The Pacific Highway Highway through Olympia
By Curt Cunningham

In 1846 when Edmund Sylvester and Levi Smith settled at what will become the city of Olympia, the only way to get there was to take a canoe from Tumwater. The first land connection between these settlements was a trail that was cut out of the forest in 1847. This trail was widened for wagons in 1853, and a wooden bridge over the Deschutes river was constructed between the middle and upper falls. In 1854 the first bridge to the east side of Olympia was built and in 1869, the first bridge to the west side was built.

Before 1853, the first road east of Olympia was known as the "Road to Chamber's Prairie." Between Tumwater and the Red Wind Casino, this old road is now known as the Yelm Highway. Just before it rounds the hill toward the casino, the old route continued north to a crossing of the Nisqually river at a point just south of Interstate 5. The Nisqually would camp there and ferry travelers over the river for a small fee. This is where William Packwood built his home and established the Packwood ferry. From the Nisqually river, the road ran up the hill to the fort.

In 1853 a new wagon road had been built from Tumwater and Olympia, eastward to Steilacoom. This new route began near Carlyon Road and continued eastward to Boulevard Road. From there it veered to the northeast around the north end of Chamber's Lake and connected to Lacey Blvd. SE. at Ruddell Road, and continued northeast on Lacey Blvd. to connect with the Steilacoom Road. The road between Olympia and Lacey that will become 4th Avenue, was built in 1858.

Pacific Highway Construction Begins

The first paving projects in Olympia began in 1914, when the city spent $135,000 on grading and paving work. By 1915, Olympia had 4 paved avenues with paved cross streets paralleling Main Street, leading from the business district to the residential section. By the spring of 1915, there was a good gravel road between Tenino and Tumwater, and a paved road between Tumwater and Olympia, From Olympia east to Lacey, the road was graveled and in good condition.

The first Federal funding for the State of Washington under the Federal Aid Road Act of July 11, 1916, was for the construction of 3.5 miles of one-course concrete pavement on the Pacific Highway extending from a point one mile east of Olympia toward Lacey. Work started on June 21 and was completed on December 15, 1917. This made a continuous paved highway between Tumwater and Lacey.

In the hot summer of August 1916, changes in the traffic ordinance raised the speed limit on the South Main Street and East 4th Avenue hills from 12 mph to 15 mph. Main Street and 4th Avenue were now designated as principle thoroughfares, which gave drivers the right-of-way over those entering those streets from a side street. Also that summer, the Capital City Auto Dealer's Association erected a sign or an arch over 4th Avenue and Main Street informing tourists that they were at the intersection of the Pacific Highway and the Olympic Highway.

On August 14, 1917, a motorist wrote in to the Oregonian about the condition of the Pacific Highway around Olympia; "A year ago the Pacific Highway east of Olympia was rebuilt from the ground up. This spring and summer it has been so rough, that it has tried the temper of everybody who rode over it. The stretch to Tenino, built two or three years ago, and the Olympic Highway, built at about the same time, are in the same condition. Yet we go on spending money on them every year, trying to keep them in somewhat decent shape and yet never having real roads, while there are scores of other, less traveled perhaps, but just as badly needed roads all over the country, that get no attention or almost none, because we haven't the money to spend on them."

On August 10, 1919, another motorist wrote to in the Oregonian to voice his complaint on the condition of the highway between Tenino and Olympia; "A great deal has been said, most of it unprintable, like five miles beyond Tenino to Olympia (around 14 miles) and up until the past few weeks, it certainly deserved all the "cussing" it got. It was so badly cut up with ruts and chucks that even though it is almost as level as the floor, no one who had any respect for his car would care to drive it at a speed exceeding 10 or 12 miles per hour. Lately a drag has been run over it and while one would wish it were better, it is now in a somewhat improved condition."

Federal aid post road project No. 25, was one of the most important improvements undertaken on the route of the Pacific Highway in 1919. The project consisted of paving 6.83 miles of highway south of Olympia, with a standard one-course concrete 20 feet wide. Federal aid amounting to $46,600 was granted for this project, and a Thurston county bond issue supplied $103,050.96. The contract for this improvement was awarded to Albertson, Cornell Bros. & Simpson on June 23, 1919, for $189,200.29. This project was completed on July 24, 1920. The final estimate amounted to $199,300.47. The completion of this work made the Pacific Highway a continuous paved road in Thurston county.

In 1921, the average traffic volume on the Pacific Highway east of Olympia was 1,929 vehicles, in 1924, it was 4,050, and in 1926, it was 7,891. The average traffic volume south of Tumwater in 1921, was 1,058 vehicles, in 1924, it was 3,193, and in 1926, 6,237 cars, trucks, motorcycles and wagons traveled the road.

The Pacific Highway Evolves into 4 Lanes

In 1936, a new 4 lane highway was completed between Lacey and Tacoma. From Lacey to the east side of the Nisqually river, this road is now known as Martin Way. On the west side of the valley, the state had to dig out a deep cut in the hillside to give the road an easy grade down the hill. In 1938, south of Olympia, a new 4 lane highway was completed between Trosper Road and Capitol Way. The Pacific Highway through downtown Olympia would remain 2 lanes.

After the earthquake in 1949, 4th Avenue in Olympia became the southbound lanes of the Pacific Highway, and State Avenue became the northbound lanes. Capitol Way was widened to 4 lanes, making the Pacific Highway between Trosper Way in Tumwater all the way to South Tacoma, a 4 lane road.

The Olympia-Tumwater Freeway

In 1958, the Olympia-Tumwater freeway was opened to traffic. This new freeway connected to the existing freeway from Centralia at Trosper Road, and reconnected to the Pacific Highway at Martin Way. The new freeway bypassed Tumwater and Olympia. Between Lacey and Tacoma the freeway would be completed in 1969.