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SR 18 is a crucial highway that moves thousands of people and serves as an important truck and commuter route between western and eastern Washington. Although most of SR 18 from Issaquah-Hobart Road to Interstate 90 is within protected forestlands, the number of vehicles using the highway has increased with more people accessing adjacent recreational areas. Cities and businesses on either end of SR 18 have also grown significantly. This has resulted in more frequent congestion and an increase in collisions.
The 5-mile section between Issaquah-Hobart Road and Deep Creek has one lane in each direction, plus alternating truck climbing lanes. When funded for construction, WSDOT will widen this section of the highway to provide two lanes in each direction with a center median or barrier. Widening of the highway presents several challenges. There are up to 17 fish-bearing streams under the roadway and many contain fish barriers that must be eliminated. The corridor has also been subject to historic landslides, contains unstable soils and other natural resources that must be assessed and considered throughout the design process.
Benefits of improving the highway include:
As part of a separately funded project extending from Deep Creek to I-90, WSDOT is also improving this eastern end of the highway corridor to provide additional capacity, improve safety and reduce existing congestion. Construction for that project is expected to begin in 2022 and be open to the public in 2024. To learn more, you can visit the project webpage at: https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/I90/SR18ICImprove/default.htm.
The Washington State Legislature provided WSDOT with $26 million beginning in the 2019-2021 biennium for SR 18 design work.
This money will be used for:
There is no funding allocated for construction at this time.
Looking east on SR 18 near Issaquah-Hobart Road