here is the first day of that trip – the Bay Area to Arco, Idaho.

The Sierras, in southeast Oregon. Just about the northernmost extent of this mountain range.

Not an incredibly old sign, but likely 1980s. Note the state name on the 80 shield – Nevada doesn’t often do that for green guide signs.

Between nothing and nowhere. 95 goes through a very barren and remote section of southeastern Oregon and I was hoping for old signs… alas, no such thing did I find. As far as I know, there are no more OREGON/US cutout shields left. The last one was a 97 in Klamath Falls. There are some of the state route eagle shields left, however.

A hilariously incorrect sign.

Remote post offices of the world: Arock, Oregon. Note the 1950s-style mail dropbox tied to the tree!

Now that is a remote road. It’s a 4×4 trail between eastern Oregon and western Idaho. Interestingly, it is labeled on the Rand McNally map, but good luck with actually taking it!

We’re in Idaho now, and the precipitation keeps getting worse.

Old Idaho historic marker. Note the narrow fonts on the US-95 shield and the number 192 (which identifies this particular marker).

How about a state-named Idaho shield? They are very rare, but here’s one in Boise. There are three altogether in the same area, and they are all brand new. 2005 or so vintage.

Snow clouds at dusk. I-84 eastbound near Twin Falls, Idaho.

1960s cutout “welcome to Idaho” sign! The border between Utah and Idaho on old US-30S, which was bypassed by I-80N (later renamed I-84) by the 1960s.

Identify this matter. It is ice on the top of a steel gas pump, in the appropriately named Snowville, Utah. I do not remember how the place was lit up to provide this effect.

The last state-named shields in Utah. Where? Under these two. Note the original 1960s wooden arrows. The new aluminum signs were simply bolted onto the older wooden ones!

Another section of old US-191. 191 is a strange one: it originally went from Yellowstone to Salt Lake City, and then it got truncated (thus the “old” remnants) around southern Wyoming… and then it got extended, to many times its original length. It now goes from US-2 in northern Montana all the way to the Mexico border in Douglas, Arizona. It ends up not even intersecting the severely truncated US-91, which it once connected to.

How about an old white guide sign pointing to a town that no longer exists? Okay, half an old white guide sign!

Grain elevator by the side of old US-91 somewhere in southeast Idaho.

Christmas decorations in rural Idaho, two days before the holiday itself.

Old US-91 in the middle of the night. Note the snowglow in the air – a full moon is reflected off the ground, and then again the clouds in the sky… it was bright enough at midnight to drive without headlights!

And that’s all for our run from the bay area to Idaho in one night and one day and a bit of another night. Next up, we pick up in Arco, Idaho – and head north into Montana on US-93. Lost Trails Pass, Inflatable Biker Santa, old signs along US-10, and of course snowstorm after snowstorm.

The Milky Way. Near Mount Rainier; well past the lights of the I-5 corridor.

The arc trail, by the way, is an airplane – note the break in the trail which occurred while I restarted the exposure.

And the find of the trip – this old-style Oregon 126 eagle highway marker. Marked 1/17/73 on the back; this style dates to 1948.

Mount Rainier at sunset.

The last remaining US-99 shield in Washington state. The Alaskan Way Viaduct was renumbered to state route 99 in 1969, but this shield remains at one of the on-ramps.

A waterfall by the side of state route 410 (former US-410).

Just before dawn, beside US-12.

A lake at sunrise.

Some old signs featuring the smallest number on an interstate shield ever.

This I-205 shield is in Washington, at the Oregon border. Alas, no state name. Those are all long gone.

Old Interstate 205 sign in Washington.

And in Oregon now, where they insist on giving the interstate shield to far too many things, like state route 99W. It was, at one point, US-99W, but it certainly was not ever an interstate.

Guide sign gantry in Eugene, Oregon with oddly fonted shields.

State-named shields in Oregon are very rare. Here are two out of three known.

Old green signs. Under Tigard, it clearly used to say Portland, but I have no idea what it said under the current Portland. Perhaps it said Seattle before I-205 was built.

End of US-26 at US-101.

Crossing into Washington, where they promptly mislabel US-101 as a state route. Oops!

Somewhere around Raymond, Washington, this old sign still remains.

Highway 101 curves around the Olympic Peninsula. Here it is signed north, but one may follow this route all the way to Los Angeles.

Here, 101 is signed east-west.

A village somewhere on the Olympic Peninsula.

US-101 with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

This should be state highway 112 here.

Nearing the northwest corner of the peninsula – and, by extension, the lower 48 states.

An older state highway 112 shield on a classic white wooden picket.

The patch on the 113 shield covers up a “131″.

This older Interstate 5 shield may not survive the construction equipment directly behind it.

Button copy is very scarce in Washington – here is some left on Interstate 5 northbound. Even older is the sign on the left: under the 167 patch is a state route 410 shield. The switch happened in 1973. Before 1964, the route was US-410.

The next sign is equally as old.

More great old button copy – on the ramp from 5 to 405.

The last known state-named I-405 shield. The entire gantry dates back to the 1960s.

An older airport trailblazer, featuring a very 1950s-looking jet airliner.

Most of our Tennessee coverage is now online, including more photos of Interstate 40 east of Knoxville and Interstate 75 north of Knoxville, all courtesy of Carter Buchanan in 2005. Also for those unaware, Interstate 40 is set to close for 14 months near downtown Knoxville as part of the SmartFix project. Smartfix is a complete reconstruction of an almost two-mile stretch of freeway and viaduct. Some information regarding that project and an associated redesign of three full-cloverleaf interchanges on Interstate 275 in the city was added.

…And for those unaware, the closing of an entire freeway to rebuild it is a concept gaining steam. The concept was proven to be efficient and cost-effective when one direction of Interstate 95 in northern Delaware was closed for three months at a time in 2000. This resulted in the removal of 1961-concrete, replacement of it with new asphalt, and a lowering of the roadway under several key bridges. Presently a portion of Interstate 64 in St. Louis is closed, and so is a 1.5-mile section of Interstate 75 at junction Interstate 96 in Detroit…

A recent request made of us was to create guides for the Garden State Parkway. It is one phenominal road that deserves attention, and we’ve been sitting on photos of the road for almost three years now. Thanks to the urging of one of our viewers, I have created three of four pages covering the road northbound between I-195 and I-78 and southbound between I-87/287 and I-280, with further coverage continuing the tour southbound to I-95.

Finally, a project Matt Strieby has been working off and on for many months, has finally come together enough to debut on WestCoastRoads – a Portland, Oregon focus page. Matt plans on adding more detailed histories of the many cancelled freeways in the Rose City, and new and expanded guides of the existing roads over the coming months.

Chris Kalina joined Andy and I for the two-day marathon drive from Seattle east to Montana and back. To get as far east during daylight hours, the day began before sunrise in Burien, Washington with myself loading up on coffee at 5:45 am (!). We arranged to meet Chris at a park and ride lot next to Interstate 405 at Bellevue by 6:30, but a gnarly traffic accident clogged the northbound lanes of I-405 at 6:15, causing us to get there 15 minutes late. Chris also showed up late, so all was ok, and we piled into our rental car and ventured east toward Snoqualmie Pass by 7 am.

The climb eastward into the Cascade Mountains was magnificent with layers of low clouds and fog shrouding the valleys and passes of Interstate 90.

Climbing toward the West Summit interchange (Exit 52) on Interstate 90 east. Snoqualmie Pass rises to 3,022 feet and is snow covered for most of the year. During this last day of August, the temperature was already down to 37 degrees!
 

One brief stop just west of the Pass revealed a small section of two-lane concrete original U.S. 10. Old U.S. 10 is partially signed as Washington 905, and a stretch of the original roadway passes under I-90 next to a babbling brook. Also of note at the Pass are Interstate 90 Washington shields on overhead signs at Exit 64.

As we lowered into the rainshadow of the Cascades, tall trees gave way to low scrub brush and vast farmland. Just east of Cle Elum at the town of Ellensburg is the Interstate 90 junction with Interstate 82 & U.S. 97. Interstate 90 continues east to the Columbia River Valley, but Interstate 82 & U.S. 97 immediately ascend dramatically to Vanderbilt Gap.

Interstate 82 would lead us southeast to rejoin Interstate 84 near Hermiston, Oregon, rejoining that freeway en route to Boise, Idaho. Along the southward drive to the Columbia River are the longest concrete arch bridges in the United States. Named the Fred G. Redmon Memorial Bridge, the 1971-completed spans travel 1,336 feet over the Selah Creek Canyon.

Peering east at the bridge from the adjacent westbound side rest area. An eastbound area lies north of the bridge.

Further south Interstate 82 & U.S. 97 join U.S. 12 through the Yakima area. U.S. 97 veers southwest from south Yakima, but U.S. 12 remains overlapped east to junction Interstate 182. U.S. 395 later joins Interstate 82 south from the Tri-Cities to Umatilla, Oregon. 

What is wrong with this picture? Upon entering the state of Oregon, Interstate 82 splits with U.S. 395 at Exit 1, junction U.S. 730. The pull-through overhead refers to Interstate 84, even though Interstate 82 does not reach that freeway for another 10 miles! Bad ODOT!

U.S. 730 is the highest numbered U.S. highway in existance. It was number two originally as the decommissioned U.S. 830 once held the crown. That route is now Washington 14, and it meets Interstate 82 at its final Washington interchange.

Back on Interstate 84, we continued east on the freeway all the way to Boise, Idaho. Along the way are the small cities of Pendleton, La Grande, Baker City, and Ontario, all of which appear to be original railroad towns in the desert or high country of eastern Oregon. Also noteworthy along the way is the freeway rise to Deadman Pass at Umatilla Indian Reservation. Carriageways of Interstate 84 partition there to make the climb/descent between the low desert and mountains. Near the pass itself is a vista point giving drivers a vast view of the western desert. 

A phenominal view of the Oregonian desert is found at the view point pull-off of Interstate 84 eastbound on the rise to Deadmans Pass. Looking west here, Interstate 84 climbs upward to the right and vast fields of farmland spread south from Pendleton to the left.

Tree lined hills overtake the landscape from Emigrant Springs State Park eastward. The landscape remains similar through to La Grande, when Interstate 84 enters a wide plateau. Beyond there the mountains are devoid of trees for the most part as another rain shadow sets in place. By Ontario Interstate 84 lowers again and travels through farmland to the Snake River, the Idaho State line. 

U.S. 30 is relegated to act as a business loop to the Interstate 84 mainline through the cities of eastern Oregon. Here U.S. 30 departs the freeway for a short stretch of independent routing through La Grande. Farmfields and dry hillsides encompass the landscape from La Grande southward along Interstate 84.

Speed limits increase from 65 to 75 mph once Interstate 84 enters the Gem State. The 75 mph speed limit provides for a fast drive to the sprawling metropolitan area of Boise. The capital city lies within an area known as the Treasure Valley. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the Rocky Mountain states.

A bank of shields display Interstate 84 and U.S. 20-26-30 along their brief overlap through Caldwell. Welcome to the capital city metro area!

The metro area extends west to include Caldwell, Nampa, and Meridian, and traffic congestion reflects that outward expansion. A business loop for Interstate 84 serves Caldwell and Nampa, and at Caldwell (Exit 26) U.S. 20 and 26 join Interstate 84 and its companion U.S. 30 for a four-way overlap through town. A new interchange was under construction to join Interstate 84 and U.S. 30 with relocated Idaho 55 at Exit 33. The old Idaho 55 follows Nampa Boulevard north from Business Loop I-84 to Exit 35. Upon completion, the new interchange will allow for Idaho 55 through traffic to bypass Nampa by joining the freeway more directly from the west. 

Idaho 55 joins 30 on Interstate 84 east from Nampa all the way to Exit 46 at Meridian. The state highway departs via a wide and congested arterial north to Idaho 44 at Eagle (we’ll visit that in a bit). Interstate 84 meanwhile abruptly widens from four to eight lanes at Exit 44 (Idaho 64). When we say abrupt, we mean it as westbound traffic was solid for two miles between Exits 46 and 45 reflecting the quick lane reduction at Idaho 69.

Approaching the Exit 38 interchange with Business Loop Interstate 84 (Garrity Boulevard) east of Caldwell. Much to our surprise, a good deal of button copy remained in use along Interstate 84 throughout the Boise metropolitan area.

The traffic crazyness continues as Interstate 84 splits with Interstate 184 at Exit 49, the so-called “Flying Y” interchange. Interstate 184 constitutes a freeway spur into downtown Boise from the west, ending a short distance from the state capital complex. The freeway carries six lanes and was busy in both the inbound and outbound directions between 4-5 pm. Recent reconstruction of the western terminus entailed building wider high speed ramps between the only two Boise area freeways. It seems to have worked for now… 

Traveling east toward downtown Boise along the busy Interstate 184. The Sawtooth Range makes up the eastern horizon for the metropolitan area. This reminded me a lot of Tortugas Mountain east of Las Cruces, New Mexico, which makes up the eastern horizon for that city.

In downtown, Interstate 184 merges with U.S. 20 & 26 at the Boise before ending in the central business district. U.S. 20 & 26 follow the busy one-way street couplets of Myrtle and Front Streets from the freeway east to Broadway Avenue. Broadway Avenue provides the main route to Boise’s Airport and points southeast.

A brief drive through downtown later, we head back west on Interstate 184 to Interstate 84 and all of its traffic congestion. For the orientation of the Treasure Valley, Interstate 84 provides the only freeway between the growing suburbs and city core. Other area roads seemed to fare worse, as many of the interchanges suggested. One such road to suffer from amazing amounts of traffic was Idaho 55. We traveled that north to reach Hells Canyon and did not expect its routing along Eagle Road to be so busy and overwhelmed with motorists.

Traffic trudged from Interstate 84 northward between traffic light cycles along Idaho 55. A “Game crossing” sign posted near the north end elludes to a likely different landscape at the time it was posted compared to the sprawly landscape today.

Turning onto the Idaho 44/55 overlap did not seem to help matters much either, as the sprawl continued to their split east of the Eagle business district. Idaho 55 continues north from there with five overall lanes to the Payette River Scenic Byway north of Beacon Light Road. A lengthy descent carries the state highway over the 4,242 foot Horseshoe Bend Hill north of the Boise County line. A 7% grade awaits northbound travelers over the course of five miles from the hill’s crest to into the village of Horseshoe Bend itself.

>Beginning the descent from the top of Horseshoe Bend Hill along Idaho 55 northbound. Four runaway truck ramps lie along the five-mile descent to Horsehoe Bend.>

A brief jaunt west took us to Gem County along Idaho 52. From there we continued north along Idaho 55 through the scenic Payette River Valley. Construction along the narrow roadway involved repairing a concrete arch bridge over the North Fork of the Payette River toward the village of Cascade. I highly recommend the drive to anyone who enjoys mountain scenery! 

The southbound beginning of Idaho 55 at its junction with U.S. 95 in New Meadows. Idaho uses brown shields for both U.S. and State Highways when a scenic designation is applied.

By the time we reached junction U.S. 95, the sun was about to set for the day. We turned northward to Grangeville, grabbing some dinner at a local diner in Riggins. North of there is a tied-arch bridge of all things nestled within the canyon walls.

Once at Grangeville, we learned that all of the motel rooms in town were booked, so we had to continue another 20 miles or so along Idaho 13 to Kosskia where we found a vacancy for the night. All in all a long day, but with the early start, we saw most of what we wanted during the daylight hours with the exception of U.S. 95 north of Idaho 55…

Looking west at the Bridge of the Gods and the Columbia River from a pier at Stevenson, Washington.

We first crossed the Bridge of the Gods and visited Stevenson, soaking in the view along the river’s edge itself for awhile before heading back to Interstate 84 and resuming our eastward push to Interstate 82. Along the way we stopped and Bonneville Dam, home to a hydro-electric power plant and fish ladder. The facility is home to exhibits on both facilities, but only the fish ladder was open the day we were there. It being late August, Steelhead and Chinook were busy swiming upstream, and we saw several fighting against the current through the fish ladder windows. Very fascinating stuff…

The Bonneville Dam fish ladder.

Once back to Interstate 84, we beelined east to The Dalles, stopping briefly at the Columbia River Interpretive Center, and again in town for gas/lunch. Temperatures rose into the mid 90s as we progressed into the desert, which lead us to U.S. 197 and its fanstastic crossing of the Columbia River, U.S. 730′s western terminus, and the east end of Interstate 82.

Orange cantilever bridge carrying U.S. 197 across the Columbia River. U.S. 197 ends at Washington 14 four miles to the north of Interstate 84. AASHTO is voting on a request by WSDOT to truncate U.S. 197 officially from the junction of U.S. 97 & Washington 14 to the intersection across the river. The vote occurs on October 24, 2006 andwill just affirm what Washington State has already done to U.S. 197 in the field.

Our later trip would take us to Montana and Idaho via Interstate 82 and 84, but we needed to head back to Seattle to meet up with our frined Chris, so we opted for Interstate 82 west (north) into Washington. A brief stop took us to the final Oregon exit of I-82, that of the overlap between U.S. 395 and 730, that is quite possibly the highest numbered overlap of any U.S. highway.

The bridge that Interstate 82 takes across the Columbia River originally carried no number. In fact the southbound span features superstructure with it being the older bridge, while the northbound bridge is an unremarkable concrete structure. U.S. 395 joins Interstate 82 for the trek to Washington’s tri-cities, and is later replaced by U.S. 12 and 97 as Interstate 82′s companions.

Approaching the Columbia River Bridge along Interstate 82 westbound. Washington 14 ends its long journey at Exit 131, just north of the river. McNary Dam lies just east of the freeway crossing.

As for the Tri-cities themselves, the cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland make up the member cities. Interstate 182 provides access to the communities from Interstate 82 to the east, providing a conduit for suburban sprawl from Richland westward. The freeway itself is around 15 miles in length, and carries a good amount of traffic given its isolation from the rest of the Interstate system. The Columbia and Snake Rivers also pass through the area, and the bridges between Kennewick and Pasco were gems unknown to us as we approached on Interstate 182.

Interstate 182 itself ends just east of the interchange with U.S. 395 along U.S. 12, with U.S. 12 continuing east across the Snake River as an expressway to Burbank. As for other area roads, Washington 240 represents a freeway loop between Interstate 182 at Richland and the U.S. 395 expressway at Kennewick. A reconstruction project is underway involving the entire freeway. U.S. 395 follows a freeway north from the Washington 240 junction across the “Blue Bridge” to Interstate 182 & U.S. 12. Washington 397 meanwhiles spans the Columbia along a 1978-constructed cable-stayed bridge. Who knew right?

Washington 397 cross the Columbia along the Cable Bridge (Ed Hendler Bridge) between Kennewick and Pasco. The bridge opened on September 16, 1978 at a cost of $23 million.

The U.S. 395 freeway travels north from its interchange with Washington 240 and Columbia Drive along the “Blue Bridge” to a trumpet interchange with Interstate 182 & U.S. 12 at Pasco. U.S. 395 joins Interstate 182 & U.S. 12 briefly to make the dog leg east on its trek toward Spokane. The Blue Bridge derives its name from its colour, and opened July 30, 1954 at a cost of $6.5 million. It originally carried U.S. 410.

After spending a couple of hours in the tri-city area, including a walk along the Columbia River pedestrian/bikeway, we headed back west to Interstate 82 and Yakima. Once in Yakima, we searched in vein for Business Loop I-82, driving the entire length of the former highway through downtown. Parts of Yakima looked like El Centro, with its architecture and streetscape. We also poked around the U.S. 12 freeway spur west from Interstate 82, and found three old bridges with superstructure west of town (two on current U.S. 12, and a steel arch bridge along parallel old U.S. 12) over the Naches River.

A pair of truss bridges carry U.S. 12 across the Naches River west of Yakima. U.S. 12 upgrades to a freeway from here east to its merge with Interstate 82. West Powerhouse Road (old U.S. 12) spans the same river nearby with a simarly coloured bridge.

Continuing north, Interstate 82 travels along its own set of cantilevered truss bridges over the Naches River, before leaving Yakima for open desert. A dramatic ascent, including the longest concrete arch bridge in the United States, awaits Intestate 82 westbound drivers as they ascend to Vanderbilt Gap. The last ten or so miles can be driven with the car in neutral, as the freeway descends dramatically to its west (north) end at Interstate 90 near Ellensburg.

Interstate 90 provides the main route from Seattle to the Cascade Range to the east. The freeway itself also provides the main commerce link from the ports to Midwest and points southeast. Along the route into Seattle is often trecherous Snoqualmie Pass. The Cascade Mountain Pass is often snow covered during the colder months, and a source of travel congestion and other delays during heavy snow events. With that stated, the scenery is spectacular, drawing comparsons to Interstate 80 from Verde, Nevada to Donner Pass. The slow ascent, truck traffic, and advent of snowstorms allow for Interstate 80 to expand to as much as eight lanes in the high country east of Seattle! That’s an important fact, as downtown Seattle lies just 50 or so miles west of the pass.

Interstate 90 westbound at the Exit 53 off-ramp to Washington 906 (Gold Creek Road) at Snoqualmie Pass. Washington 906 parallels Interstate 90 for a short distance at Snoqualmie over the original U.S. 10 alignment. Snoqualmie Pass averages 108 inches of snow in January alone!

Once Interstate 90 descends to Issaquah (Exit 18), suburban Seattle begins and encompasses the landscape through to Interstate 405 and Lake Washington. The freeway becomes more urban as it continues west across Mercer Island, the Lake Washington floating bridges, and then the International District of central Seattle. A system of tunnels lie on both Mercer Island and then at the west end of the floating bridges. A double-decked freeway carries Interstate 90 west from the Int’l District tunnel through its interchange with Interstate 5 toward the western terminus. The freeway draws to a close adjacent to Safeco and Qwest Fields at Edgar Martinez Drive and 4th Avenue South.

The sunset as we entered Seattle, but with four hours to kill before Chris got off work, we spent that time walking around downtown Seattle and along the waterfront.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct (Washington 99/former U.S. 99) travels parallel to the Alaskan Way surface boulevard along the downtown Seattle waterfront along Elliott Bay. The mayor and other government officials are studying ways to replace the viaduct, which has long since been referred to as both a barrier and eye sore for downtown Seattle. The options considered includ building a new higher viaduct, building a cut and cover tunnel, or replacing the freeway with a Washington 99 surface boulevard. The prohibitively high costs of options one and two are leading officials to consider the no-build option.

Downtown Seattle and Alaskan Way as seen from a pedestrial overcrossing looking south. The Alaskan Way viaduct descends into a tunnel by this point north along the water front.

The U.S. 99W sign found within downtown Corvallis. U.S. 20 & Oregon 34 join together through town, intersecting the one-way street couple of Oregon 99W in the process. Corvallis is home to Oregon State University.

Oregon 99W did not disappoint as it traveled through pastural settings, farms, open fields, small stands of trees, all dotted with farm houses and small businesses. Once we were at junction Oregon 22, we took that east to the capital city of Salem. Oregon 22 travels an expressway between Oregon 99W and downtown Salem.

In downtown, we visited the capital complex and capital mall area. The state grounds were pristine with beautiful landscaping and fountains. The capital itself features a bronze statue gold statue finished in gold leaf on top. It represents an Oregon Pioneer, symbolic of the spirt of the first Oregon settlers.

Looking through the fountains at the Oregon State capitol building, with the Oregon pioneer statue looking back.

After wandering around the grounds for a good half hour or so, we headed out of downtown toward the Salem Parkway, what was planned as the Interstate 305 freeway spur. Salem Parkway ends just north of the one-way street couplet of Oregon 99E Business. It provides a four-lane expressway with four signalized intersections between Interstate 5 and the central business district. The north end merges onto Interstate 5 at the 45 Parallel, halfway between the North Pole and Equator.

Interstate 5 carried us northward into the greater Portland area. First we traveled Oregon 99W southwest through some of the suburban areas of the metro. The suburbs look like any other American suburb as one would expect, and so after that, it was back to the freeway. Taking Interstate 205 north from Interstate 5, we rounded the bend at West Linn and Oregon City, to the Milwaukee Expressway (Oregon 224). The Milwaukee Expressway was nothing more than a glorified arterial with just two interchanges (one at SE Lake Road, and the other at Oregon 99E, the west end).

So taking the Milwaukee Expressway was sort of a waste of time roadwise, but nonetheless it was done. We continued north on Interstate 205 to clinch the highway, ending up on Washington 14 in Vancouver for a westward jog to Interstate 5. Washington 14 travels a four-lane freeway between the Columbia River and the city. The west end ties into Interstate 5 at the Interstate Bridge and central business district of the city.

Approaching the split of Interstate 5 and 205 on northbound, a diagrammatical guide sign advises through traffic to both The Dalles (Interstate 84 east) and Seattle (Interstate 5 north) to use Interstate 205. Interstate 205 not only provides six overall lanes as opposed to I-5′s four to six, but also a higher 65 mph speed limit, as opposed to I-5′s 50 MPH near downtown, and also full shoulders for its entire length, converse to the substandard nature of I-5 and the Interstate Bridge with their lack of shoulders.

The Interstate Bridge carries six-lanes of Interstate 5 over an antiquated lift bridge across the Columbia River. The bridge has no shoulders and its undulations offer a rather gnarly drive for cars and trucks. There’s a replacement slated at some point, and it can’t come too soon for skiddish drivers.

The Interstate Bridge was built in two stages. The original northbound span, that would eventually carry U.S. 99, opened in 1917. The southbound span followed in 1958. The bridges each carry three overall lanes with no shoulders and a 50 mph speed limit. This view looks at northbound approaching the lift-span portion of the bridge.

Back in Portland, we encircled the cbd via Interstate 405, which travels over the Columbia River along the somewhat majestic Freemont arch Bridge. That took us west of downtown, and we continued southward back to Interstate 5 to Oregon 217, a northwest-southeast freeway linking I-5 with U.S. 26 (Sunset Highway) and the northwest suburbs. Taking Oregon 217, we ended up as far west as Hillsboro on U.S. 26, deep within the western suburbs. U.S. 26 itself carries six to eight lanes on its westward trek and by far was one of the most modern freeways within the Portland metro. We ate lunch near the 185th Street diamond interchange and then decided to head back east to downtown.

U.S. 26 descends rather dramatically toward Central Portland, even passing under a tunnel before its merge onto Interstate 405 south. We opted for I-405 north to check out the freeway stub planned for Interstate 505. Interstate 505 was to be a short freeway surving the northwest Portland industrial area along U.S. 30, but only a three-quarter mile section of freeway was ever built. The freeway itself spurs from the south end of the Freemont Bridge to near U.S. 30 along the waterfront. A sort of gentrification is ongoing in the area, as town homes and condos are slowly replacing the aged industrial warehouses and wharfs along the Willamette River.

U.S. 26 (Sunset Highway) winds eastward and downward through Washington Park to this set of tunnels opposite the Portland central business district and interchange with Interstate 405.

A loop through downtown was next, taking us from Interstate 405 across the Steel Bridge to the Rose Garden (home of the Trailblazers NBA team) and back west across the Broadway Bridge. By this time we decided to make some headway east, and to take Interstate 84 in Oregon for the first time…

Spanning the Willamette River across the narrow Steel Bridge between downtown Portland and the Rose Garden. Two lanes pass underneath the lift structure, while two also travel along the outside.

Interstate 405 again took us back to Interstate 5, which led us onto Interstate 84′s eastbound beginning. The freeway begins along the Banfield Expressway through residential areas east of central Portland. The freeway travels below grade for part of its path, with concrete retaining walls and sound barriers along the right-of-way. An accident on this day caused our trek to be a slow go between Interstate 5 and Interstate 205. So we trudged through a four-mile stretch in about 15 minutes or so, before finally heading east of Interstate 205 to the eastern suburbs of Gresham and Troutdale.

Interstate 84 wanders through the East Portland, Laurelhurst, and Hollywood neighborhoods en route to Gresham and Troutdale and the rest of the east suburbs. The Banfield Expressway meanders along a curved freeway below the adjoining communities, with hills covered in concrete retaining walls. A light rail line also parallels the freeway along the westbound side.

Next on our agenda was to visit Multnomah Falls and the historic Columbia River Highway (old U.S. 30). There are several segments of old U.S. 30 still open to traffic, and each section offers its own beauty and allure. Our first stop took us from Interstate 84 at Exit 22 southward and upward to Corbett and old U.S. 30 there. We poked around a bit before realizing that the falls were still much further east, and decided to turn around and descend back to the river’s edge. Here is where our agenda was forced to change…

As we got toward the bottom, we noted several cars and rv’s were parked along Corbitt Hill Road, the road between Exit 22 and old U.S. 30. Once we got to the diamond interchange, we realized why. All traffic along Interstate 84 was at a standstill, with various people standing outside of their cars or milling about. Something blocked their progress, so we thought, no thanks on this, and turned around. As we turned around, Andy took a look down the drop from Corbitt Hill Road and noted a car or truck upside and on fire within the travel lanes of I-84. So it was safe to say that we would have to opt for the old U.S. 30 irregardless…

Peering east at the majestic Columbia River Gorge from Chanticleer Point along old U.S. 30, high above Interstate 84 and the river below. The Vista House sits atop the pallisade in the distance.

Several miles to the east, we stopped at the Vista House, a structure built above a pallisade overlooking both the Columbia River and Interstate 84. The facility housed a museum about the old highway and other area history. The view from the observation deck revealed that I-84 west was not moving, and that only a car or two were traveling at a time along I-84 east.
Time to continue east along the Historic Columbia River Highway some more. Well the road as an alternate, despite it being very narrow with lots of traffic also using it to bypass Interstate 84, was not a disappointment. Several sets of waterfalls, old concrete arch bridges, and overall scenery lie along the road between Corbitt and Exit 31. Among the attractions are the famous Multnomah Falls, a series of waterfalls dropping from pallisades high above to the Columbia River at Benson State Park.

…and the view from the Vista House looking east at the river and Interstate 84 (with westbound at a stand still) below. Below is Rooster Rock State Park and the Exit 25 trumpet interchange to the day use area along the river. The Historic Columbia River Highway winds along the hillside to the south under cover of the forest.

We spent enough time touring the falls, hiking, and driving along the narrow switch-back laiden road, that the majority of the traffic back-up along Interstate 84 was cleared in time for us to double back to Exit 22 to resume clinching the highway. Sunset there around 7:45, and that left us with enough time to briefly look at Bonneville Dam and to overnight at Cascade Locks, home to the Bridge of the Gods.