History of Martin Way

This 1938 marker was located where Martin way meets the interstate at the bottom of the hill in the Nisqually bottom across from the gas stations. View is looking southeast.

Sign reads: "Nisqually. Here, in the Nisqually Valley, on the banks of McAllister Creek also known as Medicine Creek and by the Indians called She-Nah-Nam is the memorable spot where Isaac I Stevens, first Territorial Governor of Washington, sat in counsel with the Chieftains of the lower Puget Sound Indian Tribes, principally the Nisquallys, Puyallups, and Squaxin, December 24 to 26, 1854. The resulting Medicine Creek Treaty purchased land for white settlers, awarded reservations to the Indians, and concluded the first in a series of important Northwest Indian treaties."

The Nisqually Cut-Off
By Curt Cunningham

When the Pacific Highway was completed in 1924 it was the longest continuous stretch of concrete pavement in the world. This new highway eliminated the annoying elbow joints in the old road, reduced the steep grades on the hills, and removed the dangerous railroad crossings. The road was modern for its time and was enjoyed by all who drove it. But traffic would increase with each passing year, and the autos were becoming faster and larger, making this modern highway obsolete not long after its completion.

The next phase in the evolution of the highway was to avoid some of the worst places on the road where the terrain is difficult. The state began to construct new roadways to "cut off" these bad areas. This was to make the road safer and to help reduce transit times. One of first of these cut-off's to be constructed on the Pacific Highway was in Vancouver when the Salmon Creek cut-off was completed in 1925. This new 4 lane road between Vancouver and Salmon creek bypassed the old narrow road with its steep hill down to Burnt Bridge creek and its sharp turn at the bottom (Hazel Dell Avenue). The longest of these cut-off's was between Tacoma and Seattle when the new 4-lane highway was completed in 1927.

In 1936 one of the most important projects undertaken in Western Washington was the relocation of the Pacific Highway between Olympia and Fort Lewis. The crossing of the Nisqually river and its delta made necessary the construction of a 4,497 foot bridge. The new 4-lane highway was 40 feet and the north and southbound lanes were separated by a 4 foot neutral zone making the roadway 44 feet wide.

Because of the extreme length and width of the structures, a considerable amount of study was given to determine the most economical type of structure. After studies of many possible types of materials available, a design was adopted, which consisted of a series of 3-span continuous reinforced concrete T-beam units supported by 4-column reinforced concrete bents spaced 30 feet center to center. This construction afforded the utmost in uniformity and made possible the standardizing of a large number of construction processes. The very low price of $1.90 per square foot for the concrete approach structure substantiated the economic studies that were made.

The final unit in the crossing of the Nisqually river at this point was a 322 foot simple span through truss. This span was noteworthy as being the longest simple truss on the State Highway system in 1936, and because of the great width of roadway which it carries, was also the heaviest of its type at the time. A large amount of material in the truss and floor system of this structure is silicon steel and was designed for the tensile stress of 24,000 pounds per square inch in lieu of the 18,000 pound stress, which was used for ordinary steel.

The new 10 mile cut-off required a deep cut on the west hill of the valley. Thousands of tons of rock and dirt were excavated and deposited in a fill at the base. On the eastern side of the valley 2 overhead railroad crossings were needed. One over the 1915 Tenino-Point Defiance cut-off, and another over the old 1893 Olympia line. These concrete structures were completed in 1936, and today the old concrete bridge that carries the Olympia line is over the southbound lanes of the interstate, and the old concrete bridge that carries the Point-Defiance line crosses over the northbound lanes of the interstate.

The Nisqually cut-off was completed in the fall of 1937 making the Pacific Highway a continuous 4-lane road between Olympia and Everett. The new highway bypassed Lacey and connected to 4th Avenue a mile and a half east of downtown Olympia. In 1949 the 4-lane road was extended to Main street in downtown Olympia when State street became the southbound lanes and 4th Avenue became the northbound lanes, which continue to this day.

In 1958 construction of Interstate-5 had reached Lacey when the Olympia-Tumwater expressway was completed. This new addition to the interstate began at Trosper road south of Tumwater and bypassed Tumwater, Olympia and Lacey, and connected to the Nisqually cut-off just north of the college. In 1969 the Nisqually cut-off was itself "cut off" with the completion of Interstate-5 between the Lacey (Exit 109) to the Nisqually river (Exit 114).

The Nisqually cut-off is known today as Martin Way.

1936 Pacific Highway looking west from the old Olympia line railroad over crossing. Today these are the southbound lanes of Interstate-5. At the curve the highway crosses over to the southbound lanes of the freeway. This curve was removed in the 1960's when the freeway was constructed. The southbound lanes of the freeway now continue past the billboard and through the 3 trees in the background.

1936 Pacific Highway looking northeast from the Main-line over crossing. This is the opposite view of the above photo. You can see the billboard at the curve which is also in the above photo. This is where the old highway crossed over to the now southbound lanes. The freeway continues up the hill to the right about where the shacks are in the center of the photo.