Washington State Route 121 Explained

State:WA
Type:SR
Route:121
Spur Type:US
Spur Of:12
Section:225
Map:Washington State Route 121.svg
Map Notes:SR 121 highlighted in red
Length Mi:7.67
Length Round:2
Established:1967[1]
Direction A:South
Terminus A: near Maytown
Direction B:North
Terminus B: near Tumwater
Counties:Thurston
Previous Type:SR
Previous Route:119
Next Type:SR
Next Route:122

State Route 121 (SR 121) is a state highway located entirely in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The highway serves Millersylvania State Park, forming a 7.672NaN2 loop between two interchanges with Interstate 5 (I-5) near Maytown. It is an auxiliary route of U.S. Route 12 (US 12).

The highway follows roads constructed in the early 20th century and maintained by the Thurston County government until their incorporation into the state highway system. The state government created Secondary State Highway 1M (SSH 1M) in 1937, initially connecting Rochester to Tumwater before its north end was truncated to Maytown in 1959. SSH 1M was renumbered in 1964 to the short-lived SR 801, which was then replaced by SR 121 in 1967. The Rochester–Maytown section of SR 121 was replaced by the route through Millersylvania State Park in 1991, severing its connection to US 12.

Route description

SR 121 begins at a partial cloverleaf interchange with I-5 and Maytown Road near the community of the same name, located east of Littlerock in southern Thurston County. It travels east along a railroad owned by Tacoma Rail, crossing Beaver Creek twice and entering a forested area.[2] [3] The highway then turns north onto Tilley Road and crosses over the railroad, traveling around Deep Lake and reaching Millersylvania State Park. SR 121 travels through the state park, serving its main entrance and the park headquarters,[4] and continues north across Salmon Creek into farmland. The highway turns west onto 93rd Avenue Southeast near the runway of Olympia Regional Airport and travels through an industrial area and past a truck stop before reaching its northern terminus an interchange with I-5 in southern Tumwater.[3]

The two-lane highway is 7.67miles long and travels through predominantly rural areas, serving primarily as a connector to Millersylvania State Park and Olympia Regional Airport.[3] SR 121 is maintained by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), which conducts an annual survey on state highways to measure traffic volume in terms of annual average daily traffic. Average traffic volumes on the highway in 2016 ranged from a minimum of 1,000 vehicles at its turn onto Tilley Road to a maximum of 16,000 vehicles near its northern interchange with I-5.[5]

History

A road following the Milwaukee Road from Littlerock to Maytown and continuing north towards Bush Prairie in modern-day Tumwater was constructed by the 1910s.[6] [7] Millersylvania State Park was established in 1924 and the north–south road through it (named Tilley Road) was improved and paved by its Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the 1930s.[8] [9] The westernmost section of the road near Littlerock was incorporated into the state highway system as part of Secondary State Highway 1M (SSH 1M), created in 1937 to connect Rochester to Tumwater.[10] [11] Maytown Road remained under Thurston County's maintenance, which included a major rebuilding project in 1954 following the completion of a freeway interchange with U.S. Route 99 (US 99), later part of I-5.[12]

SSH 1M was truncated to the Maytown interchange in 1959, taking over a portion of Maytown Road.[13] [14] During the 1964 renumbering of state highways, which introduced a new numbering system, SSH 1M was replaced with SR 801, a auxiliary route of SR 8.[15] Following the replacement of SR 8 by the cross-state extension of US 12 in 1967,[16] the highway was renumbered to SR 121.[17] The designation was previously used by a branch of SR 12 (now SR 14) between Bingen and White Salmon that was renumbered to SR 141.[18] [19]

In 1991, the Rochester–Maytown highway was removed from the state highway system and replaced by a loop through Millersylvania State Park as the new alignment of SR 121.[20] The new alignment would use Maytown Road, Tilley Road, and Lathrop Road (now 93rd Avenue Southwest), terminating at an interchange with I-5 that opened in 1968.[21] The rerouting also severed the connection between SR 121 and its parent route, US 12.[22]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1970 . revised 1991 . RCW 47.17.225: State route No. 121 . . . September 29, 2021 . September 29, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210929073041/https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=47.17.225 . live .
  2. December 2004 . Rail Lines in Thurston County and Surrounding Areas . . September 29, 2021.
  3. Web site: October 8, 2018 . Corridor Sketch Summary – SR 121: I-5 Jct (Maytown) to I-5 Jct (Tumwater Vic) . Washington State Department of Transportation . September 29, 2021 . October 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201001135350/https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2019/01/14/CSS318-SR121-i5JctMaytown-i5JctTumwaterVic.pdf . live .
  4. February 19, 2020 . Millersylvania State Park . . September 29, 2021 . May 7, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210507013708/https://www.parks.state.wa.us/DocumentCenter/View/1909/Millersylvania-State-Park-PDF . live .
  5. 2017 . 2016 Annual Traffic Report . 144 . Washington State Department of Transportation . September 29, 2021 . August 12, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170812180326/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/travel/pdf/Annual_Traffic_Report_2016.pdf . live .
  6. 1916 . Washington: Chehalis Quadrangle . Topographic map . 1:125,000 . . September 29, 2021 . September 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930212048/https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ht-bin/tv_browse.pl?id=ad1a8e074a1ef8b7c16a56de0f7cd2da . live .
  7. News: March 31, 1931 . Road Program Requests Made . 12 . . . September 29, 2021 . September 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930212049/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86224059/road-program-requests-made/ . live .
  8. Web site: Millersylvania State Park . Washington State Parks . September 29, 2021 . May 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210517022755/https://parks.state.wa.us/546/Millersylvania . live .
  9. 1944 . Washington: Tenino Quadrangle, 15-Minute Series . Topographic map . 1:62,500 . United States Geological Survey . September 29, 2021 . September 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930212048/https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ht-bin/tv_browse.pl?id=2515433ad20b32285ada258d74c6733d . live .
  10. Book: March 18, 1937 . Session Laws of the State of Washington, 1937 . Chapter 207: Classification of Public Highways . 996 . http://leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/documents/sessionlaw/1937c207.pdf . Washington State Legislature . September 29, 2021 . August 31, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210831000014/https://leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/documents/sessionlaw/1937c207.pdf . live .
  11. 1939 . December 13, 2010.
  12. News: September 3, 1954 . Maytown Road Job Advancing . 7 . . Newspapers.com . September 29, 2021 . September 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930212050/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86223732/maytown-road-job-advancing/ . live .
  13. Book: March 24, 1959 . Session Laws of the State of Washington, 1959 . Chapter 319: Highways . 1523 . https://leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/documents/sessionlaw/1959c319.pdf . Washington State Legislature . September 29, 2021 . October 21, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201021023545/http://leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/documents/sessionlaw/1959c319.pdf . live .
  14. 1960 . September 29, 2021.
  15. Web site: December 1, 1965 . Identification of State Highways: Legislative Highway Numbers With Corresponding Sign Route Numbers . 16 . Washington State Highway Commission . September 29, 2021 . August 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210830234949/https://wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2005/04/26/Identification-of-state-highways.pdf . live .
  16. News: December 30, 1967 . Crews Extend U.S. 12 Signs . 3 . . Newspapers.com . September 29, 2021 . September 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930212050/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86226899/crews-extend-us-12-signs/ . live .
  17. 1968 . September 29, 2021.
  18. 1964 . September 29, 2021.
  19. News: February 13, 1968 . New Highway Numbers . 17 . The Oregonian.
  20. Book: May 21, 1991 . Session Laws of the State of Washington, 1991 . Chapter 342: State Highway Routes—Revisions To . 5 . https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/1991-92/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5801.sl.pdf . Washington State Legislature . September 29, 2021 . October 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201019132931/http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/1991-92/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5801.sl.pdf . live .
  21. News: July 3, 1968 . Road Link Completed . 1 . The Daily Chronicle . Newspapers.com . September 29, 2021 . September 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930212113/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86228006/road-link-completed/ . live .
  22. 2000 . September 29, 2021.

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