Washington State Route 539

State Route 539
Route information
Auxiliary route of I-5
Defined by RCW 47.17.785
Maintained by WSDOT
Length:	15.16 mi (24.40 km)
Existed:	1969 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-5 in Bellingham
	SR 546 SR 546 in Lynden
North end:	BC 13 near Langley, BC
Highway system
State Highways in Washington Interstate • US • State Former PSH • 1964 renumbering • Former ← SR 538 SR 542 →

State Route 539 (SR 539), named the Guide Meridian (Road) and known as Meridian (Street) in Bellingham, Washington and the Guide (Road) in Lynden, Washington, is a state highway in Washington, U.S.A. It runs for 15.16 miles from Bellingham in the south to the U.S.-Canadian border at Lynden-Langley in the north.

Route description

SR 539 begins at Exit 256 of Interstate 5 just south of the Bellis Fair Mall, approximately four miles north of downtown Bellingham. From there it proceeds due north to the Canadian border between Lynden, Washington and the Township of Langley, British Columbia.

Once past the Bellis Fair Mall immediately north of the I-5 interchange, SR 539 continues through the shopping centers of the northern outskirts of Bellingham; Whatcom Community College and the Cordata Business Park are also nearby.

North of Bellingham, it passes through the small town of Laurel, which contains Meridian High School. It then passes over Wiser Lake and the Nooksack River, before arriving in Lynden, home to a municipal airport. At Lynden, Washington it changes from 4 lanes to 2 as it proceeds north to the border near Aldergrove, British Columbia, Canada.

The entire route from I-5 to the border is perfectly straight north–south. It serves mostly traffic from Bellingham (and I-5) to the city of Lynden, although it also serves the Everson-Nooksack-Sumas area via State Route 544. It also provides an alternate route into Canada when the border crossings at Blaine on I-5 and State Route 543 are backed up.

Recent Construction

The Guide meridian was recently transformed from a two lane highway to a four lane highway. The project was completed in two phases. The first phase was from Horton Road to Ten Mile road. Along with the wider roadway the project installed new signals at Smith, Axton and Laurel Road intersections. It also replaced both the Four Mile Creek and Ten Mile Creek Bridges with wider, safer bridges. Construction of this segment was started in June 2007, the construction company carrying out the project is IMCO General Construction of Bellingham. The total cost of this segment is $39.9 million and is being funded by the Washington State DOT. This phase was finished Fall 2008.

The second phase was from Ten Mile road to Badger road. The project, created a four lane highway from Ten Mile road to Badger road. It also built four new roundabouts at Ten Mile road, Pole road, Wiser Lake road, and River road to further help improve safety. They also widened or replaced the Wiser Lake, Fishtrap Creek and Floodway Bridges, as well as building a new Nooksack River bridge. In Summer 2007 the crews moved utilities from the roadway. In Fall 2007 the DOT finished buying property, and construction began in Spring 2008. The project was completed in Fall 2010, in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics in nearby Vancouver.

History

Prior to the 1964 state highway renumbering, SR 539 was known as SSH (Secondary State Highway) 1-B. (The I-5 corridor at the time was known as Primary State Highway 1.) U.S. Route 99 came into being in 1926 with the rest of the original U.S. Highways, and was signed concurrently with PSH-1 until 1964. In 1954, SSH-1-B was designated as U.S. Route 99 Alternate. During the 1964 renumbering, the PSH-1 and SSH-1-B designations were removed. Then in 1969, U.S. 99 was decommissioned in the state of Washington, as was Alt. U.S. 99, and Alt. U.S. 99 was replaced by SR 539.

The routing of SSH-1-B/Alt. U.S. 99 presumably continued south on Meridian Street past what is now I-5, then down either Broadway or Girard Street in downtown Bellingham to connect with U.S. 99/PSH-1, which at the time ran on Holly Street, Prospect Street, and Dupont Street in downtown Bellingham.

Prior to being "The Guide Meridian" the first road from Bellingham to Lynden was the "Plank Road" built of 10x10 inch planks laid side by side in the 1890s. One part of the road went around Wiser Lake and a part of that road is now called Old Guide Rd.

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Whatcom	Bellingham	0.00	I-5 – Everett, Seattle, Vancouver, BC	Southern terminus
		7.51	SR 544 (West Pole Road) – Nooksack
		12.54	SR 546 (Badger Road) – Sumas
		15.16	Canada – United States border (Aldergrove Border Crossing)
Continues as British Columbia Highway 13

External links

• State Route 539