In 1913, steps were taken to improve automobile access across the Cascade Mountains via Snoqualmie Pass. A $1,500,000 levy () was approved in 1913 to improve and expand the state's highways. The majority of the levy ($590,743) went to construction of the Sunset Highway between Spokane and Seattle. This major cross-state highway would pass directly through Cle Elum's business district, and as it was one of the first towns reached after traveling east across the pass, would greatly benefit from its construction. That same year, reflecting on the prosperity of the coal mines, the city's second bank was chartered. By 1914, Cle Elum's population had risen to 3,000 from about 100 at the turn of the 20th century.