State Route 290

SR 290 (trunk)

When first posted as such in 1964, SR 290 started at Jct US2/US195/US 395 on the east side of downtown Spokane and headed ENE via Millwood and Trentwood and east via Otis Orchards to Jct US 10 near the Washington-Idaho state line. The route of SR 290 east of Trentwood was changed to its present route in 1967. SR 290 now begins at Jct US 2/US 395/(and perhaps SR 200) on the east side of downtown Spokane and heads ENE via Millwood, Trentwood, and Newman Lake to the Washington-Idaho state line where WA SR 290 ends and ID SR 53 begins. SR 290 is 18.56 miles long.

Before 1964, SR 290 had been SSH 2H.

SR 290 Spur

Spur SR 291 was added to the state highway system in 1977 and begins at I-90 Exit 282A and heads north to Jct SR 290. Spur SR 290 is 0.67 miles long

The I-90/Spur SR 290 interchange had originally been intended to link Spokane's long proposed North-South Freeway with I-90. This freeway would have replaced N Division St as US 2/US 395 and would have been located in the general vicinity of Hamilton and Nevada Streets. Community opposition stopped this proposed freeway in the 1970s. A more recent proposal for a N-S freeway, now called the North South Corridor, would connect with I-90 about 1.5 miles east of Spur SR 290 and pass thru the abandoned railroad yards at Hillyard. The newer proposal would not destroy as much housing as the earlier proposal. Community support exists for the North South Corridor but financial resources are limited. The freeway might be built in many small stages rather than a few big ones.