State Route 96 (SR 96) is a 6.75-mile-long (10.86 km) state highway located within Snohomish County in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels east from an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) in Paine Field-Lake Stickney through Mill Creek and an intersection with SR 527 to end at SR 9 south of Snohomish. SR 96 was established in 1991 and follows the route of a wagon road constructed by Snohomish County in the late 1880s to connect Snohomish to Seattle. The highway was closed during the Great Coastal Gale of 2007 after a culvert was damaged and its eastern terminus was re-constructed in 2009 to serve increasing volumes of traffic.
Route description
The eastern terminus of SR 96 south of Snohomish, viewed from SR 9
Every year, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (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 96 was its western terminus at I-5, serving 43,000 vehicles, while the least busy section is its eastern terminus at SR 9, serving 11,000 vehicles.[7]
History
Seattle Hill Road and 131st Street have existed since 1885 on their present route as part of a wagon road constructed by Snohomish County connecting Snohomish to Seattle.[8][9] The highway from Seattle Hill through Mill Creek was completed by the late 1950s and paved in the early 1960s by the county.[10][11] The road's westernmost segment was previously named "Post Road" and was extended to Paine Field in the late 1960s, a few years after its interchange with I-5 was opened in 1965.[12] SR 96 was added to the state highway system and codified in 1991, traveling east from I-5 to SR 9 via Mill Creek.[2] Seattle Hill Road was bypassed to the south by Cathcart Way in 2004, planned by the county government since 1978 to redirect traffic on the two-lane SR 96.[13][14] During the Great Coastal Gale in December 2007, Seattle Hill Road was washed out by a damaged culvert and subsequently closed until late January as WSDOT crews repaired the highway.[15][16] The eastern terminus of SR 96, an intersection with SR 9, was expanded between April 2008 and December 2009 by WSDOT, adding turning lanes and a traffic camera.[17]
A section of SR 96 near McCollum Park in northwestern Mill Creek was built over landfill that later settled, creating an uneven road surface. It required annual repaving by WSDOT and a plan to replace the section with a permanent bridge was proposed in the late 2010s.[18]
I-5 in Paine Field-Lake Stickney
SR 527 in Mill Creek
SR 9 near Snohomish
