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| Department overview | |
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| Formed | September 21, 1977 (1977-09-21)[1] |
| Preceding agencies |
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| Type | Department of transportation |
| Jurisdiction | State of Washington |
| Headquarters | 310 Maple Park Avenue SE Olympia,Washington, U.S. 47°02′05″N122°53′52″W / 47.034700°N 122.897661°W /47.034700; -122.897661 |
| Employees | 6,318 |
| Annual budget | $11.505 billion (2023–2025)[2] |
| Department executive |
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| Child department | |
| Website | wsdot.wa.gov |
TheWashington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT orWashDOT, both/ˈwɒʃdɒt/) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in theU.S. state ofWashington. Established in 1905, it is led by a secretary and overseen by thegovernor. WSDOT is responsible for more than 20,000 lane-miles of roadway,[3] nearly 3,000 vehicular bridges and 524 other structures. This infrastructure includes rail lines,state highways,state ferries (considered part of the highway system) andstate airports.[4]
WSDOT was founded as the Washington State Highway Board and the Washington State Highways Department on March 13, 1905, when then-governorAlbert Mead signed a bill that allocated $110,000 to fund new roads that linked the state. The State Highway Board was managed by State Treasurer, State Auditor, and Highway Commissioner Joseph M. Snow and the Board first met on April 17, 1905, to plan the 12 original state roads. The first state highway districts, each managed by a District Engineer, were established in 1918. During this period, the construction of highways began.[5]
In 1921, the State Highway Board was replaced by the Washington Highway Committee and the Washington State Highways Department became a division of the Washington State Department of Public Works. The first gas tax (1¢ per gallon) was levied and Homer Hadley started planning apontoon bridge acrossLake Washington, which would later become theLacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, which opened on July 2, 1940. In 1923, the State Highways Department separated from the Public Works Department and organized the first official system of highways, Washington's state road system. In 1926, the U.S. government approved the U.S. route system, which connected the country by road.11 U.S. Routes entered Washington at the time. Later in 1929, the Highway Committee was merged with the State Highways Department. TheLake Washington Floating Bridge and the originalTacoma Narrows Bridge opened in 1940. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed because of winds on November 7 that year, earning it the nameGalloping Gertie.[6]
The Washington State Highway Commission was formed in 1951.[7] On June 29, 1956,PresidentDwight Eisenhower signed theFederal Aid Highway Act of 1956, which started theInterstate Highway System.Originally, two Interstates entered Washington;[8] most work was not completed until the 1970s. In 1964, thestate highways were renumbered to thecurrent system.Metro Transit was created in 1972 and work on highways rapidly continued.The North Cascades Highway (SR 20) was completed in 1972, and the firstHOV lanes in Washington were installed onSR 520 that same year.[9]
A combined state department of transportation was proposed in the mid-1960s and gained the support of GovernorDan Evans.[10] Charles Prahl, who resigned as head of the Department of Highways, criticized the Evans administration's proposal to create a transportation "superagency" and the prioritization ofrapid transit in plans for the urban transportation system of Seattle.[11] The Washington State Department of Transportation was authorized by the state legislature and assumed the responsibilities of several agencies on September 21, 1977. William A. Bulley, the existing Director of Highways, was appointed as the state's first Secretary of Transportation to lead the new agency, which had absorbed state departments that had overseen highways, toll bridges, aeronautics, canals, and community development.[12][13] The State Highway Commission was renamed to the Washington State Transportation Commission, with its first meeting taking place on September 21, 1977.[7]
On February 13, 1979, the western pontoons of theHood Canal Bridge were swept away by a wind storm. In 1980,Mount St. Helenserupted and caused damage to many state highways, mainlySR 504. TheHood Canal Replacement Bridge opened on October 3, 1982, and theLacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge collapsed on November 25, 1990.[14]
In 1991, a smaller renumbering of state highways occurred. The renumbering produced some new highways and either realigned or removed highways from the system. In 1996,Sound Transit was formed and in the same year, the Washington State Transportation Commission adopted its first 20-year transportation plan. Throughout the 1990s, WSDOT and ODOT partnered withAmtrak to create a train service that went from Canada to Oregon, which later became theAmtrak Cascades. The2001 Nisqually earthquake damaged most state highways around theSeattle metropolitan area and most of the budget was turned over to thePuget Sound region to help rebuild and repair roads and bridges.[15][16]
Since the beginning of the 21st century, WSDOT has been tasked with rebuilding and renovating aging portions of the highway system across the state. Several sections with poor conditions required emergency repairs in early 2023, including a large hole in an offramp to SR 99 in Seattle and broken concrete panels on I-5 in Everett and I-90 near Issaquah.[17] WSDOT has also been tasked with replacement of 437fish barriers, mainly outdatedculvert designs, in Western Washington to comply with a federal court order to restoresalmon runs that are protected by Native American treaty rights. As of 2024[update], 146 of the barriers had been replaced or rehabilitated; the program is expected to cost $7.8 billion by 2030.[18]
WSDOT divides the state into six regions: theOlympic,[19]Northwest,[20] Southwest,[21] North Central,[22] South Central,[23] andEastern.[24] The Northwest Region is subdivided into three more regions, which areKing County,[25]Snohomish County,[26] and Baker (Whatcom,Skagit,Island, andSan Juan counties).[27]
WSDOT is overseen by theGovernor of Washington. The governor appoints a Secretary of Transportation who is confirmed by thestate legislature. The last Secretary of Transportation was Lynn Peterson, who served until February 5, 2016, when her appointment under GovernorJay Inslee was rejected by the Washington State Senate during the confirmation process.[28] Deputy Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar was appointed as Acting Secretary of Transportation by Governor Inslee on February 10, 2016.[29][30]
WSDOT has approximately 1,500 positions for winter operations, which includessnow plow crews for the major mountain passes crossed by state highways.[31] In the Snoqualmie Pass area, the agency hasavalanche control crews that use anM60 tank,howitzers, and a mechanical tram carrying explosives to clear snow buildup before it endangers the highway.[32]
WSDOT manages the official ferry service in Washington. WSDOT's ferry service, called Washington State Ferries, is the largest in theUnited States and third largest in the world.[33] Ferries had been in thePuget Sound since the 1950s.[34] There are 10 routes and 22 ferries currently operating.[35][36]
WSDOT began operating theTravel Washington intercity Bus program in 2007. There are currently four lines:
As of 2008, there were about 250 projects that were being planned or constructed by WSDOT.[37] Some of the most notable projects that were recently finished include theTacoma Narrows Bridge project, which built a second bridge adjacent to the original bridge,[38] theSR 167HOT lanes project, which added HOT lanes over SR 167's existingHOV lanes from theSR 18 area to 180th Street,[39] and theI-5HOV extensions project, which extended the HOV lanes inEverett from the I-5/SR 99/SR 526/SR 527 interchange to the I-5/US 2/SR 529 Spur interchange.[40]
Some of the main projects in the future include theAlaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel,[41] the replacement of theSR 520Evergreen Point floating bridge,[42] theferry terminals,[43] theI-5Crash barrier project[44] andSR 704.[45]
Based on numbers between 2020 and late-2023, approximately 1,340 accidents or crashes annually occur in WSDOT construction zones. The number of WSDOT employees that have died in construction zone accidents since 1950 is recorded at 61.[46]
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