Western Railroad Discussion > Now & Then At The Ritzville Underpass

In a discussion last week about the bridge over the 90 freeway at Ritzville, questions arose about the old U.S. 10 underpass, which could be seen in the background of a photo I posted.

I mentioned some old photos of the underpass, and there was some interest in seeing them, so, here they are.

The color photo is what the underpass looks like today. This was once the route of U.S. 10, which connected Seattle and Spokane. After the 90 freeway opened in the 1960s, this became a local road, and today it's the only way to get from one side of Ritzville to the other without crossing the tracks at grade. It's located west of downtown Ritzville, and outside of the city limits. It's a great spot for afternoon shots.

The second photo, which is from a Washington State Department of Transportation album, shows opening day in 1939.

The third photo shows a couple of construction snapshots.

The fourth photo, in the first response, shows the shoo-fly employed during construction.

 

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Here's the shoo-fly.

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Thank you for posting these photos--I love the history of these old bridges and underpasses, when times were a bit slower and more relaxed.

I think the Ritzville Midnight Grafitti Crew needs to paint out all the recent grafitti vandalism, and re-paint the N O R T H E R N  P A C I F I C with the 2 Monads.  If I lived closer, i would volunteer for that duty.

Is the width of the underpass the same in the first two pics? It looks deceptive

Yes. Just different angles.

Fun look back, thanks!
Gonut

Topfuel Wrote:
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> I think the Ritzville Midnight Grafitti Crew needs
> to paint out all the recent grafitti vandalism,
> and re-paint the N O R T H E R N  P A C I F I C
> with the 2 Monads.  If I lived closer, i would
> volunteer for that duty.

i have thought about doing it , taller than it looks

Who says you can't?? I don't think the BNSF authorized the graffiti.