:Washington State Route 231

State Route 231 (SR 231) begins at {{nowrap|SR 23}} {{convert|0.79|mi|km|2}} north of Sprague and a diamond interchange with {{nowrap|Interstate 90}} (I-90), co-signed as {{nowrap|U.S. Route 395}} (US 395).{{cite web |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/tdo/Interchange/pdfs/SR090/090X245.pdf |title=SR 90 – Exit 245; Junction SR 23 / SR 231 |author=Washington State Department of Transportation |date=February 25, 2009 |access-date=November 19, 2009 |archive-date=October 8, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008154034/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/tdo/interchange/pdfs/SR090/090X245.pdf |url-status=dead }} SR 23 is the "parent" or main route of SR 231 and travels northwest to Harrington and south to Downtown Sprague, spanning {{convert|66.00|mi|km|2}}, {{convert|8.97|mi|km|2}} shorter than SR 231. Traveling northeast, the highway traverses a hill and cliff, passing Browns Lake, and turns west. The direction of the roadway becomes north through a narrow valley and SR 231 arrives in Edwall as Oregon Street. The roadway briefly turns east as Main Street before crossing a BNSF Railway line and continuing northeast alongside the tracks.{{cite map |title=Washington State Rail System |year=2008 |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1DFCBFA0-1A9D-4838-A74F-7841BF22E9C3/0/Railmap_update_Sept2008.pdf |access-date=November 19, 2009 |archive-date=January 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105154044/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1DFCBFA0-1A9D-4838-A74F-7841BF22E9C3/0/Railmap_update_Sept2008.pdf |url-status=dead }} After turning north into the plains, the highway parallels Crab Creek to intersect {{nowrap|US 2}} west of Reardan.

Becoming concurrent with US 2, the road becomes Broadway Street and enters Reardan. SR 231 turns north at Aspen Street and crosses the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad and a marsh via a causeway. As Spring Creek Road, the highway travels northwest parallel to Spring Creek into Spring Creek Canyon. After the canyon, the roadway crosses the Spokane River on the Spokane River Bridge at Long Lake Dam, the border between Lincoln and Stevens counties, west of Little Falls Dam and Long Lake. Nearly a mile north of the bridge, SR 231 intersects {{nowrap|SR 291}}, a connector to Spokane. After the intersection, the highway travels north through the community of Ford and continues through a valley into Springdale. Within Springdale, the roadway is named Second Street and intersects {{nowrap|SR 292}}, which connects east to US 395 near Loon Lake. After crossing a BNSF Railway track, Second Street turns west as Shaffer Street and passes the Springdale Community Health Center, the local medical clinic.{{cite web |url=http://www.newhp.org/index.php?pageControl=springdale |title=Welcome to Springdale Community Health Center |author=N. E. Washington Health Programs |year=2009 |access-date=November 19, 2009}} SR 231 crosses Sheep Creek and the same railway as Second Street and leaves Springdale, parallel to the railroad, into a valley. The highway intersects former {{nowrap|SR 232}} and ends at an intersection with US 395 {{convert|4.27|mi|km|2}} south of Chewelah.{{google maps |title=State Route 231 |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=WA-23+N&daddr=47.732205,-117.870495+to:US-395+S&hl=en&geocode=FYz80QIdtNr3-A%3BFe1V2AIdYXD5-Ck7XDUh33KeVDGWJAZCcoaqKA%3BFUqZ3wIdX877-A&mra=ls&sll=48.207708,-117.714375&sspn=0.005012,0.009624&ie=UTF8&z=9&via=1 |year=2009 |access-date=November 19, 2009}}

File:Spokane River Bridge at Long Lake Dam.jpg, pictured here in 1993, was constructed in 1949 over the Spokane River and was designated as part of Secondary State Highway 3J (SSH 3J) during a 1963 extension. SSH 3J was replaced by SR 231 during the 1964 highway renumbering and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 1993 before being repaired in late 2008.]]

SR 231 was established in 1964, but sections of the current route have been in the state highway system as early as 1909, when {{nowrap|State Road 7}} was established and included a section near Reardan.{{cite map|publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |title=State Roads As Established by Legislature, 1893 to 1935 |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/History/stateroads1893-1935.pdf |year=1893–1935 |access-date=November 19, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051106090227/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/History/stateroads1893-1935.pdf |archive-date=November 6, 2005 }}{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington, 1909 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cso4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 19, 2009 |edition=1909 |date=March 13, 1909 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia |pages=190–191 |chapter=Chapter 92: Establishing Certain State Roads}} In 1913, the Inland Empire Highway was established and connected Loon Lake to Springdale and Chewelah.{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W7w4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 19, 2009 |edition=1913 |date=March 12, 1913 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia |page=221 |chapter=Chapter 65: Classifying Public Highways}} A county-maintained road connected Sprague to Browns Lake by 1919 and in 1923, State Road 7 became {{nowrap|State Road 2}} and the Inland Empire Highway became {{nowrap|State Road 3}}.{{cite map |title=Rock Lake, 1919 |year=1919 |url=http://content.wsulibs.wsu.edu/cgi-bin/pview.exe?CISOROOT=/maps&CISOPTR=540&CISORESTMP=/qbuild/buildplate11.html&CISOVIEWTMP=/qbuild/buildplate12.html&CISOROWS=2&CISOCOLS=5&CISOCLICK=title:subjec:creato:date:type |scale=1:125,000 |series=Washington 1:125,000 topographic quadrangles |publisher=Washington State University |cartography=United States Geological Survey |access-date=November 19, 2009}}{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G784AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 19, 2009 |edition=1923 |date=March 19, 1923 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia |chapter=Chapter 185: Primary and Secondary Highways |page=628}} The U.S. route system was formed in 1926 and two highways, numbered {{nowrap|U.S. Route 10}} (US 10) and {{nowrap|U.S. Route 395}} (US 395), were co-signed with State Roads 2 and 3, respectively.{{cite map |author1= Bureau of Public Roads |author2= American Association of State Highway Officials |date= November 11, 1926 |title= United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials |url= https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_System_of_Highways_Adopted_for_Uniform_Marking_by_the_American_Association_of_State_Highway_Officials.jpg |scale= 1:7,000,000 |location= Washington, DC |publisher= United States Geological Survey |oclc= 32889555 |access-date= November 7, 2013 |via= Wikimedia Commons |name-list-style= amp}}{{cite map |title=Chewelah, 1927 |year=1927 |url=http://content.wsulibs.wsu.edu/cgi-bin/pview.exe?CISOROOT=/maps&CISOPTR=455&CISORESTMP=/qbuild/buildplate11.html&CISOVIEWTMP=/qbuild/buildplate12.html&CISOROWS=2&CISOCOLS=5&CISOCLICK=title:subjec:creato:date:type |scale=1:125,000 |series=Washington 1:125,000 topographic quadrangles |publisher=Washington State University |cartography=United States Geological Survey |access-date=November 19, 2009}} State Road 2 became {{nowrap|Primary State Highway 2}} (PSH 2) in 1937 and a secondary route, Secondary State Highway 2G (SSH 2G) was created, extending from Sprague to Reardan, in 1937.Washington State Legislature 1937, p. 934Washington State Legislature 1937, p. 999 State Road 3 became {{nowrap|PSH 3}} during the same year and a secondary route, SSH 3J, was also established to span from the Little Falls Dam at Long Lake to Springdale.Washington State Legislature 1937, p. 1001

US 10 was replaced by the western extension of {{nowrap|US 2}} in 1946.{{cite map |publisher=Rand McNally |title=Northwest, 1946 |year=1946 |url=http://www.broermapsonline.org/members/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates/Northwest/randmcnally_ra_1946_016.html |page=16 |access-date=November 19, 2009 |archive-date=February 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207094145/http://www.broermapsonline.org/members/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates/Northwest/randmcnally_ra_1946_016.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us2.cfm |title=U.S. 2: Houlton, Maine, to Everett, Washington |author=Richard F. Weingroff |publisher=United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration |date=January 30, 2008 |access-date=November 19, 2009}} Three years later, the Spokane River Bridge at Long Lake Dam was constructed and spanned from the southern terminus of SSH 3J to Lincoln County.{{cite web |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/environment/culres/bridges.htm#SpokaneRiverLongLake |title=Historic Bridges - Spokane River Bridge at Long Lake Dam (WA-95) |author=Washington State Department of Transportation |access-date=November 19, 2009 |archive-date=March 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313195120/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Environment/CulRes/bridges.htm#SpokaneRiverLongLake |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr231/spokaneriverbridgedeck/ |title=SR 231 - Spokane River Bridge Deck Rehabilitation - Complete August 2008 |author=Washington State Department of Transportation |year=2008 |access-date=November 19, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929043911/http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr231/spokaneriverbridgedeck/ |archive-date=September 29, 2009 }} It opened to traffic in March 1950.{{cite news |date=March 29, 1950 |title=Bridge Is Opened Over Spokane River |page=5 |work=Spokane Chronicle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/spokane-chronicle-bridge-is-opened-over/121587672/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=May 26, 2024}}

In 1957, PSH 3 and US 395 were moved to an eastern route bypassing Springdale, while SSH 3J was extended north towards Chewelah and a branch of the highway was added to Loon Lake, both along the former route of PSH 3.{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zck4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 19, 2009 |edition=1957 |year=1957 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia |chapter=Chapter 172}}{{cite map |title=Sandpoint, 1958 |year=1958 |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-sandpoint-1958.jpg |scale=1:250,000 |publisher=University of Texas at Austin |cartography=United States Geological Survey |access-date=November 19, 2009}} SSH 3J was extended south to PSH 2 and US 2 in Reardan, east of the northern terminus of SSH 2G, in 1963.{{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |edition=1963 |year=1963 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia |chapter=Chapter 240}} During the 1964 highway renumbering, SR 231 was created from SSH 2G and SSH 3J and became concurrent with US 2; US 2 replaced PSH 2 and US 395 replaced PSH 3, while the branch of SSH 3J to Loon Lake became {{nowrap|SR 292}}.{{cite web |title=Identification of State Highways |url=https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2005/04/26/Identification-of-state-highways.pdf |author=C. G. Prahl |author2=Washington State Highway Commission, Department of Highways |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |date=December 1, 1965 |access-date=November 19, 2009 |archive-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217112902/https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/6836215D-E301-43F3-895A-472BD2FDE86A/0/Identification.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite map |title=Sandpoint, 1966 |year=1966 |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-sandpoint-1966.jpg |scale=1:250,000 |publisher=University of Texas at Austin |cartography=United States Geological Survey |access-date=November 19, 2009}} The Spokane River Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 1995 along with the rest of the bridges on the Spokane River northwest of Spokane, and the bridge was repaired in late 2008.{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/Weekly_Register_List_1995.pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places - Weekly Register List of 1995 |author=National Park Service |publisher=United States Department of the Interior |page=33 |year=1995 |access-date=November 19, 2009|author-link=National Park Service }}{{cite map |title=SR 231 - Spokane River Bridge Deck Rehabilitation - Complete August 2008 |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR231/SpokaneRiverBridgeDeck/Map.htm |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |year=2008 |access-date=November 19, 2009}} In the 1990s, the state proposed a jurisdictional transfer with Lincoln County to decommission the Sprague–Reardan section of SR 231.{{cite news |last=Craig |first=John |date=May 18, 1994 |title=Springdale fights again plan to give away road |page=B3 |work=The Spokesman-Review |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79780654/springdale-fights-again-plan-to-give/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=October 29, 2021}} The highway was later used to haul uranium waste by truck following attempts by WSDOT to force the contractor to fund safety improvements on its haul route.{{cite news |last=Dorn Steele |first=Karen |date=August 19, 1997 |title=DOT suppressing Dawn data, lawyer says |page=B1 |work=The Spokesman-Review |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88021149/dot-suppressing-dawn-data-lawyer-says/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=October 29, 2021}}

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{{WAint

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|notes=Southern end of US 2 concurrency}}

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|notes=}}

{{WAint

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|notes=Former SR 232}}

{{WAint

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{{jctbtm}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |author=Washington State Legislature |title=Session Laws of the State of Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dcQ4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 19, 2009 |edition=1937 |year=1937 |publisher=Washington State Legislature |location=Olympia |ref=law1937}}

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{{commons category}}

• [https://www.angelfire.com/wa2/hwysofwastate/sr231.html Highways of Washington State]

{{State highways in Washington related to SR 23}}

{{good article}}

231

Category:Transportation in Lincoln County, Washington

Category:Transportation in Stevens County, Washington