Monday, September 16, 2024

Washington State Route 599



On Sunday, September 1, 2024, we drove the short little freeway known as Washington State Route 599.

State route No. 599

A state highway to be known as state route number 599 is established as follows:

Beginning in the vicinity south of Seattle at a junction with state route number 5, thence in a northwesterly direction west of the Duwamish river to a junction with state route number 99 in the vicinity of South 118 street south of Seattle.



SR 599 @ I-5
Highway 599 starts at this interchange with I-5 that's only accessible from the northbound lanes. This entire highway is in Tukwila, yet the description in the code fails to mention the city.

SR 599 in Tukwila
We parallel the light rail line and take a slow curve. One mile in, we're already at the halfway point. The road is rather empty, compared to I-5.

SR 599 @ SR 99
We curve left and then right and then Highway 599 ends and the freeway becomes SR 99. SR 99 used to proceed south from this interchange on Tukwila International Boulevard, but that street was given back to the city in 2004, so now it's just two highways end-to-end.

Highway 599 really shouldn't exist. It would make much more sense for these two miles to be signed as SR 99. It's only been 20 years. Not too late to change it.

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