SR 409 goes on a 3.84 miles (6.18 km) route north from the northern ferry dock of the Wahkiakum County Ferry on Puget Island, to SR 4, also referred to as the Ocean Beach Highway,[1] in the county seat of Cathlamet. The route connects Westport, Oregon, which is served by the county ferry, and Cathlamet.[3][4] The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) found in 2007 that, on average, more than 2,800 motorists utilize the road daily south of the northern terminus in Cathlamet, making the highway the second busiest state route in the county, after SR 4 at Boege Road, which more than 4,100 motorists utilize daily.[5]
SR 409 originates at the ferry dock on Puget Island which serves as the northern end of the Wahkiakum County Ferry. From the dock, the road travels north past the island's interior, before turning northwest to parallel the Cathlamet Channel. After intersecting Little Island Road, the highway immediately turns onto the Julia Butler Hansen Bridge spanning over the Cathlamet Channel. Once SR 409 exits off the bridge in Cathlamet, it becomes Front Street. Later, after intersecting River Street and Columbia Street, the highway becomes Main Street, the designation used from the intersection point to SR 4.[3][6]
The year-round Wahkiakum County Ferry, designated Wahkiakum, runs from Westport, Oregon to the southern terminus of SR 409 at Puget Island.[7] The ferry connects SR 409 to a road that connects to U.S. Route 30, which runs 477.02 miles (767.69 km) across Oregon;[7][8]Wahkiakum County began running the ferry in 1962, on a route from Westport to Puget Island. The ferry travels more than eighteen trips per day, and runs from 5:00 am to 10:15 pm[7][9] and holds up to nine vehicles.[10] The ferry costs 50¢ for foot passengers, $1 for bicycles, $2 for motorcycles, and $3 for passenger cars and other vehicles under 20 feet (6.1 m).[7] Vehicles over 20 feet (6.1 m) cannot travel on the ferry; motorhomes, large trucks and trailers are allowed on the ferry for a fare determined by length.[7] Frequent Traveler Tickets can be purchased for $40 (22 trips) and $75 (44 trips) for vehicles under 20 feet (6.1 m).[7] The first ferry launched in June 1925, when Walter Coates bought two ferries and began to operate them on two different routes, including the current one and a route from Puget Island to Cathlamet.[11][12] The county later replaced the Puget Island – Cathlamet route with the Puget Island – Cathlamet Bridge in 1939.[11][13]
In June 1925, Walter Coates began a ferry service across the Cathlamet Channel, from Puget Island to Cathlamet. The original ferry was later replaced by the Cathlamet, which could load cars.[11] In 1932, Coates sold the ferry service, fearing that the newly completed Ocean Beach Highway, soon to be SR 4, would press drivers to the competing Astoria–Megler Ferry.[11] In 1939, the year the Julia Butler Hansen Bridge opened,[14] ferry service ceased on the Puget Island – Cathlamet run.[11]
Lacey V. Murrow, R. W. Finke and Clark H. Eldridge designed the bridge, which spanned 2,433 feet (742 m) and consisted of four steel spans[14] when first constructed.[17] Steel comprises the majority of the truss bridge's structure. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt commenced the five-day celebration of the bridge's opening with a ribbon cutting, remotely controlled from the White House via telegraph.[14]
^Official State Highway Map(PDF) (Map) (2008-2009 ed.). 1:842,000. Official State Highway Maps. Cartography by U.S. Geological Survey. Olympia, Washington: Washington State Department of Transportation. 2008. § G2. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
^Ruby, Robert H.; John A. Brown (1974). Ferryboats on the Columbia River, Including the Bridges and Dams. Seattle: Superior Publishing Co. pp. 18, 21–23.
^Washington State Legislature (1943). "Chapter 147". Session Laws of the State of Washington (1943 ed.). Olympia, Washington: Washington State Legislature. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
