir behind Wanapum Dam was filled. Many cars lined both the new and old routes to watch the old townsite and bridge approaches slip under the water, never to be seen again. Also lost in the inundation were some old Native American petroglyphs. (23)
Between 1966 and 1968, massive stretches of Interstate 90 in Washington were completed. These included the sections between Cle Elum and Vantage and also Tokio to Spokane. The Cle Elum - Vantage stretch was first proposed in 1959. The final route over Indian John Hill and Ryegrass Mountain was chosen from 16 possible routes. The total cost of the new freeway was expected to be around $25 million. (24) This stretch was built in two sections. The first 23 mile section between Cle Elum and Ellensburg was opened in 1967. This new section of four-lane presented motorists with scenic views of the Stuart Range, which couldn't be seen from the old highway in the Yakima River canyon. Occasionally, elk can be seen on this stretch of freeway. For comfort and safety, the highway department built a rest area at Indian John Hill. Where possible, the natural vegetation was left alone in the medians and highway shoulders. Because of its design, the project won numerous awards. The freeway cut the driving time between Cle Elum and Ellensburg by 20 minutes. It cost about $18 million to build this stretch. (25) The remaining section between Ellensburg and Vantage was completed in 1968. This section cost $16 million to build. It was estimated the new road would save 15 minutes of driving time over the old highway. Also in November 1968, the town of Sprague was bypassed when the Tokio to Fishtrap section opened. The freeway was constructed to provide views of Sprague Lake, and included a rest area built near the lake. The ribbon on this section was cut by Janine Gill, Miss Washington Highways 1968. (26) Previously, Cheney was bypassed in 1966 when the Tyler to Four Lakes section of road was opened. This stretch cost $6 million to build.(27) A rest area was constructed in the Granite Lake area, but for some reason it was removed in the early 1980's.(27a) By the end of 1968,the only stretch of 2-lane left on I-90 was in the vicinity of Schrag, between Moses Lake and Ritzville.
While the construction of a new freeway was seen as a good thing by state officials, residents affected by the new roads thought differently. New freeways meant the displacement of hundreds of people in their way, like my grandparents who had to move when the state bought their land for I-90 in Issaquah. Also, many people had environmental concerns about the new freeways. New roads meant increased traffic, and increased traffic meant that even more new roads had to be built. The era of litigation over freeways began in 1965 when Deaconess Hospital held up the construction of I-90 through downtown Spokane. The section of highway over Sunset Hill was constructed in 1961-62, but couldn't be opened for two years while the state and the hospital fought in court. (28) Once the court case ended, construction began on the final Spokane segment, from Maple to Helena streets (the city limits), in 1969. (29) Other court cases were fought over the location of the new westbound lanes in the Denny Creek area (30) and of the entire freeway through Wallace, Idaho. Both of these cases set these projects back years.
However, the biggest controversy of the entire I-90 construction period occurred in Seattle. Traffic on the Mercer Island Floating Bridge had been increasing steadily since the bridge was built. Heavy traffic led to the construction of the Evergreen Point bridge in the 1960's, but this did little to resolve the traffic problems on I-90. A new bridge had to be built on the interstate. A reversible lane system was added as a stopgap measure, but since the highway wasn't divided this caused confusion and added to the number of accidents occurring on this section daily. Original designs called for a brand new bridge between ten and fourteen lanes wide. The public, already upset with the proposed R.H. Thomson freeway, Bay Freeway, and I-605, was outraged. They didn't want Seattle to become paved over. Construction, which began in the 1960's, was halted by a lawsuit in 1972. This resulted in the infamous "ramps to nowhere" which loomed over Interstate 5 near the Kingdome in the 1970's and 1980's. However something had to be done, so engineers went back to the drawing board. They had to rethink the entire design concept. They formed a team with citizens, community leaders, economists, sociologists, ecologists, and landscape architects to help solve the problem. The resulting design was beautiful and functional. They came up with a six-lane freeway plus two transit lanes and a pedestrian walkway using both the existing bridge and a new parallel bridge. Instead of making a huge cut in Mt. Baker ridge, the westbound, transit, and pedestrian lanes would pass through it in a tri-level tunnel, with the eastbound lanes using the old tunnel. The freeway on Mercer Island and the Rainier Valley would be covered with lids and parks to reduce visual and noise pollution. Since Mercer Island residents didn't want to see, hear, or smell the freeway, this was seen as the perfect solution. Construction began again in 1981 with the building of the new East Channel Bridge and the removal of the "bulge" (the drawspan) from the floating bridge. A temporary roadway was constructed and opened in 1984 in order for the new covered freeway to be built. Meanwhile, the world's largest tunnel in soft soils was being constructed. The new floating bridge and tunnel were completed in 1989, and all traffic used these while the old floating bridge and tunnel were being renovated. Disaster struck the project, however, when the original floating bridge sank in a Thanksgiving weekend storm in 1990, taking a crane to the bottom with it. New pontoons had to be built for the eastbound bridge. Nevertheless, the project was completed and opened to traffic September 12, 1993, on time and within budget. The total cost of this project was a little over one billion dollars. The completion of the project was timely, for traffic levels had increased from 54,000 vehicles a day in 1981 to 135,000 vehicles a day in 1993. (31)
In Montana, the interstate was completed by the mid-1980's. In Idaho, numerous design difficulties had to be overcome. Three breaks in the freeway remained: the stretch along Lake Coeur d'Alene, Fourth of July Pass, and the Wallace section. The first of these to be completed was Fourth of July Pass. This involved making the road cut at the summit wider so an interchange could be built, moving the Mullan Road monument to another location, and putting curves back into a stream straightened during original freeway construction in the 1950's in order to restore fish habitat. This involved a lot of blasting which temporarily closed the highway at times. This work was completed in 1988. (32) Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene, Pinehurst, and Kellogg were bypassed in the 1960's; Mullan and Osburn were bypassed in the 1970's. However, the residents of Wallace put up a fight. There was little room for a freeway, so the original plan was to route it over the middle of town. Residents, fearing the city would be destroyed, put the whole town on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and demanded an environmental impact statement. This meant that the freeway project had to be redesigned. Wallace's fight received national attention when Charles Kuralt did a story on the town in 1989. Meanwhile, Wallace became famous for having the last stoplight on I-90. When the bypass was finally opened on the east edge of town in 1991, the town held a funeral for the light. It was a national media event. The funeral included pallbearers dressed in silk, a horse-drawn hearse, a 21-gun salute, and a speech by city councilman Mike Alldredge in which he contrasted the stoplight with the famous "red light district" which once thrived in the town. The stoplight was "buried" in the city mining museum. (33)
The stretch of road along Lake Coeur d'Alene was most difficult to reconstruct. The Idaho Transportation Department had to run the freeway onto the ridgetops and over a massive bridge. This stretch of freeway opened in 1992. Construction of this part of the freeway was not without problems. On May 17, 1990, a landslide dropped two earthmovers into the lake near Bennett Bay. For this mishap, the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality fined the Idaho Transportation Department $2000 for allowing dirt to go into the lake farther than permitted and another $2000 for the small amount of oil leaking from the earthmovers. (34) The incident also prompted a lawsuit by the Kootenai Environmental Alliance. The Idaho Transportation Department settled the dispute out of court by agreeing to extend the Centennial Trail along the old lakeshore right-of-way. The ITD held public hearings on what to do with the old right-of-way once Interstate 90 was moved up the hill. Some ideas from these hearings were turning the old road into a park-like drive, complete with pullouts and benches; boat launches, large parking lots, and keeping the old 4-lane road as a through road. (35) Many of these ideas were incorporated into the final plan for the old highway; however, it is no longer a through route because there wasn't enough room to build an interchange on the east end.
With the completion of these four projects, Interstate 90 was complete from coast to coast. With all the lawsuits over new freeway projects, it is doubtful that any more major revisions will occur along the route. Significant remains of the earlier routes can be found if one knows where to look. For this endeavor, local maps and atlases will help. When they are found, the traveller will find that the old routes can be a pleasure to drive. On these old routes, the traveller will find relics from automobile travel of an earlier era. Photos of some of these remains are included in the appendix.
Economic Effects
The construction of the highway between Seattle and Missoula led to increased cross-region travel. With each improvement to the highway, traffic increased. Where only a few cars were crossing Snoqualmie Pass in the early days, tens of thousands were crossing it daily in the 1980's. Even in 1969, before I-90 was fully completed, the freeway was carrying 20,000 cars a day during the busiest holiday weekends. Traffic jams formed in North Bend where there was a stoplight.(36) With improved roads travel time decreased, goods could be transported faster, people could travel to major cities easier, and the number of businesses serving travelers increased. The interstate system played a significant part in these changes, for it led to tremendous growth in cities that it passed through. Again, it cut travel times, reduced shipping costs, improved fuel economy, and raised property values. It increased the amount of goods that were shipped by truck. (37)
With construction of the interstate system, there was a redistribution of economic activities in communities served by freeways. Washington did a study in 1965 on the effects of freeway bypasses in the Centralia and Olympia areas on Interstate 5. In these cities, there was an initial fear that business would be lost when the bypasses were built. This study found that businesses serving through automobile traffic quickly relocated to freeway interchanges, freeing up the downtowns for local business traffic. Business as a whole in these cities increased due to the new traffic patterns. (38) This effect can be seen on I-90. In Wallace, there was an initial fear that business would decline because of the bypass. In fact, some businesses did suffer some loss, but others either saw the same amount of business or actually saw business increase.(39) In medium-sized cities such as Ellensburg and Moses Lake, businesses relocated next to the freeways. However, there were also some adverse effects (in some respects). The interstate also led to the expansion of the suburbs, especially around Seattle and Spokane. It was responsible for transforming Issaquah and North Bend from small rural towns into booming suburban metropolises, increasing traffic congestion and strip development. It also led to the demise of some small towns completely bypassed by the freeway. The town of Sprague is a good example of this.
Analysis
When we study all this information, we find evidence of the changing role of highways in the Northwest economy. Prior to the arrival of the transcontinental railroads in the 1870's and 1880's, overland travel was quite challenging. In addition, routes through the mountains were just beginning to be thoroughly explored. Those roads that did exist were quite crude. Terrain, distance, and climate conditions all hindered the feasible construction of usable roads. Travel across Washington Territory could take weeks. Therefore, it can be assumed that overland communications and goods exchange between different regions in the territory was quite difficult. As a result, those few settlers in the area tended to live near water bodies which they relied upon for transportation. Road travel was mainly westward in the form of immigration; once out here, people tended to stay put. Militarily, the lack of good roads could have hindered the movement of troops if Indian uprisings had been more severe.
With the arrival of the transcontinental railroad, many more people came to the region. Cities grew rapidly, and the increased population required more and better roads. These roads were needed to gain access to resources and to provide an alternative to rail transport. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, communities viewed good roads as a means to increase commerce and take some of the economic control away from the railroads. With better roads, competition would increase, freight rates would go down, new materials sources accessed, and new markets opened, allowing for more exchange of goods. However, the steep terrain in the Cascades and the Bitteroots proved to be the downfall of several early road-building efforts along the eventual route of I-90.
In the first half of the 20th century the construction of new roads, such as the Yellowstone Trail (a.k.a. Sunset Highway), remained the concern of community groups looking to increase commerce. This was especially true in those areas not conveniently served by railroads, such as the Idaho panhandle. In the Silver Valley it can be assumed that the construction of the Yellowstone Trail was aimed at increasing communications with Coeur d'Alene and Spokane, as well as promoting tourism. The automobile became popular as people realized that they no longer had to be bound to a railroad timetable. Their increased numbers dictated that better roads had to be built for them to be operated on. Once people saw that there was money to be made in auto-related industries, new roads and facilities were built. Once the technology for keeping mountain passes open all winter came into use we see extensive growth of the skiing industry in places such as Snoqualmie Pass and Lookout Pass. Thus, where we see stretches of US 10 being improved, we see greater mobility and an increase in commerce.
During World War II, war industries brought more people to the Northwest. After the war these people stayed and began to travel in large numbers. In addition, truck travel was also increasing. Washington, Idaho, and Montana saw that their regional highway link, US 10, had to be improved again to handle the increased traffic. Without the addition of federal Interstate Highway dollars, much needed improvements to US 10 probably would have been a long time in coming. While these improvements were certainly needed, they came with a price. As a result of the Interstate system even more people began to travel across the region, resulting in the interstate being just as clogged as the old two-lane was in places. Transport of goods by truck increased rapidly, speeding the demise of the railroads. Air pollution increased as more people drove the Interstate. Since people could travel longer distances faster, businesses districts in towns along the interstate began to dry up as people began to go to the larger cities for increased selection and lower prices. Neighborhoods were fragmented and people were forced to move. Freeway construction was quite expensive, and they could be expensive to maintain. Heightened environmental consciousness in the 1960's helped change attitudes about construction along the I-90 corridor. Eventually, there would be a backlash against new highway construction. On Mercer Island, where residents in the 1940's largely supported highway construction, residents in the 1970's were largely against it. Highways went from being desirable to being undesirable. The result was increased community participation in the design of new transportation and renewed emphasis on blending new roads in to the local landscape.
However, through it all the opening of a new or improved stretch of this important highway has been a reason to celebrate. Even the opening of the latest stretches of freeway in Wallace and Seattle merited speeches. When you get down to it, Interstate 90 has become a vital link between the cities of the Northwest.
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ENDNOTES
1. Kay Conger, "District No. 1,"Washington Department of Highways News, 3, no. 3, (Sept. 1953): 11.
2. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, Report on Construction of Military Road from Ft. Walla Walla to Ft. Benton (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1863), 2-25.
3. Yvonne Prater, Snoqualmie Pass: From Indian Trail to Interstate (Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1981), 15-43.
4. Spokane Spokesman-Review, "Apple Way to Wallace?", 30 Jan. 1911, 7; "On the New Coeur d'Alene - Wallace Apple Way", 12 Aug. 1911, 10.
5. Spokane Spokesman-Review, "Good Roads Picnic at Historic Spot", 22 June 1914, 8. "Highway Boosters Meet at Wallace", 5 June 1915. "Highway Tour is Good Roads Spur", date unknown. Also see Prater, p. 151-52; appendix.
6. Washington. Sixth Biennial Report (1914-1916), 11; and Prater, 48-49.
7. Washington. Sixth Biennial Report (1914-1916), Ninth Biennial Report (1920-22),Tenth Biennial Report (1920-24), Twelfth Biennial Report (1926-1928).
8. Washington. Ninth Biennial Report (1920-22), 88.
9. Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown, Ferryboats on the Columbia River (Seattle: Superior Publishing, 1974), 100-101.
10. Personal reconnaisance. From monument at the summit of Fourth of July Pass. see photo.
11. Prater, 55-64.
12. Washington. 17th Biennial Report (1936-38), 22nd Biennial Report(1946-48).
13.Charles E. Andrew, "Lake Washington Bridge", Washington Department of Highways News, 2, no. 10 (Apr. 1953), 5-9.
14. J.P. Haley, "New Project East of North Bend," Washington Department of Highways News, 1, no. 9 (Mar. 1952), 15.
15. Washington Department of Highways News, "Four-Laning Snoqualmie Pass," 2, no.7 (Jan. 1953), 2-3. "Snoqualmie Pass - Four Lanes Across the Cascades," 6, no.8 (Feb. 1957).
16. "Snoqualmie Pass Closed 5 to 1 this Summer," Washington Highway News, 6, no. 11 (May 1957), 9.
17. George W. Schultz, "District No. 6, New Spokane Valley Highway," Washington Department of Highways News, 2, no. 8 (Feb. 1953), 20-21.
18. John Chaffee, "Spokane Valley Freeway Nears Opening Date," Washington Highway News, 6, no. 4 (October 1956), 13.
19. Chaffee, "Valley Freeway Benefits Area, Accidents Drop," Washington Highway News, 7, no. 6, (Jan./Feb. 1958), 29.
20. Washington Highway News, "Much Work Underway on Rerouting PSH 18 South of Moses Lake," 7, no.3 (Sept. 1957), 10. "Interstate System Work in Basin Area Moving Fast," 7, no.6 (Jan/Feb. 1958), 23-24. "Ritzville Bypass Proposed," 6, no.9 (March 1957), 11, 33.
21.C.E. Sines, "Five Million Dollar Vantage Bridge Progressing Smoothly," Washington Highway News, 9, no.4 (Jan./ Feb. 1961), 32-33. Also see Ruby and Brown.
22.B.F. Hansen, "Old Vantage Bridge Comes Down," Washington Highway News, 10, no.4 (March/April 1963), 14. Also see Ruby and Brown.
23."Wanapum," Washington Highway News, 11, no.1 (1963), 9-10.
24. "New U.S. 10 Route From Cle Elum to Vantage Proposed," Washington Highway News, 8, no.4 (Jan./Feb. 1959), 24-25.
25. "Cle Elum to Ellensburg at 70 MPH!" Washington Highways, 14, no.3 (Sept. 1967), 5.
26. Edward C. Murphy, "Fifty New Miles," Washington Highways, 19, no.2 (Dec. 1968), 23.
27. Washington State Dept. of Highways, Official Opening - Spokane Freeway - Four Lakes to Tyler.
27a. E-mail from Mike Ohlson, 12/27/05
28. "Spokane Freeway Moves Again," Washington Highways, 12, no.5 (Aug. 1965), 4.
29. "Spokane Freeway - Interstate 90," Washington Highways, 20, no.4 (Sept. 1969), 4-5.
30 Susan Schwartz "The Highway Revolt," Seattle Times, 14 January 1973, B4-B5.
31. Schwartz. Also: "Annual Activities Report," Washington Highway News, 9, no.2 (Sept./Oct. 1960), 5; Washington State Department of Transportation, From Dream to Reality the I90 Completion Project, 21 October 1994, videocassette.
32. David Bender, "Idaho Continues $100 Million Effort to Close Three Gaps in Interstate 90," Spokesman-Review, 10 July 1988, B6.
33. Bender, "Sign of the Times: I-90 Stoplight Retired," Spokesman-Review, 15 September 1991, A1, A10. Cathy Free, "Engineer Pleased with his Wallace Freeway Work of Art," Spokesman-Review, 15 September 1991, B3.
34. Bender, "Agency Cited for Road Slide into Lake CdA," Spokesman-Review, 20 March 1991, B3.
35. Bender, "Ideas Flow for Use of I-90 Along Lakeshore," Spokesman-Review, 14 October 1991, A6; editorial, "Lake Problem is Opportunity," 15 October 1991, B6.
36. Harold Garrett, "Cool Campaign Unsnarls Traffic," Washington Highways, 20, no.4 (Sept. 1969), 21.
37. Art Martin, ed., "The Interstate Story," Washington Highways, 22, no.2 (April 1971).
38. Washington State Highway Commission, The Effect of a Bypass on Retail Trade (Olympia: Dept. of Highways, 1965).
39. Bender, "I-90 Transforms Wallace Stores," Spokesman-Review, 15 September 1991, B1.
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