{{Short description|Highway in Washington}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{good article}} {{Infobox road |state=WA |type=SR |route=11 |alternate_name=Chuckanut Drive |section=050 |map={{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|frame-height=290|frame-lat=48.600|frame-long=-122.418|zoom=10|type=line|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Washington State Route 11}}}} |map_custom=yes |map_notes=SR 11 highlighted in red |length_mi=21.30 |length_round=2 |length_ref=<ref name="log">{{WSDOT State Highway Log |year=2020 |pages=280–285 |link=yes |access-date=September 23, 2021}}</ref> |established=1964<ref name="rcw">{{cite web |url=http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=47.17.050 |title=RCW 47.17.050: State route No. 11 |year=1970 |author=Washington State Legislature |access-date=November 23, 2010|author-link=Washington State Legislature }}</ref> |direction_a=South |terminus_a={{jct|state=WA|I|5}} in Burlington |direction_b=North |terminus_b={{jct|state=WA|I|5}} in Bellingham |tourist=20px|alt=|link= Chuckanut Drive Scenic Byway |counties=Skagit, Whatcom |previous_type=SR |previous_route=10 |next_type=US |next_route=12 }}
'''State Route 11''' ('''SR 11''') is a {{convert|21.28|mi|km|2|adj=on}} long state highway that serves Skagit and Whatcom counties in the U.S. state of Washington. SR 11, known as '''Chuckanut Drive''', begins at an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) north of Burlington and continues northwest through several small towns and the Chuckanut Mountains to the Fairhaven district of Bellingham, where the highway turns east and ends again at I-5.
A segment of what is now SR 11 was originally added to the state highway system in 1895 as a Blanchard – Whatcom County line road. The highway became State Road 6 in 1905 and was named Waterfront Road in 1907. The road was incorporated into the Pacific Highway in 1913 and U.S. Route 99 (US 99) in 1926. After an inland bypass was designated by the state to become US 99 in 1931, Chuckanut Drive became '''U.S. Route 99 Alternate'''. During the 1964 highway renumbering, the road became SR 11. In 1987, SR 11 was realigned through Bellingham, shifting its northern terminus south to Fairhaven.
==Route description== [[File:SR11Chuckanut.jpg|thumb|left|SR 11 in the Chuckanut Mountains south of Bellingham|alt=Trees forming a canopy over the highway.]]
SR 11, also named Chuckanut Drive, begins north of Burlington at a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-5. The interchange includes two roundabouts that also connect with Burlington Boulevard and Josh Wilson Road. The highway travels northwest through farmland at the north edge of the Skagit Valley, generally following the BNSF Bellingham Subdivision, a railroad that also carries Amtrak's ''Cascades'' passenger trains.<ref name="WSDOT-Corridor1">{{cite web |date=October 28, 2019 |title=Corridor Sketch Summary – SR 11: I-5 Jct (N Burlintgon) to 12th St at Old Fairhaven Pkwy (Bellingham) |url=https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-10/CSS271-SR11-i5JctNBurlington-12thStatOldFairhavenPkwyBellingham.pdf |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |date=January 2016 |title=2015 Washington State Rail System By Owner |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1FA0FD58-C5AD-46A8-BE95-1D2FC904D66F/0/2015WashingtonRailSystem.pdf |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228082939/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1FA0FD58-C5AD-46A8-BE95-1D2FC904D66F/0/2015WashingtonRailSystem.pdf |archive-date=December 28, 2018 |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref> SR 11 then turns north at a junction with Bow Hill Road (formerly SR 537)<ref name="law1991">{{cite web |url=http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/1991-92/Htm/Bills/Session%20Law%201991/5801.SL.htm |title=Chapter 342, Laws of 1991: State Highway Routes – Revisions To (House Bill 5801) |year=1991 |author=Washington House of Representatives |publisher=Washington State Legislature |access-date=November 23, 2010 |author-link=Washington House of Representatives |archive-date=August 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120804092641/http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/1991-92/Htm/Bills/Session%20Law%201991/5801.SL.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> near the communities of Edison and Bow at the head of Samish Bay.<ref name="google">{{google maps |title=State Route 11 |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/48.4838689,-122.3357353/48.7136253,-122.4740198/@48.5993107,-122.5561719,47312m/am=t/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m9!4m8!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-122.4447889!2d48.6206121!3s0x54857538730ed24d:0x50aae474f812db45!1m0!3e0 |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref><ref name="NYT-Egan">{{cite news |last=Egan |first=Timothy |author-link=Timothy Egan |date=June 1, 2003 |title=Drivers' Education: Washington; A Northwest sampler: mountains, forest and sea |page=TR8 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/01/travel/drivers-education-washington-a-northwest-sampler-mountains-forest-and-sea.html |work=The New York Times |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref>
The highway crosses over the railroad near Blanchard and turns northwest to follow Samish Bay around the west side of Blanchard Mountain at the south end of the Chuckanut Mountains.<ref name="CMP">{{cite web |date=December 18, 2003 |title=Chuckanut Drive State Route 11 Corridor Management Plan |pages=49–54 |publisher=Whatcom Council of Governments |url=https://cdm16977.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16977coll2/id/2613 |via=WSDOT Library Digital Collections |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref> A sculpture of the Loch Ness Monster in Samish Bay is visible from the road and was installed by a local artist in the 2010s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Relyea |first=Kie |date=May 29, 2018 |title=Here's the 'monster' mystery behind the 'creature' in Samish Bay |url=https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article211124754.html |work=The Bellingham Herald |access-date=August 16, 2018}}</ref> Chuckanut Drive then passes a Taylor Shellfish oyster farm and traverses a pair of hairpin turns at Oyster Creek near Pigeon Point.<ref>{{citation|title=Best oyster bars in America|work=Travel & Leisure|author=Meredith Bethune |date=September 12, 2014|url=http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/best-oyster-bars-in-america/7|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150217174158/http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/best-oyster-bars-in-america/7 |archive-date=2015-02-17}}</ref> SR 11 crosses into Whatcom County and travels northwest through Larrabee State Park, the oldest state park in Washington, serving its trailhead parking lots, campgrounds, and a boat launch.<ref name="Times-Mile">{{cite news |last=McQuaide |first=Mike |date=February 17, 2010 |title=A detour worth taking: Your mile-by-mile guide to scenic Chuckanut Drive |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/outdoors/2011108581_nwwchuckanut18.html |work=The Seattle Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324034945/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/outdoors/2011108581_nwwchuckanut18.html |archive-date=March 24, 2010 |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref> Leaving the state park, the highway follows the Interurban Trail along Chuckanut Bay and through residential areas on the sides of the mountains.<ref name="google"/><ref name="Times-Mile"/>
Chuckanut Drive then enters the city of Bellingham and travels around an estuary near Teddy Bear Cove, a former nude beach, as it leaves the Interurban Trail.<ref>{{cite map |date=April 2019 |title=Interurban Trail |url=https://www.whatcomcounty.us/DocumentCenter/View/30889/Interurban-Trail-Map |publisher=Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref> It travels through a residential neighborhood and descends into Fairhaven, a historic business district on Bellingham Bay with an Amtrak station and the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, the southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway ferry.<ref>{{cite WSDOT map |year=2014 |inset=[https://web.archive.org/web/20201017220143/https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2017/08/31/highway-map-Bellingham.pdf Bellingham] |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref> The highway turns east onto Old Fairhaven Parkway and travels through a residential neighborhood as it heads uphill along Padden Creek. SR 11 then terminates at an interchange with I-5 in southern Bellingham, with the road continuing as Connelly Avenue towards the Lake Padden neighborhood.<ref name="google"/><ref>{{cite web |date=March 27, 2018 |title=Corridor Sketch Summary – SR 11: 12th St at Old Fairhaven Pkwy (Bellingham) to I-5 Jct (Bellingham) |url=https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-10/CSS490-SR11-12thStatOldFairhavenPkwyBellingham-i5JctBellingham.pdf |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref>
SR 11 is designated as the Chuckanut Drive Scenic Byway, a state scenic byway, and is maintained by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).<ref name="WSDOT-Byways">{{cite web |year=2018 |title=Washington State's Scenic Byways & Road Trips |pages=48–49 |url=https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2018/07/17/scenic-byways-travel-planner.pdf |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022060522/https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2018/07/17/scenic-byways-travel-planner.pdf |archive-date=October 22, 2021 |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref> WSDOT conducts an annual survey on state highways to measure traffic volume in terms of annual average daily traffic. Average traffic volumes on SR 11 in 2016 ranged from a minimum of 2,300 vehicles near Bow Hill Road to a maximum of 14,000 vehicles near Fairhaven.<ref name="ATR">{{cite report |year=2017 |title=2016 Annual Traffic Report |page=87 |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/Annual_Traffic_Report_2016.pdf |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |access-date=October 16, 2021 |archive-date=August 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812180326/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/Annual_Traffic_Report_2016.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Chuckanut Drive is generally two lanes wide with a narrow shoulder and has seasonal peaks in use based on recreation and farming.<ref name="WSDOT-Corridor1"/>
==History== {{infobox road small |state=WA |type=US 1961-Alt |route=99 |location=Burlington–Bellingham |length_mi= |length_ref= |formed=1937 |deleted=1967 }} Parts of modern SR 11 have been part of the state highway systems in Washington since 1895, when a road from Blanchard to Whatcom County became a state-maintained roadway.<ref name="law1895">{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aMY4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 23, 2010 |edition=1895 |date=March 22, 1895 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia, Wash. |page=461 |chapter=Chapter 168}}</ref> The road became State Road 6 in 1905 and was named Waterfront Road in 1907.<ref name="law1905">{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8g4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 23, 2010 |edition=1905 |date=January 16, 1905 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia, Wash. |page=22 |chapter=Chapter 7}}</ref><ref name="law1907">{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Isk4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 23, 2010 |edition=1907 |date=March 13, 1907 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia, Wash. |page=310 |chapter=Chapter 151}}</ref> A survey of a north–south highway from Blaine to Vancouver was approved in 1909,<ref name="law1909">{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cso4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 23, 2010 |edition=1909 |date=March 4, 1909 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia, Wash. |page=95 |chapter=Chapter 51}}</ref><ref name="map1909">{{cite map|publisher=Washington State Highway Commission|title=Washington State Highways|url=http://www.sos.wa.gov/history/maps_detail.aspx?m=38|access-date=November 23, 2010|year=1909|format=DjVu}}</ref> and the highway was built as the Pacific Highway in 1913. In Skagit County, the Pacific Highway utilized the pre-existing State Road 6.<ref name="law1913">{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W7w4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 23, 2010 |edition=1913 |date=March 12, 1913 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia, Wash. |page=221 |chapter=Chapter 65}}</ref><ref name="map1915">{{cite map|publisher=Washington State Highway Commission|title=Washington State Highways|url=http://www.sos.wa.gov/history/maps_detail.aspx?m=27|access-date=November 23, 2010|year=1915|format=DjVu}}</ref> Chuckanut Drive, a {{convert|20|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} section of the Pacific Highway in the Chuckanut Mountains, was opened as a gravel road during the spring of 1916 and paved in 1921.<ref name="HL-chuckanut">{{cite web |last=Dougherty |first=Phil |title=Chuckanut Drive opens in the spring of 1916. |date=June 20, 2011 |url=http://www.historylink.org/Index.cfm%3FDisplayPage%3Dabout/essays/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=9855 |work=HistoryLink |access-date=April 12, 2013}}</ref><ref name="WSDOT-History">{{cite web |title=Historic Highway SR 11 |url=https://wsdot.wa.gov/environment/protecting/history-archaeology-culture/historic-highway-sr-11 |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513001455/https://wsdot.wa.gov/environment/protecting/history-archaeology-culture/historic-highway-sr-11 |archive-date=May 13, 2021 |accessdate=December 14, 2021}}</ref> The Pacific Highway became State Road 1 in a 1923 restructuring of the highway system, at which time State Road 6 was completely replaced.<ref name="law1923">{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G784AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 23, 2010 |edition=1923 |date=March 19, 1923 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia, Wash. |pages=627–628 |chapter=Chapter 185}}</ref> When the U.S. route system was formed in 1926, the Pacific Highway became US 99.<ref name="map1926">{{cite map |author1= Bureau of Public Roads |author2= American Association of State Highway Officials |date= November 11, 1926 |title= United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials |url= https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_System_of_Highways_Adopted_for_Uniform_Marking_by_the_American_Association_of_State_Highway_Officials.jpg |scale= 1:7,000,000 |location= Washington, DC |publisher= United States Geological Survey |oclc= 32889555 |access-date= November 7, 2013 |via= Wikimedia Commons |name-list-style= amp}}</ref> In 1931, an inland bypass via Lake Samish was added to State Road 1 and US 99.<ref name="map1931">{{cite map|publisher=Washington State Highway Commission|title=Washington State Highways|url=http://www.sos.wa.gov/history/maps_detail.aspx?m=34|access-date=November 23, 2010|year=1931|format=DjVu}}</ref><ref name="map1933">{{cite map|publisher=Washington Department of Highways|title=Washington State Highways|url=http://www.sos.wa.gov/history/maps_detail.aspx?m=70|access-date=November 23, 2010|year=1933|format=DjVu}}</ref>
US 99 became Primary State Highway 1 (PSH 1) in 1937 and US 99 Alternate became the Chuckanut Drive branch of the main highway, running from Burlington to downtown Bellingham.<ref name="law1937">{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=http://leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/documents/sessionlaw/1937pam1.pdf |access-date=November 23, 2010 |edition=1937 |date=March 17, 1937 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia, Wash. |page=933 |chapter=Chapter 190}}</ref><ref name="map1939">{{cite map|publisher=Washington State Highway Commission|title=Washington State Highways|url=http://www.sos.wa.gov/history/maps_detail.aspx?m=28|access-date=November 23, 2010|year=1939|format=DjVu}}</ref> A 1964 renumbering introduced a new system of sign routes that was scheduled to go into effect in 1970. As originally planned, the Chuckanut Drive branch of PSH 1—already US 99 Alternate—would be co-signed as SR 11.<ref name="rcw"/><ref name="sr1">{{cite web|url=https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2005/04/26/Identification-of-state-highways.pdf|title=Identification of State Highways, Part 1|first=C. G.|last=Prahl|date=December 1, 1965|publisher=Washington State Highway Commission|page=7|access-date=November 23, 2010|archive-date=October 30, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030044024/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/6836215D-E301-43F3-895A-472BD2FDE86A/0/Identification.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> A freeway bypass of Bellingham on I-5 was opened to traffic on December 5, 1960, replacing US 99 through the city.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 5, 1960 |title=Bellingham Freeway in Use |page=1 |work=The Bellingham Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89610232/bellingham-freeway-in-use/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=November 30, 2022}}</ref> The US 99 Alternate designation was fully replaced with SR 11 when the new numbering system was codified in 1970.<ref name="rcw"/><ref name="map1966">{{cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Victoria, 1966 |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-victoria-1966.jpg |year=1966 |cartography=United States Army Corps of Engineers |scale=1:250,000 |access-date=November 23, 2010}}</ref>
SR 11 originally continued northeast through Downtown Bellingham to the Iowa Street interchange with I-5.<ref>{{cite WSDOT map |year=1967 |accessdate=November 30, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |year=1972 |orig-year=1952 |title=Bellingham North Quadrangle |type=Topographic map |scale=1:24,000 |url=https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ht-bin/tv_browse.pl?id=87bb6d5cd92deb66f8f255a75ff9dafe |publisher=United States Geological Survey |accessdate=November 30, 2022}}</ref> The state legislature created Secondary State Highway 1F (SSH 1F; also known as SR 110) in 1967, which would connect Chuckanut Drive in Fairhaven to I-5.<ref>{{cite Washington session law |year=1967 |ext=1st |chapter=145 |date=May 11, 1967 |title=Highways |page=2303 |accessdate=November 30, 2022}}</ref> A new highway on the corridor had been proposed by the Bellingham city government in 1966 and received approval from the Washington State Department of Highways in 1969.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chen |first=Stanford |date=December 12, 1971 |title=South Bellingham highway defended |page=11 |work=The Bellingham Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113918132/south-bellingham-highway-defended/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=November 30, 2022}}</ref> The {{convert|1.2|mi|km|adj=mid}} road—named Valley Parkway—was opened to traffic in November 1972.<ref name="Bellingham-1972">{{cite news |date=May 26, 1972 |title=Work to begin on new South Bellingham link |page=1 |work=The Bellingham Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113917463/work-to-begin-on-new-south-bellingham/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=November 30, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=November 5, 1972 |title=Valley Parkway or Whatever Open |page=32 |work=The Bellingham Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113917887/valley-parkway-or-whatever-open/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=November 30, 2022}}</ref> SR 11 was rerouted onto the new highway when it opened, replacing SR 110, per a provision passed in 1971 by the state legislature.<ref name="Bellingham-SR11">{{cite news |date=November 2, 1972 |title=Truck route now Highway 11 |page=2 |work=The Bellingham Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113918204/truck-route-now-highway-11/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=November 30, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite Washington session law |year=1971 |ext=1st |chapter=73 |date=May 18, 1971 |title=State Highway Routes |page=524 |accessdate=November 30, 2022}}</ref> Valley Parkway was renamed to Old Fairhaven Parkway by the Bellingham Planning Commission in 1986, following a campaign by businesses and boosters in Fairhaven to promote the neighborhood's historic center.<ref>{{cite news |last=Casey |first=Carolyn |date=October 25, 1986 |title=South Side street changes name |page=A1 |work=The Bellingham Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113918732/south-side-street-changes-names/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=November 30, 2022}}</ref>
==Major intersections== {{jcttop|length_ref=<ref name="log"/>}} {{WAint |county=Skagit |cspan=2 |location=Burlington |mile=0.00 |road={{jct|state=WA|I|5|city1=Seattle|location2=Vancouver BC}} |notes=Interchange, continues as Burlington Boulevard}} {{WAint |location=none |mile=6.90 |road=West Bow Hill Road |notes=Former SR 237}} {{WAint |county=Whatcom |location=Bellingham |mile=21.30 |road={{jct|state=WA|I|5|city1=Seattle|location2=Vancouver BC}} |notes=Interchange, continues as Connelly Avenue}} {{jctbtm}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{AttachedKML|display=title,inline}} *[https://www.angelfire.com/wa2/hwysofwastate/sr011.html Highways of Washington State] {{Portalbar|U.S. roads|United States}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington State Route 011}} 011 Category:Transportation in Skagit County, Washington Category:Transportation in Whatcom County, Washington 011 Washington State Route 011