State Route 166 (SR 166) is a 5.13-mile (8.26 km) long state highway serving the city of Port Orchard within Kitsap County in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway begins at an interchange with SR 16 west of Port Orchard and travels along the Sinclair Inlet to Downtown Port Orchard and ends as Mile Hill Drive at Whitter Avenue near the eastern city limits. SR 166 was originally a branch of State Road 14 and later Primary State Highway 14 (PSH 14) before being designated as SR 160 after the 1964 highway renumbering. SR 160 was moved south in 1993 and the old alignment through Port Orchard became SR 166, which was extended in 2010 to the eastern city limits.
Every year the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2011, WSDOT calculated that between 14,000 and 18,000 vehicles per day used the highway on the Kitsap Peninsula, mostly in Downtown Port Orchard.[8]
History
SR 166 was established in 1964 as SR 160, beginning at SR 16 west of Port Orchard to Southworth.[9] The highway was originally created in 1923 as a branch of the Navy Yard Highway, signed as State Road 14 from Port Orchard to Harper,[10] and replaced a county road designated in 1916.[11] The branch was included as part of PSH 14 during the creation of the Primary and secondary state highways in 1937.[12] The PSH 14 branch was extended to Southworth in 1957,[13] and became signed as SR 160 in the 1964 highway renumbering.[9][14] SR 160 was re-aligned south in 1991 to better serve the Southworth–Fauntleroy ferry,[9][15] but the new alignment was temporarily repealed until the creation of SR 166 in 1993.[2] The highway between SR 16 and Port Orchard is located north of unstable slopes that cause mudslides after heavy rainfall.[16][17][18] SR 166 was extended 0.15 miles (0.24 km) east on Mile Hill Drive in Port Orchard from Payseno Lane to Whittier Avenue in 2010,[1][19][20] because Kitsap County refused to maintain the road within Port Orchard city limits.[21][22] No major revisions to the highway have occurred since 2010.[23]
^Staff (2011). "2011 Annual Traffic Report"(PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. p. 149. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
^ abc"47.17.305: State route No. 160". Revised Code of Washington. 1970; revised in 1991 (repealed 1992), 1993, 1994. Washington State Legislature. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
^Washington State Legislature (March 19, 1923). "Chapter 185: Primary and Secondary State Highways". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1923 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. p. 631. Retrieved January 19, 2013. SEC. 13. A primary state highway, to be known as State Road No. 14 or the Navy Yard Highway, is established as follows: Beginning at a junction with State Road No. 9, at the most feasible point between Shelton and Potlatch in Mason County; thence by the most feasible route through Union City and Clifton to Charleston in Kitsap County; also from a junction near Tidewater Creek in Kitsap County through Port Orchard, to Gig Harbor in Pierce County; also from a junction near Port Orchard by the most feasible route to the ferry landing at Harper.
^Washington State Legislature (March 17, 1937). "Chapter 190: Establishment of Primary State Highways". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1937 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. p. 940. Retrieved January 19, 2013. SEC. 14. A primary state highway to be known as Primary State Highway No. 14, or the Navy Yard Highway, is hereby established according to description as follows: Beginning at a junction with Primary State Highway No. 9, in the vicinity north of Shelton, thence in a northeasterly direction by the most feasible route by way of Port Orchard, thence in a southerly direction by the most feasible route to Gig Harbor; also beginning in the vicinity of Port Orchard on Primary State Highway No. 14, as herein described, thence in an easterly direction by the most feasible route to the ferry landing at Harper.
^Washington State Legislature (1957). "Chapter 172". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1957 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
^Washington State Legislature (May 21, 1991). "Chapter 342: Engrossed Senate Bill 5801". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1991 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. A state highway to be known as state route number 160 is established as follows: Beginning at a junction with state route number 16 ((in the vicinity west of)) near Port Orchard, thence ((northeasterly by way of Port Orchard)) easterly to ((Harper and)) the Washington state ferry dock at Point Southworth.
