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Federal and state laws and regulations mandate that the transportation project development process take into consideration cultural resources that may be affected by project activities. This includes impacts to roadways at least 50 years old and deemed significant according to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) criterion for listing. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) maintains an inventory of highways that have been evaluated for the NRHP.
WSDOT recognizes the historical significance of roads and highways in Washington State and effort is underway to identify and inventory historic roadways eligible for the NRHP. The evaluation methods developed by WSDOT, and described in the Guidelines for Identifying and Evaluating the Historic Significance of Washington State Highways (pdf 57 kb) focus on engineered features that reflect the historic character of a roadway, including the original alignment, road prism, and site distance. Unemployed civilians and inmate work crews built many of Washington’s early roads and state highways under the federal relief programs of President Roosevelt’s New Deal. Segments of highway that are representative of early twentieth century highway engineering and design provide the experience of traveling on a truly historic roadway.
Preview a selection of historic highways in Washington State: