State Route 173 is a state highway

State highway

State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Washington, running from SR 17 in Bridgeport

Bridgeport, Washington

Bridgeport is a city in Douglas County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bridgeport's population was 2,059 at the 2000 census.Bridgeport is located near the Chief Joseph Dam.-History:...

 to US 97

U.S. Route 97 in Washington

In the U.S. state of Washington, U.S. Route 97 is a route which traverses from the Oregon state line at the northern end of the Sam Hill Memorial Bridge in Maryhill, north to the Canadian border in Okanogan County near Oroville...

 in Brewster

Brewster, Washington

Brewster is a city in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,370 at the 2010 census.-History:In 1811, John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company established Fort Okanogan just north of the present site of Brewster, which was the first American post in Washington...

.

Route description

State Route 173 (SR 173) is approximately 12 miles long, beginning at State Route 17

State Route 17 (Washington)

State Route 17 is a highway in the state of Washington, U.S.A. It extends about from U.S. Route 395 in the tiny town of Mesa, in the south central part of the state, to U.S. Route 97 at the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers near Brewster....

 in Bridgeport

Bridgeport, Washington

Bridgeport is a city in Douglas County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bridgeport's population was 2,059 at the 2000 census.Bridgeport is located near the Chief Joseph Dam.-History:...

. It travels north through the city of Bridgeport, running on the west side of the Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

 opposite State Route 17. It then heads west out of Bridgeport, along the south side of Lake Pateros

Lake Pateros

Lake Pateros is a reservoir on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. It was created in 1967 with the construction of Wells Dam. The reservoir lies almost entirely in Douglas and Okanogan counties, although the dam itself lies partially in the easternmost portion of Chelan County. The...

, before crossing the Brewster Bridge into the town of Brewster

Brewster, Washington

Brewster is a city in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,370 at the 2010 census.-History:In 1811, John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company established Fort Okanogan just north of the present site of Brewster, which was the first American post in Washington...

, where it ends at U.S. Route 97.

History

The Brewster Bridge was built in 1927, destroyed by fire in 1968, and rebuilt in 1970. A welder's spark ignited the freshly asphalted deck of the Brewster Bridge, engulfing the entire span with fire resulting in the melting of steel support allowing the failure of several large sections of the bridge, which fell into the Columbia River. A ferry was used for 2 years until the new bridge was finished.

Before 1964, SR 173 was the Brewster-Bridgeport branch of PSH 10.

Major intersections