News:

The AARoads Wiki is live! Come check it out!

Main Menu

Portland

Started by rawr apples, January 17, 2009, 11:25:35 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

rawr apples

West of Portland, US-26 is up to interstate standards as far as I know, so whats keeping it from bieng designated an interstate?
Now shut up and drivee


Tarkus

That's a good question.  Especially after the nice (and badly-needed) widening job ODOT did between Cornell Road and Sylvan, which actually makes it possible to get from Forest Grove to Downtown in 35 minutes. :) 

It stops being freeway-grade just before the interchange with OR-6, with that at-grade intersection with Harrison Road, but that's a good 20 miles stretch.  They could call it a western extension of I-84, but it would require multiplexing with I-5 and I-405, and it would just suddenly stop being I-84 near North Plains. 

They could also theoretically make it a stub of I-5--perhaps I-505, the designation for the formerly proposed Yeon Street Freeway, but it'd be a little jarring to have an odd-numbered route heading east/west, though ODOT signed I-105 in Eugene as East/West, much to my chagrin. ::)

-Alex (Tarkus)

Alex

There's more than just those two.  :o

http://www.westcoastroads.com/oregon/portland.html

Mt. Hood Freeway
St. Helens Freeway
Rose City Freeway

http://www.westcoastroads.com/oregon/eugene.html

portions of the Belt Line Highway in Eugene
Skinner Butte Freeway
Roosevelt Freeway

rawr apples

Don't have a snoody attidude dude.. 505 I don't understand why they couldn't if made the short 1 mile spur from 405 designated as it. Also, the mount hood freeway was probably the biggest of the freeway revolts in Portland, so you can't forget about that one mate
Now shut up and drivee

Alex

I was just adding a few more freeway ideas that bit the dust. Matt is the one that knows a lot more than I. He plans on a map of the Portland area showing all of the dead freeways at some point.

rawr apples

#5
I heard something about a western bypass that would cut through Tualitan, and Aloha, connected I-5 and 26 west of 217. Anyone know anything about that?

Edit: I found a map of Portland's East side that shows all of the planned freeways

Now shut up and drivee

Voyager

That's far too many freeways for any city, especially one as dense as Portland. They would have to tear down half the city to build all of those.
Back From The Dead | AARoads Forum Original

agentsteel53

Quote from: rawr apples on January 17, 2009, 11:25:35 PM
West of Portland, US-26 is up to interstate standards as far as I know, so whats keeping it from bieng designated an interstate?
doesn't need one.  US-26 is a perfectly good number. 

So is US-220 ;)
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

ComputerGuy


John

At least it wouldn't be 500 miles away from its rightful place. What a dumb guy Bud is.
They came, they went, they took my image...

Tarkus

Quote from: rawr apples on January 18, 2009, 11:26:52 PM
I heard something about a western bypass that would cut through Tualitan, and Aloha, connected I-5 and 26 west of 217. Anyone know anything about that?

Yes, the old Westside Bypass project.  The idea was thrown around some in the early-to-mid-1990s, but nothing ever happened on it.  I believe it was conceived of as part of an eventual I-205 beltway--which would be very handy. :) 

I drew up a possibility for it below, connecting into SR-14 on the Washington end.  Although the little Sauvie Island bit there may not go over very well.


There is an I-5/99W connector proposed right now as well, that would go through to Sherwood, too, though Wilsonville is trying its darnedest to kill it, unfortunately. 

There's also another dead Oregon freeway that hasn't been mentioned--there was a plan to put an I-305 into Salem.  The closest they got to that was the Salem Parkway, signed as OR-99E BUS, which, actually, isn't a half-bad road.

-Alex (Tarkus)

Tarkus

It's appearing that instead of building an actual freeway/expressway from I-5 into Sherwood, they're going to be building more surface arterials.  SStill will be an improvement to that area, which desperately needs it, but it won't really leave the option of being extended as the Westside Bypass, from the looks of it.

http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDetail.htm/2009/01/22/Washington-County-selects-solution-to-improve-traffic-between-I5-and-99W-Funding-gap-for-Three-Arter

-Alex (Tarkus)

DrZoidberg

Quote from: Tarkus on January 18, 2009, 12:55:22 AM
That's a good question.  Especially after the nice (and badly-needed) widening job ODOT did between Cornell Road and Sylvan, which actually makes it possible to get from Forest Grove to Downtown in 35 minutes. :) 

The question in Portland would be how to route I-84.  North, over the Freemont Bridge to the current US 26, or south along the Marquam Bridge to I-405 and then US 26?

It stops being freeway-grade just before the interchange with OR-6, with that at-grade intersection with Harrison Road, but that's a good 20 miles stretch.  They could call it a western extension of I-84, but it would require multiplexing with I-5 and I-405, and it would just suddenly stop being I-84 near North Plains. 

It'd be Oregon's equivalent of I-39 in Wisconsin.  :-P

They could also theoretically make it a stub of I-5--perhaps I-505, the designation for the formerly proposed Yeon Street Freeway, but it'd be a little jarring to have an odd-numbered route heading east/west, though ODOT signed I-105 in Eugene as East/West, much to my chagrin. ::)

-Alex (Tarkus)
"By the way...I took the liberty of fertilizing your caviar."

rawr apples

What was the point of quoting that? ^

I just think something badly needs to be done about the traffic on 217 and in central beaverton.
Farmington road can get backed up all the way to Cedar Hills Blvd when a train is crossing at Lombard.
The WES train going 2mph across it doesnt help either
Now shut up and drivee

Tarkus

Quote from: rawr apples on January 26, 2009, 11:44:34 PM
The WES train going 2mph across it doesnt help either

The WES is a joke.  Don't get me started. ;)  I haven't been through that part of Beaverton in awhile, but I'm not surprised to hear of those backups.  And the thing's only doing test runs now.

The WES creates more problems than it solves--who's going to ride a slow train to Wilsonville that runs very limited hours?  For the amount of money spent on it, we could have easily gotten an extra lane on 217, rather than ODOT's pathetic excuse that they don't have enough money until 2089 unless they toll it.  (Don't get me started on ODOT and their pathetic excuses, either.)

I still think we need to get a new freeway in the western suburbs.  Actually, we need at least a couple freeways in the Portland area.  Through Beaverton itself, they seriously need some more surface arterials in that area.  Everything is too dependent on Canyon, Farmington, Cedar Hills and Hall and OR-217.  Extending Millikan and Hocken was a good start, but they need to go further.  Widening 5th Street west of Watson would do the trick nicely, though I'd imagine there'd be objections.

rawr apples

Quote from: Tarkus on January 27, 2009, 10:17:10 PM
Quote from: rawr apples on January 26, 2009, 11:44:34 PM
The WES train going 2mph across it doesnt help either

The WES is a joke.  Don't get me started. ;)  I haven't been through that part of Beaverton in awhile, but I'm not surprised to hear of those backups.  And the thing's only doing test runs now.

The WES creates more problems than it solves--who's going to ride a slow train to Wilsonville that runs very limited hours?  For the amount of money spent on it, we could have easily gotten an extra lane on 217, rather than ODOT's pathetic excuse that they don't have enough money until 2089 unless they toll it.  (Don't get me started on ODOT and their pathetic excuses, either.)

I still think we need to get a new freeway in the western suburbs.  Actually, we need at least a couple freeways in the Portland area.  Through Beaverton itself, they seriously need some more surface arterials in that area.  Everything is too dependent on Canyon, Farmington, Cedar Hills and Hall and OR-217.  Extending Millikan and Hocken was a good start, but they need to go further.  Widening 5th Street west of Watson would do the trick nicely, though I'd imagine there'd be objections.

So I was driving on Farmington, and got stopped by the WES on my way to work, which caused me to be just a little bit late. I heard it just about every 15-20 minutes while working (I work outside  near it). Got stopped on my way home again. There were people on it though, so im not sure if its still testing or its actually running now.

And oh yeah there would be objections to widening 5th, especially by me because I live by or on 5th and the road is busy enough as it is.

I think another major route from the south of hillsboro, to around Murray HIill and 99W would help. Doesnt necessarily have to be a full blown freeway.
Now shut up and drivee

Tarkus

Quote from: rawr apples on January 27, 2009, 10:33:33 PM
I think another major route from the south of hillsboro, to around Murray HIill and 99W would help. Doesnt necessarily have to be a full blown freeway.

That would also help quite a bit as well.  I know Washington County is in the process of re-aligning SW 175th so it lines up with Roy Rogers Road at a single intersection with Scholls Ferry--which will help tremendously. 

If 175th between Scholls Ferry and Rigert were to get revamped a bit as well, it'd become a very nice way to get to Sherwood and Tualatin from Beaverton, as you wouldn't have to go through Tigard.  It's really a bit hairy right now going over Cooper Mountain.  And 170th and Roy Rogers on either side are already fantastic roads.

I'd say a Cornelius Pass extension could be good as well, but it'd kind of duplicate 209th. 

In retrospect, you're right on 5th.  That's also probably not the side that needs bypassing, either.  If they could punch Millikan through a little farther . . .

There's also been some talk of turning the OR-8/Murray Blvd intersection into an interchange. 

-Alex (Tarkus)

DrZoidberg

The 2 biggest items to help traffic on the west side of Portland....

I think the biggest problem with traffic in Portland is the region's refusal not just to build freeways, but to work on existing freeways.  I'm convinced that driving on the west side would be a LOT less congested if they added as little as 1 new through lane to OR 217.  I think the only area where they may run into ROW issues is between Greenburg Rd and Scholls Ferry, but Cascade Blvd could be annexed.  217 has incredibly dated interchanges, is nowhere close to Interstate standards, and is congested from about 7-10am and then from 2-7pm.  The worst part is the OR 8/ OR 10 interchange. Always a bottleneck, even on Sunday afternoon.

Also, just one extra lane on I-5 would help a lot.  With the amount of people expected to move to the region by 2020, I don't see how Portland thinks the existing infrastructure will suffice. I-5 southbound from Vancouver, WA is only 2 lanes at one point!  I commend the region on great use of an urban growth boundary and the implementation of mass transit, but the fact of the matter is with population growing, especially in coming years, not everybody is going to take the bus.  Plain and simple.

Nick,

Portland, OR
"By the way...I took the liberty of fertilizing your caviar."

Tarkus

Nick, without a doubt widening OR-217 would have greatly improve mobility through the area.  It's amazing how much the extra lane(s) on US-26 have helped out.  ODOT needs to stop being stupid, really. 

They are basically just full of excuses for not doing things which are desperately needed and within their capabilities--widening 217, raising the speed limit to 70mph (which they can legally do as per HB3252 of 2005), intersection improvements on OR-47, etc.   Someone needs to clean house in there.

-Alex (Tarkus)

DrZoidberg

QuoteWest of Portland, US-26 is up to interstate standards as far as I know, so whats keeping it from bieng designated an interstate?

I drove US 26 west of Portland today, and you are correct that it seems to be interstate standards up until the 185th Ave exit in Hillsboro.  Once you get to that interchange, 26 drops to 2 lanes in each direction, the shoulders narrow, not to mention the pavement seems incredibly old compared to the rest of the highway through Portland.   

I think that a freeway to the Oregon Coast, terminating in Seaside or Astoria, would be a great benefit.  US 101, the highway hugging the coast, is a great drive and I wouldn't want that to be compromised, but a freeway connecting Portland to the coast via US 26 would be beneficial, especially with the summer traffic, and the Sunday afternoon traffic.  I think it'd also allow accesibility to the Portland metro area for coastal residents in times of rough weather.   Naturally, I-84 would be the best candidate.

I think signing this corridor west of Portland as I-84 would spur a future freeway all the way to Seaside.  Right now, however, I think I-84 would do what I-39 does in Wisconsin, terminate as soon as the highway is no longer interstate standard, which I believe would be the 185th Ave exit. Seeing I-84/US 26 signs, even if this corridor is approved, would take ODOT a minimum of 10 years to post.  :-P

The interesting thing about this would be the route 84 would take through Portland.  From it's current terminus, it could go north to I-405 via the Freemont Bridge to US 26 OR south on I-5 to I-405.

"By the way...I took the liberty of fertilizing your caviar."

Tarkus

Well, arguably, I'd say it's up to interstate standards up to about MP55 (the Dersham Road exit west of North Plains).  While there is some old pavement in spots, there's been some considerable upgrades to some of the interchanges west of 185th in the past few years. 

The parclo at Cornelius Pass Road (Exit 62) was upgraded from a 4-ramp to a 6-ramp Parclo, partly possible because the old railroad there was decommissioned.  Jackson School Road also used to have a horrible, horrible at-grade intersection with US-26 just east of North Plains, but it was upgraded to a really nice diamond interchange (Exit 59) about 4 years ago.

There's some plans in place to upgrade the Glencoe Road (Exit 57) interchange, which desperately needs it.  The overpass there is extraordinarily narrow and Glencoe is also the main road people take to go between US 26 and the cities of Forest Grove and Cornelius.  There's also been some talk of turning the Shute/Helvetia interchange (Exit 61) into a partial dumbbell, with a roundabout on the south side--I'll see if I can find that proposal again.  I'm not a big fan of that idea, in light of Washington County's track record with roundabouts.

-Alex (Tarkus)

Tarkus

#21
Double-posting . . . but I think it's merited here . . .

I've got my sources on the Glencoe and Shute/Helvetia interchanges.

The "dumbbell" interchange is actually something the City of Hillsboro has proposed, in the Helvetia Concept Plan.  (Warning: rather large PDF.)  I'm not sure how much of a say Hillsboro will actually have in what actually gets built at a state-maintained interchange.

The Glencoe Road project, however, is all of ODOT's doing.  There's a project page http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION1/glencoe/.

-Alex (Tarkus)

rawr apples

Now shut up and drivee

Voyager

Back From The Dead | AARoads Forum Original

Tarkus

#24
Thanks, voyager. :)   It's been one of those weeks.

-Alex

Edit:  I should also add, for reference--the bit on the Shute/Helvetia interchange is on page 36 of the City of Hillsboro Helvetia plan.



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.