Washington State Route 904

State Route 904 (SR 904, named the Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson Memorial Highway) is a 16.96-mile (27.29 km) long state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, located entirely in Spokane County. The route starts at an interchange with Interstate 90 (I-90) and U.S. Route 395 (US 395) in Tyler and travels to Cheney, serving Eastern Washington University, before ending at I-90 and US 395 in Four Lakes. The roadway, named First Street in Downtown Cheney, is paralleled by three rail lines, a BNSF Railway route that carries Amtrak's Empire Builder, a Union Pacific route and the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad.

State Route 904
Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson Memorial Highway
SR 904 is highlighted in red.
Route information
Auxiliary route of I-90
Defined by RCW 47.17.845
Maintained by WSDOT
Length16.96 mi[1] (27.29 km)
Existed1964[2]–present
Major junctions
West end I-90 / US 395 in Tyler
East end I-90 / US 395 in Four Lakes
Highway system
← SR 903SR 906 →

The Central Washington Highway was established in 1913 and served Cheney via the current route of SR 904. The highway's designation was changed starting in 1923, when it became State Road 11. US 395 was extended southwest from Spokane to Pasco between 1933 and 1939. In 1937, State Road 11 became Primary State Highway 11 (PSH 11), which was concurrent with both US 395 and US 10 by 1940. A bypass of Cheney between Tyler and Four Lakes was planned at the same time as the Interstate Highway System. I-90 was created and PSH 11 was routed onto the future alignment in 1957. Secondary State Highway 11H (SSH 11H) used the original route and became SR 904 during the 1964 highway renumbering. The Cheney bypass was opened in 1966. After the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry during STS-107 in 2003, killing all seven crewmembers, the road was renamed the Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson Memorial Highway after the mission's payload commander who was raised in Cheney. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is currently planning to widen SR 904 between Cheney and Four Lakes from two to five lanes as part of the route development plan, but no funds have been made available for the work.

Route description
A sign on SR 904 commemorating Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson, one of the Columbia astronauts on STS-107.

State Route 904 (SR 904) begins at a diamond interchange with Interstate 90 (I-90), concurrent with U.S. Route 395 (US 395) in Tyler.[3] Traveling northeast over an unnamed creek to Babb, the highway becomes parallel with a rail line owned by BNSF Railway and used by Amtrak's Empire Builder route from Portland, Oregon to Spokane.[4][5] The BNSF line is paralleled by a Union Pacific rail line while the roadway and railways enter Cheney.[4] Within Cheney, the road is named First Street and passes Eastern Washington University.[1] SR 904 turns north, now parallel to the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad,[4] at an intersection with the Cheney–Spokane Road, which was the busiest intersection on the highway, with an estimated daily average of 13,000 motorists in 2007.[6] After the intersection, the road turns northwest to exit Cheney and intersect the old alignment of Primary State Highway 11 (PSH 11). Shortly afterwards, the roadway enters Four Lakes, passing Meadow Lake and leaving the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad before ending at a trumpet interchange with I-90 and US 395.[7][8][9]

History
  
Prior to the opening of the Cheney bypass in 1957, U.S. Route 395 (left) and Primary State Highway 11 (right) used present-day SR 904 to travel between Tyler and Four Lakes.

The first state–maintained highway to serve Cheney using the present-day route of SR 904 was the Central Washington Highway, added to the state highway system in 1913.[10][11] The highway served Pasco, Ritzville, Cheney and Spokane,[11] but the segment between Cheney and Four Lakes wasn't completed until after 1919.[12] The Central Washington Highway became State Road 11 in a 1923 restructuring of the highway system.[10][13][14] Between 1933 and 1939, U.S. Route 395 (US 395) was extended southwest from Spokane to Pasco, via Cheney.[15][16] The state roads became Primary state highways in 1937 and hence, Primary State Highway 11 (PSH 11) was established to replace State Road 11.[10][17] US 10 later became concurrent with US 395 and PSH 11 in 1940 after it was moved to a southern alignment.[18][19][20]

On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law, establishing a system of freeways that would later become the Interstate Highway System.[21][22] Included in the system was Interstate 90, which was to replace US 10 and become concurrent with US 395, while bypassing Cheney.[23] PSH 11, US 395 and I-90 were rerouted onto the future bypass in 1957.[24] The former highway from Tyler to Four Lakes became Secondary State Highway 11H (SSH 11H) in 1961;[25] the Cheney bypass opened on November 18, 1966.[26] During the 1964 highway renumbering, SSH 11H became SR 904, part of the new highway system, then named the "sign routes".[2][27] During STS-107, a NASA Space Shuttle mission, Lieutenat colonel Michael P. Anderson, a Cheney native, along with the rest of the Columbia's crew, were killed when it disintegrated during re-entry on February 1, 2003. SR 904 was posthumously renamed to the Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson Memorial Highway in his honor later that February.[28] The official dedication ceremony was held on August 1, 2003.[29] Increasing traffic accidents and traffic has caused the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to create plans to widen the roadway between Cheney and Four Lakes.[30][31][32] The plans, later named the route development plan, calls for a five-lane highway with new intersections built on the highway.[33]

Major intersections

The entire highway is in Spokane County.

Locationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Tyler0.000.00 I-90 west / US 395 south – Seattle, Pasco, RitzvilleI-90 exit 257; western terminus; interchange.
Four Lakes15.7325.31Old PSH 11
16.9627.29 I-90 east / US 395 north – Spokane, Colville, Kettle FallsI-90 exit 270; eastern terminus; interchange.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
  1. Washington State Department of Transportation (2008). "State Highway Log: Planning Report, SR 2 to SR 971" (PDF). Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  2. Washington State Legislature (1970). "RCW 47.17.845: State route No. 904". Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  3. Washington State Department of Transportation (February 23, 2009). "SR 90 – Exit 257; Junction SR 904 / Tyler / Cheney" (PDF). Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  4. Washington State Rail System (PDF) (Map). Cartography by United States Geological Survey. Washington State Department of Transportation. 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  5. Amtrak Routes – Empire Builder (Map). Amtrak. 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  6. Washington State Department of Transportation (2007). "2007 Annual Traffic Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  7. Washington State Department of Transportation (October 2, 2001). "SR 90 – Exit 270; Junction SR 904 / Four Lakes / Cheney" (PDF). Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  8. Google (July 28, 2009). "State Route 904" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  9. Washington State Highways, 2008–2009 (PDF) (Map) (2008–09 ed.). 1:842,000. Cartography by United States Geological Survey. Washington State Department of Transportation. 2008. § D8, E8. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  10. Department of Highways (1945). "Forty Years With the Washington Department of Highways" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  11. Washington State Legislature (March 12, 1913). "Chapter 65: Classifying Public Highway". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1913 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. p. 222. Retrieved July 28, 2009. e. A highway connecting with the Inland Empire Highway at Pasco, Washington; thence by the most feasible route through Connell, Ritzville, Sprague, and Cheney to Spokane, Washington, to be known as the Central Washington Highway.
  12. Rock Lake, 1919 (Map). 1:125,000. Washington 1:125,000 topographic quadrangles. Cartography by United States Geological Survey. Washington State University. 1919. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  13. Washington State Legislature (March 19, 1923). "Chapter 185: Primary and Secondary State Highways". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1923 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. p. 630. Retrieved July 28, 2009. SEC. 10. A primary state highway, to be known as State Road No. 11 or the Central Washington Highway, is established as follows: Beginning at Pasco in Franklin County; thence by the most feasible route in a northeasterly direction through Connell, Ritzville, Sprague and Cheney to a connection with State Road No. 2 west of the City of Spokane.
  14. Rand McNally Junior Road Map, Washington (Map). Rand McNally. 1926. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  15. Highway map, State of Washington (Map). 1:500,000. Department of Highways. April 1, 1933. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  16. Washington State Highway Map, 1939 (Map). Washington State Highway Commission. 1939. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  17. Washington State Legislature (March 17, 1937). "Chapter 190: Establishment of Primary State Highways". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1937 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. p. 939. Retrieved July 28, 2009. SEC. 11. A primary state highway to be known as Primary State Highway No. 11, or the Columbia Basin Highway, is hereby established according to description as follows: Beginning at Pasco on Primary State Highway No. 3, thence in a northeasterly direction by the most feasible route by way of Ritzville to a junction with Primary State Road [sic] No. 2, in the vicinity west of Spokane.
  18. Roe, JoAnn (1995). "Chapter 11 – Ski Town". Stevens Pass: The Story of Railroading and Recreation in the North Cascades. Mountaineers Books. p. 139. ISBN 0-89886-371-6. Retrieved July 28, 2009. The crude state of the Stevens Pass highway was a source of irritation to Wenatchee and Leavenworth residents for many years. The road was designated state highway 15 in 1937. In 1940, it was designated an alternate of Highway 10 (which ran over Snoqualmie Pass). Much work was done on the highway in 1949 and the State Highway Department declared it complete in 1951.
  19. Northwest, 1946 (Map). Rand McNally. 1946. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  20. Spokane, 1955 (Map). 1:250,000. Cartography by United States Geological Survey. University of Texas at Austin. 1955. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  21. Richard F. Weingroff (December 22, 2008). "The Greatest Decade 1956-1966, Celebrating the 50TH Anniversary of the Eisenhower Interstate System; Part 1: Essential to the National Interest". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  22. Weingroff, Richard F. (January–February 2006). "The Year of the Interstate". Public Roads. Federal Highway Administration. 69 (4). Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  23. The National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (Map). Federal Highway Administration. October 1, 1970. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  24. Washington State Legislature (1957). "Chapter 172". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1957 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  25. Washington State Legislature (April 3, 1961). "Chapter 21: Highways". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1961 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. p. 2625. Retrieved July 28, 2009. Secondary state highway No. 11H; beginning at a junction with primary state highway No. 11 in the vicinity of Tyler, thence northeasterly via Cheney to a junction with primary state highway No. 11 in the vicinity of Four Lakes: Provided, That the addition of highway No. 11H shall not become effective until such time as the interstate system by-pass of Cheney is constructed and under traffic.
  26. "Official Opening, Spokane Freeway, Four Lakes to Tyler". Olympia, Washington: Department of Highways. November 18, 1966. OCLC 41812460.
  27. C. G. Prahl (December 1, 1965). "Identification of State Highways" (PDF). Washington State Highway Commission, Department of Highways. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  28. "In Honor" (PDF). SR 904, Cheney to Four Lakes Project News. Spokane, Washington: Washington State Department of Transportation (1): 1. April 2003. Retrieved July 28, 2009. SR 904 has recently been renamed in honor of the late Columbia shuttle astronaut from Cheney, Michael P. Anderson. Dedication of the highway will be this spring.
  29. "SR 904 "Lt. Col. Michael Anderson" Highway dedicated" (Press release). Washington State Department of Transportation. August 1, 2003. Archived from the original on October 1, 2006. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  30. Washington State Department of Transportation (2003). "SR 904 – Cheney to Four Lakes". Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  31. SR 904 – Cheney to Four Lakes (Map). Washington State Department of Transportation. 2003. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  32. Washington State Department of Transportation (2003). "SR 904 – Cheney to Four Lakes – Accident Reports". Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  33. Washington State Department of Transportation (2003). "SR 904, Cheney to Four Lakes (MP 12.56 to MP 16.81) Route Development Plan" (PDF). Retrieved July 28, 2009.

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