US 101

Including Trunk and Alternate Routes

US 101 (trunk)

US 101 in Washington state was part of the original US Highway System of 1926. Oregon US 101 crosses the Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River and becomes Washington US 101. 101 heads north through Raymond, Aberdeen, and Forks. The highway gradually turns to the east and passes Lake Crescent, Port Angeles, and Sequim (pronounced skwim). Turning again, US 101 heads south along the west side of Hood Canal, past Shelton, and then turns east, ending at an interchange with I-5 that straddles the Olympia/Tumwater city limits. US 101 in Washington State is 365.56 miles long.

US 101 Alternate

Alt US 101 begins a couple of miles east of Ilwaco at the US 101 trunk and heads north, ending at the US 101 trunk a couple of miles east of Seaview. This alternate route provides a shortcut for traffic travelling between Astoria and Aberdeen. Alt US 101 is 0.61 miles long.

The roadway that is now Alt US 101 did not exist when the US Highway System was first created in 1926. This roadway opened 5 years later, in 1931, as a branch of State Road No. 12 and may have been signed as Alt US 101 when it first opened. Many road maps from the mid to late 1930s showed this road as a US route. Official recognition of Alt US 101 was not made by AASHTO until October 2006, however.