Washington State Route 302

State Route 302 (SR 302) is a 16.87-mile-long (27.15 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, connecting the communities of Allyn-Grapeview and Purdy on the Kitsap Peninsula, located in Mason and Pierce counties. The highway travels southeast from SR 3 in Allyn-Grapeview along North Bay and turns east along Henderson Bay to Purdy. SR 302 intersects its spur route and turns south, ending at an interchange with SR 16 at the north end of Gig Harbor. The highway was created during the 1964 highway renumbering to replace Secondary State Highway 14A (SSH 14A) between Allyn and Purdy.

State Route 302
SR 302 is highlighted in red.
Route information
Auxiliary route of SR 3
Maintained by WSDOT
Length	16.87 mi^[1] (27.15 km)
Existed	1964^[2]–present
Major junctions
West end	SR 3 in Allyn-Grapeview
East end	SR 16 in Gig Harbor
Location
Country	United States
State	Washington
Counties	Mason, Pierce
Highway system
State highways in Washington Interstate US State Scenic Pre-1964 1964 renumbering Former
← SR 300 → SR 303

Route description

 

SR 302 crosses Purdy Creek on the Purdy Bridge into the community of Purdy, near its eastern terminus in Pierce County.

SR 302 begins as the Victor Cutoff Road at an intersection with SR 3 south of North Mason High School, located in the community of Allyn-Grapeview in Mason County. The highway travels south along the North Bay of Case Inlet into Pierce County and east across the Key Peninsula toward Henderson Bay. SR 302 continues east through Wauna and across a sandspit on the 550-foot-long (170 m) Purdy Bridge into the community of Purdy;^[3] the two-lane hollow box girder bridge crosses Burley Lagoon and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[4] In Purdy, the highway turns south onto Purdy Drive at an intersection with its spur route and ends at a semi-directional T interchange with SR 16,^[5] located within Gig Harbor city limits.^[1][6]

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 average annual 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 the highway was Purdy Drive between the Purdy Bridge and SR 16, serving 26,000 vehicles, while the least busiest section of the highway was in the Allyn-Grapeview area, serving 1,500 vehicles.^[7]

History

 

Damage to the surface of SR 302 near Allyn after the 2001 Nisqually earthquake

The Purdy Bridge, serving the community of Purdy on the Burley Lagoon, was constructed as a wooden swing bridge in 1892 by Pierce County. The wooden bridge was replaced in 1905 after the timber pilings collapsed and rebuilt in 1920 to include a steel swing span.^[8] The current two-lane hollow box girder span was opened on September 29, 1937 at a cost of $62,000 and became part of SSH 14A during the creation of the primary and secondary state highways.^[3][9][10] SSH 14A was extended west from Allyn to Belfair in 1955,^[11] extending along a 19.45-mile-long (31.30 km) route to connect Belfair and Allyn to Purdy.^[12] SSH 14A was replaced by SR 3 from Belfair to Allyn and SR 302 from Allyn to SR 16 in Purdy during the 1964 highway renumbering as part of the creation of a new state highway system.^[13] SR 16 was moved to a freeway bypass of Purdy in November 1978 and the old alignment on Purdy Drive was split between SR 302, heading south, and a new spur route, heading north.^[2][14][15] The highway was realigned in 1991 onto the Victor Cut-Off Road, which was transferred from the county to the state.^[16]

During the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred on February 28, 2001, a section of SR 302 between Allyn and the Key Peninsula was damaged and closed.^[17] The highway was repaired with federal emergency relief funds and state funding at a cost of $1 million, opening to traffic in 2003 after being replaced by a temporary gravel road.^[18] WSDOT is, as of January 2013^[update], planning to widen SR 302 between the Key Peninsula and Purdy and SR 302 Spur within Purdy as part of safety and congestion improvements scheduled to begin construction in spring 2014.^[19] A corridor study was conducted by WSDOT between 2008 and 2012 and proposed that a new highway north of Henderson Bay to bypass Purdy and have a more direct connection with SR 16 be constructed.^[20][21]

Spur route

State Route 302 Spur
Location	Purdy, Washington
Length	1.28 mi^[1] (2.06 km)
Existed	1987–present^[2]

SR 302 Spur, known locally as Purdy Drive, begins its short, 1.28-mile-long (2.06 km) route through Purdy at the east end of the Purdy Bridge, which carries SR 302 from Wauna.^[1] The highway travels north along Burley Lagoon from Peninsula High School before ending at a semi-directional T interchange with SR 16.^[22][23] WSDOT conducted a series of surveys to measure traffic volume in terms of AADT and calculated that between 1,900 and 11,000 vehicles per day used the spur route in 2011.^[7]

The spur route was originally part of a Primary State Highway 14 (PSH 14) branch connecting Port Orchard to Tacoma that later became SR 16 during the 1964 highway renumbering.^[13] SR 16 was moved to a freeway bypass of Purdy in 1978 and the former route was split between SR 302 and the newly created SR 302 Spur.^[2][14][15]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Mason	Allyn-Grapeview	0.00	0.00	SR 3 – Shelton, Belfair	Western terminus
Pierce	Burley Lagoon	15.69– 15.79	25.25– 25.41	Purdy Bridge
	Purdy	15.85	25.51	SR 302 Spur to SR 16 north – Port Orchard, Bremerton	Southern terminus of SR 302 Spur
	Gig Harbor	16.87	27.15	SR 16 south – Tacoma	Eastern terminus, interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1. Staff (2012). "State Highway Log: Planning Report 2011, SR 2 to SR 971" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. pp. 1345–1349. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
2. "47.17.545: State route No. 302". Revised Code of Washington. Washington State Legislature. 1987 [1970]. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
3. Long, Priscilla (November 14, 2004). "Purdy (Spit) Bridge is completed in Pierce County on September 29, 1937". HistoryLink. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
4. "National Register of Historic Places; Annual Listing of Historic Properties" (PDF). United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. March 1, 1983. p. 45. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
5. "SR 16: Junction SR 302/SR 302 SP Purdy" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. January 27, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
6. Google (January 1, 2011). "State Route 302" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 1, 2011.
7. Staff (2011). "2011 Annual Traffic Report" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. pp. 170–171. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
8. Lawrence, Michael (August 1993). "Purdy Bridge (Purdy Spit Bridge) - HAER No. WA-101" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
9. Holstine, Craig; Hobbs, Richard (2005). "Spanning Washington: Historic Highway Bridges of the Evergreen State". Washington State University Press. ISBN 0-87422-281-8. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
10. Washington State Legislature (March 18, 1937). "Chapter 207: Classification of Public Highways". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1937 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. p. 1010. Retrieved February 13, 2013. (b) Secondary State Highway No. 14B; beginning at a junction with Primary State Highway No. 14 in the vicinity east of Purdy, thence in a westerly direction by the most feasible route to a junction with Secondary State Highway No. 14A in the vicinity north of Allyn.
11. Washington State Legislature (1955). "Chapter 383". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1955 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature.
12. Staff (1960). (PDF). Washington State Highway Commission, Department of Highways. pp. 212–213. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 13, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
13. Prahl, C. G. (December 1, 1965). "Identification of State Highways" (PDF). Washington State Highway Commission, Department of Highways. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
14. "Purdy Bypass Gives Relief To Motorists". Transpo News. Vol. 29, no. 6. Washington State Department of Transportation. December 1978. p. 6. Retrieved November 4, 2021 – via WSDOT Library Digital Collections.
15. Washington State Legislature (April 13, 1987). "Chapter 199: Senate Bill No. 5413". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Session Laws of the State of Washington (1987 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature.
16. "Mason County Resolution 40-92" (PDF). Mason County Board of County Commissioners. March 31, 1992. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
17. "Nisqually Earthquake, Washington February 28, 2001". United States Geological Survey. February 5, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
18. "Anniversary of the Nisqually Earthquake: Transportation Damage Summary". Washington State Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
19. Fuchs, Steve. "SR 302 - Key Peninsula Highway to Purdy Vicinity - Safety & Congestion". Washington State Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
20. Donahue, John P. "SR 302 - Elgin Clifton Rd to SR 16 - Corridor Study". Washington State Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
21. "SR 302 Corridor Study - Elgin Clifton Rd to SR 16: Reasonable Range of Alternatives" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. January 12, 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
22. "SR 16: Junction SR 302 SP Purdy" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. December 27, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
23. Google (February 12, 2013). "State Route 302 Spur" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 12, 2013.

External links

Route map:

Template:Attached KML/Washington State Route 302

KML is from Wikidata

• Highways of Washington State
• SR 302: Elgin Clifton Rd to SR 16 Corridor Study