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 5,300 and 27,000 vehicles per day used the highway, mostly in Poulsbo.[12] The Seattle–Bainbridge ferry was the busiest route in the Puget Sound, carrying 6.119 million passengers and 1.194 million vehicles in 2012.[13]
History
SR 305 southbound on the Agate Pass Bridge, built in 1950 to replace an earlier ferry.
SR 305 was established during the 1964 highway renumbering as a replacement for SSH 21A,[14][15] which traveled 13.45 miles (21.65 km) between the Winslow ferry dock and Primary State Highway 21 (PSH 21) northwest of Poulsbo.[16] SSH 21A originally began at the Port Blakely ferry dock when it was codified in 1937,[17] but was moved north to Winslow in 1949.[18] The highway connected Bainbridge Island to the Kitsap Peninsula via a car ferry that began in the 1920s and was replaced by the 1,229-foot-long (375 m) Agate Pass Bridge after it opened on October 2, 1950 with a 35-cent toll.[19] The bridge, which cost $1.4 million, had its tolls removed in October 1951 after it was paid for by a bond issue passed by the Washington State Legislature.[19][20] The highway was later straightened in segments in the late 1950s by the Department of Highways before becoming SR 305 and being re-codified in 1970.[2][21] SR 305 was extended north to the newly built SR 3 freeway and east on the Seattle–Winslow Ferry to Seattle in 1994.[22][23] No major revisions to the highway have occurred since 1994;[24] however, WSDOT widened SR 305 in 2009 within Poulsbo and installed high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV lanes) for use during peak hours.[25][26]
^Staff (2011). "2011 Annual Traffic Report"(PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. pp. 172–173. Archived from the original(PDF) on June 13, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
^Seattle, 1965(JPG) (Map). 1:250,000. United States Geological Survey. 1965. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
^Staff (1960). "Annual Traffic Report, 1960"(PDF). Washington State Highway Commission, Department of Highways. pp. 216–217. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 13, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
^Washington State Legislature (March 18, 1937). "Chapter 207: Classification of Public Highways". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1937 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. p. 1011. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
^Washington State Legislature (March 22, 1949). "Chapter 225: Establishing of Primary and Secondary State Highways". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1937 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. pp. 774–775. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
^Seattle, 1958(JPG) (Map). 1:250,000. United States Geological Survey. 1958. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
^Staff (1994). "1994 Annual Traffic Report"(PDF). Washington State Department of Transportation. pp. 138–139. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
^Washington State Legislature (March 30, 1994). "Chapter 209: Substitute House Bill 2618 - Ferry Routes Included in State Highway Routes". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1994 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. Retrieved February 2, 2013. AN ACT Relating to state highway routes; amending RCW 47.17.080, 47.17.081, 47.17.175, 47.17.305, 47.17.317, 47.17.556, 47.17.560, and 47.17.735; and adding new sections to chapter 47.17 RCW.
