Washington State Route 523

On Saturday, June 29, 2019, we drove little Washington State Route 523, which we could have driven almost any day in the past six months...

RCW 47.17.727
State route No. 523:

A state highway to be known as state route number 523 is established as follows:

Beginning at a junction with state route number 99 and Northeast 145th Street in Seattle, thence easterly to a junction with state route number 522.

At the northern edge of Seattle, Highway 523 begins at this intersection with SR 99. The eastbound lanes are in Seattle, while the westbound lanes are in unincorporated King County and north of the right-of-way is the city of Shoreline. We call it 145th.


Odd-numbered highways are typically north-south, but the state ran out of even numbers between 516 and 538, so they chose an odd number rather than an out-of-sequence number. So east we go, up and over a hill to a junction with I-5. Looks like a good spot for a light-rail station, right? Very pedestrian friendly.


We keep going due east, perpendicular to the glacier-carved hills and valleys. Up and down and up and down. Forested neighborhoods. A few stoplights later, we arrive at the junction with SR 522, right where it transitions from Lake City Way to Bothell Way. And that's the end of Highway 523. Nothing but a short city/county street ahead.

Highway 523 gets as many vehicles as I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass, but it's not as pretty.