Portland

[rawr apples]

Changed the thread name because its gone much further than Sunset Hwy now

[Bickendan]

1. I honestly wouldn't designate the Sunset Highway as I-84. If it were to receive an interstate designation, I think an x84 (184 is the most logical candidate) or an x05 (305, to use the Salem Parkway's original incarnation's number). I'm not sure extending a freeway through the Coastals (either to Tillamook or Seaside and Astoria) is warranted.
2. Disregard this map. The Willamette Week article was biased and rehashing incorrect facts.

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

Use this one instead: http://bickenland.lonaf.com/Maps/1990PDXPlan.jpg

[Tarkus]

Bickendan, thanks for sharing that map--I hadn't seen it before.  I like that plan a great deal better, too, compared to the Willamette Week one.  There's still some stuff that even seems a little bit excessive to a road-infrastructure enthusiast like myself (i.e. #11 especially), but a lot of that stuff would be very useful.  Looks like #3, coupled with #10 is the Westside Bypass proposal--I like the alignment going over the Columbia there.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[Chris]

Where these freeways all planned at the same time, or is it a sum of all freeways that were once planned independently of eachother?

[Bickendan]

It's a sum.

[Truvelo]

It would be really nice to have such a dense network of freeways. The congestion which plagues Portland could be well significantly reduced if this lot was all built. I'm not sure what the NIMBY's would say though

[Bickendan]

No, Portland doesn't need that dense of a freeway network. The only two I'd add between I-5 and I-205 would be the Mt Hood, Big Dig style, and an eastern extension of OR 217 skirting Lake Oswego into Oak Grove and connecting to OR 224. Anything else I'd add would be outside the two interstates.

[florida]

The Going Expressway? It better live up to its name.

[Bickendan]

...Going isn't known as an expressway at all. All segments of Going are N or NE Going St.

[xonhulu]

The Going Expressway? It better live up to its name.

Since it was never built and never will be, maybe they should change it to "Gone."  (I know, I know, corny.)

I agree with Bickendan that the Mt Hood should still be built, but it won't.  So I always thought the ghost ramps on the Marquam should have been repurposed to an improved connection to McLoughlin Blvd (OR 99E).  Then you have this possibility: a US 26 bypass consisting of an upgraded McLoughlin (which would take some doing, but a lot less than putting a freeway down Powell), the OR 224 expressway, and the new Sunrise Corridor.  While this wouldn't be a great commuting route for Gresham residents, it would benefit through traffic to Central Oregon.  The biggest drawback would be adding traffic to already busy McLoughlin Blvd.

To me, the best thing they could build in the Portland Metro area would be the Westside Bypass.  And this is old, but I see no reason to extend I-84 up the Sunset Hwy.

[andytom]

The Going Expressway? It better live up to its name.

Would you say the same thing about the Failing Pedestrian Bridge, just south of Going (quickly resigned as 'Failing St. Ped. Br.')?

--Andy

[mightyace]

The Going Expressway? It better live up to its name.

Would you say the same thing about the Failing Pedestrian Bridge, just south of Going (quickly resigned as 'Failing St. Ped. Br.')?

--Andy

Would you happen to have a picture of the "Failing Pedestrian Bridge" sign?

[Bickendan]

From the I-5 guide... http://www.westcoastroads.com/oregon/images001/i-005_nb_exit_303_04.jpg

[mightyace]

From the I-5 guide... http://www.westcoastroads.com/oregon/images001/i-005_nb_exit_303_04.jpg

I meant the "broken" version without the "Road" after Falling.

[andytom]

The Going Expressway? It better live up to its name.

Would you say the same thing about the Failing Pedestrian Bridge, just south of Going (quickly resigned as 'Failing St. Ped. Br.')?

--Andy

Would you happen to have a picture of the "Failing Pedestrian Bridge" sign?

No.  Just the Streetview version here:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.55115,-122.678779&spn=0,359.984422&z=17&layer=c&cbll=45.551066,-122.678782&panoid=v0tmZ7VcFh8_R7puc48T5g&cbp=12,206.31,,0,-40

--Andy

[florida]

The Going Expressway? It better live up to its name.

Would you say the same thing about the Failing Pedestrian Bridge, just south of Going (quickly resigned as 'Failing St. Ped. Br.')?

--Andy

It'd be quite depressing to live on that street. Does Portland not believe in Easy Street as a name?

[andytom]

The Going Expressway? It better live up to its name.

Would you say the same thing about the Failing Pedestrian Bridge, just south of Going (quickly resigned as 'Failing St. Ped. Br.')?

--Andy

It'd be quite depressing to live on that street. Does Portland not believe in Easy Street as a name?

No.  Besides, who wants to do things the easy way anyways.     Also, If you watch The Simpsons, you know the names of all the streets in the north half of downtown Portland.

--Andy

[Alps]

Also, If you watch The Simpsons, you know the names of all the streets in the north half of downtown Portland.

--Andy

I found Evergreen Terrace west of the Rose Gardens and Quimby St.  Terwilliger Blvd. is well south of downtown.  Then I found http://www.movingtoportland.net/matt_groening_map.htm

[andytom]

Also, If you watch The Simpsons, you know the names of all the streets in the north half of downtown Portland.

I found Evergreen Terrace west of the Rose Gardens and Quimby St.  Terwilliger Blvd. is well south of downtown.  Then I found http://www.movingtoportland.net/matt_groening_map.htm

Try this: http://www.snpp.com/guides/whoiswho.html#portland

--Andy

[bookem]

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.

One of the main issues with 217 is that there are just too many interchanges spaced too close together.  Braiding the ramps between Greenburg and Scholls Ferry would be a big help, as there are perfectly good frontage roads on either side of the freeway at this point.  Combining Allen and Denny into a single interchange would be worthwhile as well.  But as for what to do with the notorious OR 8/10 interchange... I got nothin' 

[xonhulu]

One of the main issues with 217 is that there are just too many interchanges spaced too close together.  Braiding the ramps between Greenburg and Scholls Ferry would be a big help, as there are perfectly good frontage roads on either side of the freeway at this point.  Combining Allen and Denny into a single interchange would be worthwhile as well.  But as for what to do with the notorious OR 8/10 interchange... I got nothin' 

I don't know what you could do with 8/10.  That's the problem with putting two major through routes 1 block apart!

[Bickendan]

Do a setup similar to the Division/Powell exit on I-205. There's less space, but it'd still work.

[Tarkus]

The Highway 8/10 interchange really does pose quite a challenge.  I think the best solution might be to double-deck the little "frontage roads" on either side of 217, and have some braided ramps going between the two levels.  The intersections at Highways 8 and 10 could also be converted into SPUIs, which would eliminate one traffic signal on each. 

As far as surface connectivity between 8 and 10, a new surface arterial could be built.  There's no real viable option on the west side of the freeway, as Fred Meyer is there, but if 110th were to be beefed up and re-aligned slightly, that'd be ideal.  110th could eventually be turned into an arterial and connected directly into Walker, which would perhaps cut some additional short-distance traffic out on 217.

-Alex (Tarkus)

[xonhulu]

I'm not really sure the 8/10 interchange really deserves the "notorious" title.  I use it all the time to get to my brother's place, the last time during Friday rush hour, and I have very few problems there, even when I go through to OR 8.  I pass three interchanges on I-5 on the way up there which are all worse as far as wait time, safety, etc.  The Woodburn interchange is probably one of the worst in Oregon and is screaming out for some relief or improvement.

Back to OR 217, I think the main issue is capacity (needs more lanes).  But the elimination or improvement of interchanges would also be a great plus.

[Tarkus]

I think the main problem with 8/10 at 217 is the fact that 8 and 10 just get to be so congested sometimes.  8's a really a mess for much of its length.

The stretch from 8/10 on south probably needs the most work.  I think if they're going to get rid of one interchange, Denney Road would be the obvious candidate.  I'm not sure that the SB exit directly onto Scholls Ferry is all that necessary, either.  The people needing to access Scholls Ferry from 217 SB could just exit at Hall Blvd (technically OR-141 ) and take Cascade or Nimbus.  The intersection at Cascade and Scholls Ferry could then be expanded some.

If they had a consistent 3 lanes per direction between 8/10 and 99W, that'd solve a lot of problems, I think, and eliminating the Denney Road interchange would probably make that a bit cheaper and easier.

The Woodburn interchange is probably one of the worst in Oregon and is screaming out for some relief or improvement.

No kidding.  I've seen traffic routinely back up onto I-5 there from the SB exit ramp.  They haven't done anything to that interchange (except install Flashing Yellow Arrows) since they put in outlet mall there.