SR 124 was previously part of two state highways: Secondary State Highway 3D (SSH 3D) from Burbank to Prescott, and SSH 3E from Prescott to Waitsburg. During the 1964 state highway renumbering, sections of both highways were formed to SR 124, which was officially named Ice Harbor Road and designated as a state scenic byway by the state legislature.
Route description
A section of SR 124 passing through downtown Waitsburg near its terminus with US 12
The highway then turns northeast and ascends a ridge that overlooks the Snake River, which continues north while SR 124 travels east through the Eureka Flat. SR 124 descends into the Touchet River Valley below the rolling hills of the Palouse and follows the river east through Lamar and Harsha alongside an abandoned railroad grade. The highway crosses over Lyons Ferry Road with an overpass and intersects the north end of SR 125 on the outskirts of Prescott, approximately 18 miles (29 km) north of Walla Walla.[5] SR 124 continues east through Prescott and turns southeast to follow the Columbia Walla Walla Railroad, a shortline railroad connecting Walla Walla to Dayton.[6][7] At Bolles, the highway turns south to cross over the Touchet River and makes a gradual turn to the east as it approaches Waitsburg. SR 124 travels through the town on West 2nd Street and briefly turns south on Main Street before continuing east for one block on Preston Avenue to the highway's terminus at US 12.[3] US 12 then continues east on Preston Avenue and beyond Waitsburg to Dayton and Clarkston.[5][8]
Secondary State Highway 3D (SSH 3D) was added in 1937, during the creation of the Primary State Highway system. The original route started at US 410 in Touchet and went north to Eureka and east to SSH 3E west of Prescott.[15][16] Later in 1951, SSH 3D was moved to a route from US 410 in Burbank to SSH 3E, the current route of SR 124 and in 1965, the route from Burbank to Ice Harbor Road was designated the Ice Harbor Drive.[17][18] SSH 3E was also added in 1937 and went from US 410 in Walla Walla north to SSH 3D and east past Prescott to Waitsburg. SSH 3E became SR 125 from Walla Walla to SSH 3D and SR 124 from SSH 3D to Waitsburg.[16][19]
Before and after the establishment, the route of SR 124 has gone through several documented WSDOT construction projects from 1941 to 2004.[20] Many were small, minor projects including repavings and intersection improvements. The first was a construction project that constructed SSH 3E from SSH 3D to Waitsburg, which took place in 1941.[20] The latest project was a realignment project along SR 124 east of Burbank. The project straightened a curve along the highway. It cost $145,589 USD and took place in 2004.[21][22]
A $22 million interchange with US 12 was completed in May 2012 to replace the intersection in Burbank that marks the western terminus of SR 124. The intersection, along with a nearby junction with Humorist Road that was replaced with an overpass, had been the sites of several fatal collisions that killed five people in the late 2000s.[23] A railroad crossing south of the Ice Harbor Dam was replaced in October 2017 with an overpass that cost $11 million to construct and realigned a dangerous intersection with a nearby road.[24][25]
^ abWashington State Department of Transportation (2014). Washington State Highways, 2014–2015(PDF) (Map). Olympia: Washington State Department of Transportation. Archived from the original(PDF) on February 21, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
^Washington State Legislature (1937). "An act relating to public highways, creating and establishing, describing and designating the primary state highways of the State of Washington and declaring an emergency.". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Olympia, WA: State of Washington. 1937 chapter 190, p. 1000.: "Secondary State Highway No. 3D; beginning at Touchet on Primary State Highway No. 3, thence in a northerly direction by the most feasible route to a point south of Eureka, thence in an easterly direction by the most feasible route to Prescott."
^Session Laws of the State of Washington. 1964 Title 47, Chapter 47.17, Section 47.17.235. "That portion of state route number 124 lying between the junction with state route number 12 and the county road to Ice Harbor Dam to be known as "Ice Harbor Drive"."
^Washington State Legislature (1937). "An act relating to public highways, creating and establishing, describing and designating the primary state highways of the State of Washington and declaring an emergency.". Session Laws of the State of Washington. Olympia, WA: State of Washington. 1937 chapter 190, p. 1000.
