From January 1954 to December 1955, Army Corps of Engineers constructed a dirt road on the north side of the Columbia River between Vernita and White Bluffs, passing through a less-restricted portion of the Hanford Site. The road was built as part of an agreement between the state and federal governments that was negotiated during the lawsuit, as an alternative to re-opening SSH 11A across the Hanford restricted zone. A private toll ferry connecting SSH 11A at Vernita to SSH 7C on the north side of the river began operating in November 1957 and was taken over by the state in May 1961. The state government completed construction of the paved highway along the Wahluke Slope on May 19, 1961, extending SSH 11A to a junction with SSH 11G south of Othello. As part of the agreement with the federal Atomic Energy Commission, the highway was ringed by fences and signs prohibiting parking and loitering, as well as controlled traffic signals that would allow for a large-scale evacuation of the Hanford area. The west end of SSH 11A was truncated to the newly-opened Yakima bypass (part of I-82) in November 1963.