{{Short description|State highway in Snohomish County, Washington, US}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2014}} {{good article}} {{Infobox road |state=WA |type=SR |route=96 |spur_type=SR |spur_of=9 |section=153 |map={{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|frame-height=240|type=line|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Washington State Route 96}}}} |map_custom=yes |map_notes=SR 96 highlighted in red |length_mi=6.75 |length_ref=<ref name="log">{{cite web |author=Staff |year=2012 |title=State Highway Log: Planning Report 2012, SR 2 to SR 971 |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/roadway/pdf/HwyLog2012Statewide.pdf |pages=802–805 |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> |established=1991<ref name="RCW">{{cite web |url=http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=47.17.153 |title=47.17.153: State route No. 96 |year=1991 |work=Revised Code of Washington |publisher=Washington State Legislature |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> |direction_a=West |terminus_a={{jct|state=WA|I|5}} in Paine Field-Lake Stickney |junction={{jct|state=WA|SR|527}} in Mill Creek |direction_b=East |terminus_b={{jct|state=WA|SR|9}} near Snohomish |county=Snohomish |previous_type=SR |previous_route=92 |next_type=US |next_route=97 }}
'''State Route 96''' ('''SR 96''') is a {{convert|6.75|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} state highway located within Snohomish County in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels east from an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) in Paine Field-Lake Stickney through Mill Creek and an intersection with SR 527 to end at SR 9 south of Snohomish. SR 96 was established in 1991 and follows the route of a wagon road constructed by Snohomish County in the late 1880s to connect Snohomish to Seattle. The highway was closed during the Great Coastal Gale of 2007 after a culvert was damaged and its eastern terminus was re-constructed in 2009 to serve increasing volumes of traffic.
==Route description== [[File:WA-96 eastern terminus from WA-9.JPG|thumb|left|The eastern terminus of SR 96 south of Snohomish, viewed from SR 9]]
SR 96 begins as 128th Street at a diamond interchange with I-5 in Paine Field-Lake Stickney, located in suburban Snohomish County south of Everett.<ref name="int5">{{cite web |date=May 5, 2009 |title=SR 5 - Exit 186: Junction SR 96/128th St SW |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/tools/InterchangeViewer/pdf/SR005/005X186.pdf |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> The highway travels east and crosses the Interurban Trail and North Creek before turning southeast onto 132nd Street and entering the city of Mill Creek.<ref name="ct-interurban">{{cite map |title=Interurban Trail |year=2010 |publisher=Community Transit |url=http://www.commtrans.org/FAQs/Images/bikemaps/Interurban2010.pdf |format=PDF |access-date=February 23, 2013 |archive-date=August 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120824053730/http://www.commtrans.org/FAQs/Images/bikemaps/Interurban2010.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> SR 96 passes north of McCollum Pioneer Park and Henry M. Jackson High School before it intersects SR 527 at a commercial center known as Murphy's Corner. The highway continues east and passes Archbishop Murphy High School before turning northeast onto Seattle Hill Road and ascends the eponymous hill into Silver Firs. SR 96 descends southeast into the Snohomish River valley from Larimers Corner to Rees Corner on Lowell-Larimer Road, ending at an intersection with SR 9 south of Snohomish.<ref name="google">{{google maps |title=State Route 96 |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=128th+St+SW&daddr=WA-96+E%2F131st+St+SE%2FE+Lowell+Larimer+Rd&hl=en&ll=47.884565,-122.172575&spn=0.061589,0.169086&sll=47.878398,-122.112715&sspn=0.00385,0.010568&geocode=FZKe2gIdONa2-A%3BFeKP2gIdgsC4-A&mra=me&mrsp=1,0&sz=17&t=m&z=13 |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Watanabe |first=Ben |date=June 25, 2023 |title=No changes planned for rural roads near Mill Creek, Snohomish |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/no-changes-planned-for-rural-roads-near-mill-creek-snohomish/ |work=The Everett Herald |accessdate=June 27, 2023}}</ref>
Every year, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2011, WSDOT calculated that the busiest section of SR 96 was its western terminus at I-5, serving 43,000 vehicles, while the least busy section is its eastern terminus at SR 9, serving 11,000 vehicles.<ref name="ATR">{{cite web |author=Staff |year=2011 |title=2011 Annual Traffic Report |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/Annual_Traffic_Report_2011.pdf |pages=117–118 |access-date=February 23, 2013 |archive-date=June 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613043942/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/Annual_Traffic_Report_2011.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==History==
Seattle Hill Road and 131st Street have existed since 1885 on their present route as part of a wagon road constructed by Snohomish County connecting Snohomish to Seattle.<ref name="seatimes-history2006">{{cite news |title=Snohomish County: Highway's history |date=May 24, 2006 |url=http://seattletimes.com/html/snohomishcountynews/2003013940_timeline24n.html |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref><ref name="usgs-1897">{{cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Washington: Snohomish Quadrangle |date=October 1897 |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/washington/txu-pclmaps-topo-wa-snohomish-1895.jpg |scale=1:250,000 |format=JPG |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> The highway from Seattle Hill through Mill Creek was completed by the late 1950s and paved in the early 1960s by the county.<ref name="usgs-1958">{{cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Seattle, 1958 |year=1958 |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-seattle-1958.jpg |scale=1:250,000 |format=JPG |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref><ref name="usgs-1965">{{cite map |publisher=United States Geological Survey |title=Seattle, 1965 |year=1965 |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-seattle-1965.jpg |scale=1:250,000 |format=JPG |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> The road's westernmost segment was previously named "Post Road" and was extended to Paine Field in the late 1960s, a few years after its interchange with I-5 was opened in 1965.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 25, 1965 |title=3 Interchanges To Open Next Month |page=1 |work=The Seattle Times}}</ref> SR 96 was added to the state highway system and codified in 1991, traveling east from I-5 to SR 9 via Mill Creek.<ref name="RCW"/> Seattle Hill Road was bypassed to the south by Cathcart Way in 2004, planned by the county government since 1978 to redirect traffic on the two-lane SR 96.<ref>{{cite news |last=Velush |first=Lukas |date=September 10, 2006 |title=Why can't Cathcart Way be a highway? |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/why-cant-cathcart-way-be-a-highway/ |work=The Everett Herald |access-date=March 8, 2019}}</ref><ref name="seatimes-cathcart2004">{{cite news |last=Whitely |first=Peyton |date=May 14, 2003 |title=New stretch links Highway 9, I-5 |work=The Seattle Times |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20030514/highway14n/new-stretch-links-highway-9-i-5 |access-date=May 5, 2009}}</ref> During the Great Coastal Gale in December 2007, Seattle Hill Road was washed out by a damaged culvert and subsequently closed until late January as WSDOT crews repaired the highway.<ref name="herald-flood1">{{cite news |author=Staff |title=Seattle Hill Road closed between Mill Creek, Snohomish |date=December 3, 2007 |url=http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20071203/NEWS01/71203013 |work=The Everett Herald |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref><ref name="herald-flood2">{{cite news |last=Velush |first=Lukas |title=State fixes Seattle Hill Road quickly, cheaply |date=January 21, 2008 |url=http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080121/BLOG17/347159741 |work=The Everett Herald |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref> The eastern terminus of SR 96, an intersection with SR 9, was expanded between April 2008 and December 2009 by WSDOT, adding turning lanes and a traffic camera.<ref name="wsdot-sr9improvements">{{cite web |last=Chi |first=John |date=December 2009 |title=SR 9 - 176th to Marsh Road - Complete December 2009 |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr9/176thtomarsh/ |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |access-date=February 23, 2013}}</ref>
A section of SR 96 near McCollum Park in northwestern Mill Creek was built over landfill that later settled, creating an uneven road surface. It required annual repaving by WSDOT and a plan to replace the section with a permanent bridge was proposed in the late 2010s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Slager |first=Melissa |date=July 2, 2018 |title=Bumpy ride near McCollum Park getting temporary fix |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/bumpy-ride-near-mccollum-park-getting-temporary-fix/ |work=The Everett Herald |accessdate=February 28, 2022}}</ref>
==Major intersections== {{WAinttop|county=Snohomish|length_ref=<ref name="log"/>}} {{WAint |location=Paine Field-Lake Stickney |mile=0.00 |mile2=0.12 |road={{jct|state=WA|I|5|city1=Seattle|location2=Vancouver BC}} |notes=Western terminus, interchange}} {{WAint |location=Mill Creek |mile=1.37 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|527|name1=Bothell-Everett Highway|city1=Everett}} |notes=}} {{WAint |location=none |mile=6.75 |road={{jct|state=WA|SR|9|city1=Snohomish}} |notes=Eastern terminus}} {{jctbtm}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{AttachedKML|display=title,inline}}
*[https://www.angelfire.com/wa2/hwysofwastate/sr096.html Highways of Washington State] *[http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/seattle/default.aspx?cam=1045#cam WSDOT Traffic Camera: I-5 at 128th Street SW] *[http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/seattle/default.aspx?cam=1516#cam WSDOT Traffic Camera: SR 527 at 132nd Street] *[http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/seattle/default.aspx?cam=9262#cam WSDOT Traffic Camera: SR 9 at Lowell-Larimer Road]
{{State highways in Washington related to SR 9}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington State Route 096}} 096 Category:Transportation in Snohomish County, Washington