Interstate 90 (I-90) is the main east-west corridor across Washington State—a corridor that is crucial to the state’s economy, and vital to the lives of those who travel it. What was once a trail crossed by perhaps a dozen people a year has now become a highly traveled roadway used by over 10 million people annually.
In 1905, the first motorized traffic crossed Snoqualmie Pass; the same year the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) was formed to create, operate, maintain, and preserve Washington’s expanding transportation system. In July of 1915, WSDOT officially dedicated the east-west route as the Snoqualmie Pass Highway and declared it the state’s first passable road between eastern and western Washington. In the late 1920s, WSDOT went on to pave the highway, and later, during the 1950s, expanded it from two to four lanes to meet the growing need for a safer, more reliable, cross Cascade highway. Prior to 1930, the pass would close for approximately six months out of the year. In the 1930s, WSDOT started making a concerted effort to keep the pass open year round. Despite efforts and improvements made to this vital cross country interstate, accidents, avalanches, rock slides, and extreme weather have continued to close Snoqualmie Pass for an average of 120 hours per year.
During the 1990s, WSDOT recognized the social, economic, and environmental effects of the pass, and identified a list of contributing problems on the state’s primary east-west corridor, those include:
- Avalanche zones which continue to close the pass.
- 50 year old deteriorating pavement requiring more frequent maintenance.
- Sharp curves that reduce sight distance, and are not designed for higher speeds.
- Unstable rock slopes which create hazards from falling rock.
- Rising traffic volumes that increase delays and make travel times unpredictable.
- Divided wildlife habitats which increase the potential for accidents.
Delays, pass closures, and unsafe travel conditions are no longer an inconvenience readily tolerated by the driving public. In 2006, the Washington State Legislature secured $525 million in funding to move forward with the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East project. This project’s goal is to: reduce the risk and impacts of avalanches and rock slides, accommodate future traffic increases, replace worn out pavement, straighten sharp curves, and construct wildlife crossing structures to connect habitats and minimize the risk to the traveling public.
Snoqualmie Pass has been a vital link between eastern and western Washington long before it was a state. Now, more than ever, the uninterrupted movement of cars, trucks, freight, and recreational vehicles across the Cascade Mountains is essential to our quality of life and the economic vitality of the state and the region. Safe, reliable passage is no longer the exception, but rather the expectation of Washington’s citizens. The I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East project will build a safer, more reliable freeway, helping to ensure the continued availability of I-90 as a primary statewide transportation corridor.