U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs from California to the inland regions of Oregon and Washington. It travels north–south through Washington, including long concurrencies with Interstate 82 (I-82) and I-90, and connects the Tri-Cities region to Spokane and the Canadian border at Laurier.
The non-concurrent sections of US 395 range form two-lane roads in northeastern Washington to a four-lane divided highway between Pasco and Ritzville. The highway generally travels along railroads built in the 19th century that were succeeded by early roads and auto trails. The Pasco–Ritzville section was upgraded to a divided highway in the 1990s and 2000s with funding from the state and federal governments.
The Spokane section of US 395, which is concurrent with US 2, is planned to be relocated to a new freeway bypass called the North Spokane Corridor. The freeway's first phase opened in 2009 and is scheduled to be completed in 2030. The entire highway was officially designated as the Thomas S. Foley Memorial Highway in 2018.
Route description US 395 is one of Washington's major north–south highways and is listed as part of the National Highway System, a network of roads identified as important to the national economy, defense, and mobility. The state legislature also designated it as a Highway of Statewide Significance. The highway is maintained by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), which conducts an annual survey on state routes to measure traffic volume in terms of annual average daily traffic. Average 2016 traffic volumes on non-concurrent sections of the highway ranged from a minimum of 380 at the Laurier border crossing to 64,000 on the Blue Bridge between Kennewick and Pasco. US 395 is also a major international freight corridor, connecting the Inland Northwest to British Columbia and California. The Plymouth–Pasco section of the highway is signed as part of the Lewis and Clark Trail, a state scenic byway.
Tri-Cities to Ritzville US 395 is concurrent with I-82 as it enters Washington on the Umatilla Bridge, a set of bridges that cross the Columbia River north of Umatilla, Oregon. The freeway carrying both highways travels north over the Fallbridge Subdivision of the BNSF Railway system and through an interchange with SR 14 east of Plymouth before traversing Fourmile Canyon. I-82 and US 395 turn north at Bofer Canyon and travel across irrigated farmland before crossing over the Horse Heaven Hills and intersecting SR 397. At its next exit in southwestern Kennewick, I-82 splits from US 395 in a trumpet interchange and heads northwest towards the Yakima River Valley. US 395 continues northeasterly into Kennewick, running as a four-lane divided highway with several signalized intersections.
The highway descends into suburban Kennewick, passing through retail areas and residential neighborhoods in the Southridge area. US 395 also passes the Southridge Sports Complex, which includes the city's September 11 memorial, and the Southridge Hospital complex. The highway continues north onto Ely Street and turns east near the Zintel Creek before crossing over the BNSF Yakima Valley Subdivision and intersecting SR 240 in a dogbone interchange northwest of downtown Kennewick. SR 240 continues west as a freeway along the Columbia River towards Richland, while US 395 merges with the freeway's eastbound lanes and travels over the Columbia River on the Pioneer Memorial Bridge, a four-lane truss bridge that spans and is popularly known as the "Blue Bridge" because of the blue paint used on its trusses.
At the north end of the bridge, US 395 enters Pasco and becomes a short freeway, with interchanges at Lewis Street and Court Street. US 395 then turns east and joins the concurrent I-182 and US 12 for . The freeway travels along the south side of Tri-Cities Airport and the Columbia Basin College campus and crosses over the BNSF Lakeside Subdivision near a major railyard. At a cloverleaf interchange with SR 397 in northeastern Pasco, US 395 splits from I-182 and travels north onto a divided highway that runs through an industrial area on the east side of the airport and railyard. The highway traverses an interchange at Kartchner Street before leaving Pasco, traveling northeast into the irrigated farmland of the Columbia Plateau along the BNSF Lakeside Subdivision, which also carries Amtrak's Empire Builder passenger trains. The divided highway travels through the area's farmland and rolling hills with un-signalized intersections at local roads and full interchanges at major state highways.
The railroad and highway follows the Esquatzel Coulee through Eltopia to an interchange southeast of Mesa that marks the south end of SR 17, a major highway serving central Washington. US 395 climbs the ridge overlooking the coulee and continues northeast to Connell, where it intersects SR 260. The highway travels north over the ridge and passes the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, the state's largest prison by capacity, before entering Adams County. US 395 travels northeasterly into the Hatton Coulee and reaches an interchange with SR 26 east of Hatton. The highway's median widens while the northbound lanes take an uphill alignment through the north end of the coulee, rejoining the southbound lanes before an interchange with SR 21 east of Lind and its municipal airport. US 395 then travels northeast through an interchange in Paha before turning north and following the Paha Coulee to an interchange with I-90 in the southern outskirts of Ritzville. The eastbound lanes merge onto I-90, while other ramps connect US 395 to westbound I-90 and 1st Avenue, which continues into downtown Ritzville as I-90 Business.
Ritzville to Spokane From Ritzville, US 395 runs concurrently with I-90 as the freeway travels northeast through a predominately rural area of Adams and Lincoln counties while following the BNSF Lakeside Subdivision. The freeway runs along the northwestern side of Sprague Lake and intersects SR 23 in Sprague before reaching Spokane County. I-90 and US 395 then intersect SR 902 and SR 904, which form loops that connect the highways to Medical Lake and Cheney, respectively. The freeway travels along the southeast side of Spokane International Airport before intersecting US 2, which joins the I-90 and US 395 concurrency as it enters the city of Spokane.
The freeway descends from Sunset Hill and intersects US 195 before entering Downtown Spokane on an elevated freeway. US 2 and US 395 split from I-90 at the east end of downtown, traveling on the one-way pair of Browne and Division streets. The two streets pass under a railroad viaduct adjacent to the Spokane Intermodal Center (the city's Amtrak station) and merge onto the bi-directional Division Street near the Spokane Convention Center and Washington State University Spokane campus. The highway then crosses over the Spokane River on the six-lane Division Street Bridge, splitting again on the north side of the river on Division and Ruby streets, carrying southbound and northbound traffic respectively.
Division and Ruby streets travel north and pass the campus of Gonzaga University before merging onto the bi-directional Division Street near Corbin Park. The seven-lane highway continues north along a commercial strip surrounded by Spokane's residential neighborhoods and passes the NorthTown Mall before reaching an intersection with SR 291 at Francis Avenue. US 2 splits from Division Street in the community of Country Homes, while US 395 continues north past the Whitworth University campus to Fairwood. Near the Wandermere Golf Course, US 395 joins the North Spokane Corridor freeway (signed as Future US 395) and travels across the Little Spokane River as a four-lane divided highway. The divided highway continues for several miles until reaching Hamann Corner on the Half Moon Prairie, which marks the northern extent of Spokane's contiguous suburbs.
Stevens and Ferry counties
The two-lane, undivided highway carrying US 395 continues northwest along the BNSF Kettle Falls Subdivision and passes Deer Park before entering Stevens County. After briefly turning due west in Clayton, US 395 climbs the foothills of the Selkirk Mountains and travels along the east side of Loon Lake before reaching a roundabout with SR 292 at the community of the same name. The highway leaves the railroad and continues northwest past Deer Lake and several quarries before reaching an intersection with SR 231 on the Colville River. US 395 continues north through the river valley, rejoining the railroad, and travels through the center of Chewelah before turning northwest. The highway and the Kettle Falls International Railway travel along the east side of the river valley and pass through the communities of Addy, Arden, and Orin near a section of the Colville National Forest.
US 395 reaches Colville and traverses the city as Main Street, passing through a roundabout at the south end and the city's downtown. It begins a concurrency with SR 20 in downtown Colville, which continues as the highway turns northwest and travels through another roundabout at the north end of the city. US 395 and SR 20 continue northwest along the Colville River to the city of Kettle Falls, where it intersects SR 25. The highway travels northwest and crosses the Columbia River on the Kettle Falls Bridge, a steel cantilever bridge that spans and is located downriver from the former site of the eponymous falls. At the west end of the bridge in Ferry County, US 395 and the railroad splits from SR 20, which continues west across the Okanogan Highlands.
US 395 continues north along the western shore of Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake to Kamloops Island, where it leaves the Columbia River and follows the Kettle River. The highway and railroad travel along the west side of the Kettle River, which marks the east edge of the Kettle Range and Colville National Forest, and passes through the communities of Boyds, Barstow and Orient. US 395 terminates at the Laurier crossing of the Canadian border. The border crossing is located adjacent to Avey Field State Airport, which has a single runway that continues north across the border. The highway continues into British Columbia as British Columbia Highway 395, which travels to a junction with British Columbia Highway 3 near Cascade; the nearest major Canadian city is Grand Forks, located to the west.
History Oregon to Pasco When US 395 was extended southwest from Spokane into Oregon in the 1930s, it followed existing U.S. Highways - US 730 and US 410 - between the state line and Pasco; it was not realigned to the more direct route via Kennewick until 1985. However, the road from Plymouth to Kennewick, cutting off a bend in the Columbia River, had existed (as a county road) since the early days of the state highway system, and was improved by the 1930s. The Washington State Legislature added the roadway to the state highway system in 1943 as part of a Maryhill-Kennewick branch of Primary State Highway 8.: "There is hereby established an extension to Primary State Highway No. 8, described as follows: Beginning in the vicinity of Maryhill, running thence easterly by the most feasible route along the north bank of the Columbia river to a point in the vicinity of Plymouth, thence in a northeasterly direction to a junction with Primary State Highway No. 3 in the vicinity of Kennewick." (The main route of PSH 8 turned northeast from Maryhill to Buena via US 97.)
The Kennewick portion was later upgraded to a limited-access road, with signalized intersections. The cloverleaf interchange with SR 240 was replaced by a roundabout with access ramps in 2009. The southernmost intersection, at Ridgeline Drive in Southridge, was replaced by an overpass that opened in October 2022. It was fully converted into an interchange in 2023 at a cost of $22.5 million.
Pasco to Spokane