Washington State Route 539
The project included construction of several roundabouts and a new bridge over the Nooksack River near Lynden on an accelerated schedule to accommodate traffic ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.The highway travels along the east side of the mall and through a retail and commercial district, passing near the Whatcom Community College campus and the Cordata business park.After crossing Fourmile Creek and passing through a roundabout with Ten Mile Road, SR 539 gains a grass median with a cable barrier as it heads north towards Lynden.[3][6] SR 539 continues north and crosses over Wiser Lake on a causeway and the Nooksack River on a pair of steel truss bridges before reaching Lynden.[15] The Guide Meridian corridor is also served by several Whatcom Transportation Authority bus routes connecting Bellingham to Lynden, Everson, Nooksack, and Sumas.[23] The following year, the county government began a $68,800 improvement program, which included a new bridge over the Nooksack River near Lynden and 5 miles (8.0 km) of pavement between Bellingham and Laurel.[35][36] In 1951, the Nooksack River bridge near Lynden was disassembled and moved 30 miles (48 km) upstream to Mosquito Lake Road as part of a widening project on the Guide Meridian.[46][47] The state government began planning a major expansion of SR 539 to a four-lane highway in the late 1980s to accommodate local population growth and increased cross-border freight traffic.[48][49] The corridor had been studied for widening in 1970 due to a high rate of fatalities compared to other rural highways in the state, but the projected traffic volumes did not justify expansion at the time.[54][55] The widened, four-lane roadway with center turn lanes was completed in November 2008, including new traffic signals at three intersections, several detention ponds, and two bridge replacements, at a total cost of $66.3 million.
BellinghamSR 546LyndenHighway 13Canada–United States borderUnited StatesWashingtonWhatcomState highways in WashingtonInterstateScenicPre-19641964 renumberingFormerSR 538SR 542state highwayU.S. stateWhatcom CountyInterstate 5Canadian borderLangley, British Columbiaguide meridianplank roadgravel roadroundaboutsNooksack River2010 Winter OlympicsVancouverBellis Fair MallWhatcom Community Collegebusiness parkWillamette MeridianLaurelMeridian High Schoolcable barrierSR 544EversonNooksackWiser Lakecausewaytruss bridgesNorthwest Washington Fair and Events CenterLynden–Aldergrove Border Crossingduty-free storeBritish Columbia Highway 13AldergroveTrans-Canada HighwayLangleyBlaineNational Highway Systemstate legislatureWashington State Department of Transportationannual average daily trafficWhatcom Transportation Authorityforest firesboard feetcity limitsNorthwest Washington FairFraser HighwayPrimary State Highway 1U.S. Route 99American Association of State Highway Officials1964 state highway renumberingright-of-waydetention pondsNickel Funding Packagecarpool lanesSnake RiverU.S. Route 12SeattleVancouver BCGoogle MapsThe Bellingham HeraldNewspapers.comFederal Highway AdministrationWashington State Transportation CommissionSeattle Post-IntelligencerUnited States Geological SurveyH. M. Gousha CompanyWashington State Highway CommissionThe Vancouver SunBellingham, WashingtonPeopleHistoryDistrict CourtLandmarksAftermath ClubhouseBellingham National Bank BuildingB.P.O.E. BuildingFlatiron BuildingLairmont ManorLeopold HotelMount Baker TheatreLottie Roth BlockOld City HallPickett HouseSafe ReturnT. G. Richards and Company StoreLake Whatcom ParkLarrabee State ParkWhatcom Falls ParkSehome Hill ArboretumChuckanut MountainsLake PaddenLake SamishLake WhatcomFairhavenSehomeSudden ValleyWaterfrontFairhaven StationBellingham International AirportRoute 11 (Chuckanut Drive)Bellingham riotsC. X. LarrabeeJulius BloedelGeorge PickettGeorge VancouverSir William BellinghamSPARK Museum of Electrical InventionBellingham Railway MuseumWhatcom Museum of History and ArtBellingham High SchoolBellingham School DistrictBellingham Technical College