Goodbye old bridge
By Steve Godfrey
July 26, 2011
Photo by Steve Godfrey
Most older bridges in central Washington share similar architectural features this bridge has. The replacement bridge will likely not have the interesting architectural detail.
Photo by Steve Godfrey
The old bridge is definitely showing some wear and tear.
Photo by Steve Godfrey
After providing decades of good service, this bridge over Mission Creek on the Sunset Highway is slated for demolition and replacement with the rebuilding of the short stretch of Sunset Highway in Cashmere.
The 4-lane Highway 2 that we all know today was completed and dedicated in 1959. Before that major construction project, folks traveling west from Wenatchee crossed the river and came down the middle of Cashmere on Cottage Avenue, cut left in front of the bank onto Division Street, then turned right on the Sunset Highway and crossed the bridge over Mission Creek. Cashmere has changed a lot since then, and the change continues with the start of the remodel of Sunset Highway this week.
A small but important piece of Cashmere history is about to be replaced as the local improvements to Sunset Highway begin. It may seem fairly insignificant in the overall scheme of things, but the bridge over Mission Creek has been a reliable piece of the local transportation puzzle since it was built.
Actually, after a little on-line research, I learned that this route was originally designated as State Road 15.
Here's an interesting excerpt from Wikipedia:
"US 2 was extended west from Bonners Ferry, Idaho to Everett in 1946, but the road has been part of Washington's highway system since 1909, with a segment of the highway between Cashmere and Spokane. A Spokane to Newport highway was designated in 1915 and the highways became part of the State Roads in 1923 to be numbered as State Road 2 (Cashmere to Spokane) and State Road 6 (Spokane to Newport). In 1926, the U.S. routes were established and US 10 ran on US 2 between Cashmere and Spokane, while US 195 ran on the highway between Spokane and Newport. In 1931, the final segment of US 2, an Everett to Cashmere highway, was opened as State Road 15. In 1937, the State Roads became Primary state highways and the numbers were kept the same as they were earlier. US 10 was realigned onto a southern route in 1940 and the old route between Cashmere and Spokane, along with an extension to Everett, became US 10 Alternate, which merged with US 195 to form the Washington section of US 2 in 1946."
The Mission Creek bridge on the Sunset Highway, as close as I can figure, was first built in 1931. It was probably rebuilt a time or two since then as well. However, I could find no year of construction stamped in the concrete like many similar local bridges have.
Does anyone out there know when this current bridge was built? If you do, please comment at the bottom of this article.
So long old Mission Creek bridge on the Sunset Highway. You have served the state and local transportation system well.
