Project Gears Up To Document County's Historic and Scenic Roads
April 25, 2007 - King County's explosive growth creates a continual demand for highway improvements. But the county wants to protect its cultural resources, including historic roads going back to the nineteenth century and even Native American footpaths used for thousands of years. That dilemma has led to a collaboration among 4Culture, the King County Dept. of Transportation Road Services Division, and the county's Historic Preservation Program to survey and document historic roadways, as well as identify the best scenic routes through rural areas. The resulting database will help KCDOT protect historic sites and travel corridors.
Area drivers are already familiar with some historic routes, though they may not know it. One is the Seattle to Walla Walla Wagon Road, began in 1856, which roughly follows the path of Interstate 90 to Snoqualmie Pass. But the incomplete picture of historic roads slows down road improvement projects as engineers and preservationists evaluate the impact of each project. The Historic and Scenic Corridors Project, as the collaboration is called, will streamline road planning by pinpointing historic travel corridors before road work begins. "Once we've identified roads as historic, we'll have a new perspective on road maintenance and improvement, and we'll be able to focus on roads that are special," says Ruth Harvey, the KCDOT program manager for the Corridors Project.
Funded by a $195,000 federal grant, the historic and scenic research will be managed by Preservation 4Culture. KCDOT will provide access to detailed information about the road system, and it will develop maps and a website that allows public access to the results. That research, expected to finish in 2008, could lead to new designations of road stretches as historic or scenic corridors and/or listing of roads or roadside properties on the King County Landmarks Register, Washington Heritage Register, and the National Register of Historic Places. Any historic properties in private ownership would only be listed with the permission of the owner.
The Corridors Project could have long-term economic benefits. The designation of historic road corridors may boost the attractiveness of rural King County to heritage tourists. The project may also describe scenic routes that encourage urban residents to venture out to nearby small towns for day trips and community activities.
For more information on the Historic and Scenic Corridors Project, contact Flo Lentz, Preservation 4Culture, 206.296.8682.
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