old US 99 alignment from Grants Pass to Roseburg, OR

[RoadFan99]

This is my first post to this forum.  I am very excited to find like minded people!

I am very interested in pictures and information of old US 99 alignments between Grants Pass and Roseburg, from highway inception until the present.  In particular, I'm interested in the alignment from Grants Pass to over Sexton Mountain.  I thought I have seen old photos of US 99 being open over Sexton Summit as late as the 1960's-1970's, running roughly parallel to newly built Interstate 5.

Any information is highly appreciated.  Thank you!

[xonhulu]

This is my first post to this forum.  I am very excited to find like minded people!

I am very interested in pictures and information of old US 99 alignments between Grants Pass and Roseburg, from highway inception until the present.  In particular, I'm interested in the alignment from Grants Pass to over Sexton Mountain.  I thought I have seen old photos of US 99 being open over Sexton Summit as late as the 1960's-1970's, running roughly parallel to newly built Interstate 5.

Any information is highly appreciated.  Thank you!

Welcome to the forum.  Hopefully, I can answer some of your questions.  I can't help you with photos, though.  Other folks on here have access to a lot more archival material than I do, so maybe they can step in to help you with that.

Working north from Grants Pass, I'm not sure exactly what the alignment for old 99 was.  I don't think it followed Monument Dr. to the west of I-5, but that's not impossible.  After Exit 38, you can pick up the old road east of the freeway.  I've driven it, and you can take it over the summit, but you'll encounter this gate:



I believe I-5 cut through the old 99 roadbed north of here, because the likely old routing reappears west of I-5 as N Old Stage Rd. (not really sure about this).  I'm very sure at exit 71, it took the misnamed Sunny Valley Loop east of I-5; misnamed because it also dead ends and never returns to I-5.  I've never driven up it to see if it also is gated off, as on Google Maps it appears the road does go on for a bit before eventually petering out.

It next appears down by Wolf Creek as (I believe) Bloom Road.  There's been a lot of re-arranging of the roads since I-5 was built, but it's still possible to see stubs on both sides of I-5 of the old road north of the present interchange, visible in this Google Maps satellite shot:  https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Merlin,+OR&hl=en&ll=42.691875,-123.391346&spn=0.004109,0.010568&sll=44.932991,-123.028207&sspn=0.253256,0.676346&oq=merlin&t=h&hnear=Merlin,+Josephine,+Oregon&z=17

Ignore the road named "Old Hwy 99" and look at Front St and the stub off Coyote Creek Rd -- I believe these are remnants of the original 99.  On the ground they just have that look.

I'm not really sure where 99 went north of Wolf Creek, but the frontage road is a good bet.  My old maps show 99 never went directly to Glendale, as the railroad does -- that's always pictured as being on a spur off the highway.  Junction Rd and Azalea-Glendale Rd look likely, but again, I'm not sure.

I-5 has probably wiped out most of old 99 over Canyon Creek Summit and down Canyon Creek.  You can catch little glimpses of the old roadbed from I-5, though.  You can pick it up as a dead-end stub south out of Canyonville.  North of there, it pretty much followed the roads ODOT marks as OR 99.  Be careful, though: while ODOT considers them to still be segments of OR 99, Douglas County, who maintains them, doesn't sign them as such once you leave the interstate.  However, they're all pretty easy to follow.

Good luck finding & navigating these.  Hopefully, someone else can step in with some better information.

[NE2]

Sources that may help:
http://research.archives.gov/description/821491
http://nationalmap.gov/historical/
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/GEOMETRONICS/ROW_Eng/HistoryHighwaysOregon/marketroadscolor.pdf

[xonhulu]

So I followed up one of NE2's leads.  On the 1941 Glendale topo, it shows that 99 did use Monument Dr., so you can add that to the old alignments.  It also showed that, at least by 1941, 99 did not take Junction Rd/Azalea-Glendale Rd, but followed a route essentially where today's I-5 runs.

Hope that helps!

[RoadFan99]

Thank you!  This is great information.  I look forward to searching through the links!

[RoadFan99]

Does anyone know when the old highway over Sexton was gated off?

[NE2]

http://www.hugoneighborhood.org/BROCHURE%201E%20US%2099_051610.pdf

[Henry]

I like old highway alignments! I might have to take a hiking/camping trip whenever I'm in the area.

[RoadFan99]

Does anybody have any photos of the transition/construction from Hwy 99 to I-5? 

[nexus73]

Hello Roadfan99!  For me it's old 101 alignments that I go over on the South Coast.  There's still plenty of them around so the real thrill comes from finding the ones that are tiny dead ended segments.  So far my best find is the one in Langlois.  Look for Wormer's on the south end of the hamlet and go up the hill.  That's an old 101 segment and it dead ends but not before revealing an old neon cheese factory sign which saw better days many decades ago.

My friend and I also found some good old 101 stuff in Del Norte county, just south of the border with California.  Wandering around back there revealed a huge dairy industry which dwarfs anything we now have up here.  There used to be so much local dairy over here but it pretty much went bye-bye by the end of the Sixties and the stragglers hung on but to no avail, so to see Del Norte county doing so well with this agricultural industry is like a what-if alternate universe for our area.

May you see many interesting things on your explorations!

Rick 

[RoadFan99]

Thanks! Sounds like a weekend to the coast for me!

[707]

Hello and welcome! I have a bit of information on US 99 since I'm trying to write a book on the old road. One of the sections I have placed a majority of effort in is the one near Sexton Summit. I admit this part to be my favorite segment of old US 99. For a little background, US 99 existed in Oregon from 1926 to 1972. It took the entire route of Pacific Highway #1 at one point and has its roots in the Pacific Highway Auto Trail of 1913 to 1926. Today, Pacific Highway #1 is entirely part of Interstate 5. Keep in mind that this route is a composite of the later and earlier US 99 ranging between 1926 and 1972.

The route I plotted takes OR 99 south of Roseburg through Winston, Dillard and Round Praire, then merges onto I-5. US 99 once again divides from the main route in Myrtle Creek. Today, it is somewhat acknowledged as being OR 99. To cross the creek, the road utilizes an old bridge built by famed Oregon Bridge engineer Conde B. McCullough. Two covered bridges near the highway but were never part of it can be viewed here. The road continues south through "Tri-City". A road titled Gael Lane is the way back to I-5. The main arterial curves onto it, so Gael Lane shouldn't be too hard to miss. If you decide to continue straight, it will result in a dead end. Not far south of Tri-City, I-5 curves east for a very brief stint and crosses a body of water. Immediately after crossing, you can access Stanton Park Road on the north side via taking a right from the ramp onto Ravenswood Road. This was a hard catch, but the road is US 99 as evidenced by USGS topo maps and NETR Online's Historical Aerial site. There is an exit further north on I-5 on the other side of the river, leading to Lawson Bar Road. Part of this was once US 99 as well. It used to connect to a now dead end road on the other side of the creek via a long gone bridge. When Stanton Park ends at Gazley Bridge Road, turn right and take a left when the latter road ends at Main Street. Main Street was old US 99 through Canyonville. Today, the town is a very cute little set up. Once again, going straight on Main Street will lead to a dead end. However, there may be 15 inch concrete sections of the pre-1926 Pacific Highway/1926-1928 era US 99 visible. Using 4th or 5th Street in downtown Canyonville gets you back to I-5. South of Canyonville, Mexia Road is the next section of old US 99 to be found. Unfortunately, unless you are travelling north, this road will require backtracking, where it curves heading east of I-5. This section was spared because an old restaurant called Mexia's was apparently good enough, those in charge of the interstate construction left it alone (or so Jill Livingston claims in "That Ribbon of Highway III"). Further south, exit the Interstate and head south on Azalea Glenn Road. An abandoned portion of this piece can be seen darting straight ahead where the road curves to cross over the Interstate (I suggest looking at this part in Google Maps to find it). The road eventually takes a southern turn down Junction Road and goes back into I-5. If you can, I suggest going into the hills on either side of the Interstate at this immediate area. ODOT Contract plans from the 1930's show the older highway being very curvy. Satellite images show the curves still in existence, since the thick trees part in the shape of the old curves. If you plan on searching for these curves, do so legally and try not to get hurt. South of here, US 99 leaves I-5 on the frontage road just north of Wolf Creek. A Karmann Ghia and VW Beetle are on the left side of the road. Someone was creative enough to give them insect legs and jaws made of steel. The road curves into Wolf Creek, which appears to be trying to attract tourists by focusing around the Grey Wolf and the Wolf Creek Inn. The Inn is definitely a place to stop and eat. It was built in 1887 and President Rutherford B. Hayes was rumored to have stayed in it. Rooms cost a ton of money on the downside. Bridge Lane, Railroad Avenue, the driveway for the Inn, Front Street and part of the opposing frontage road are sections of the earlier US 99, but are impassable or discontinuous. Further south, exit at Sunny Valley and drive to the east side of I-5. Sunny Valley Loop was US 99 from 1926 to 1954 and features the Grave Creek covered Bridge. North of it is where a young girl of 16 years named Martha Leland Crowley was buried. During the pioneer days, she perished to Typhoid on the creek. Immediately south of where the Sunny Valley Loop curves west, an old part of the Sexton Summit alignment can be reached, but is impassable. This, not the Old Stage Road, is what connected to its famous Southern counterpart. Further south at the Monument Drive exit, going to the east side of I-5 accesses the well known section of Sexton Summit. Heading west will have the road eventually curve south to become US 99 once more. Three Pines Road and Oxyoke Road make up the final piece of the Sexton Summit Puzzle, featuring a pre-1926 mile marker from Pacific Highway and a long abandoned gas station. Where the road dead ends, is the old 15'' Concrete road that once headed over the mountain. After heading south on Monument Drive, take a left on Merlin Road and a right onto Highland Avenue. Going straight on Monument Drive, although true to the 99 path, will lead straight into the Interstate and merge you onto it. On the other hand, Highland becomes US 99's older route into Grant's pass. Part of this was sadly cut off by Interstate 5 and now lies on the north side of it. Highland becomes Vine and ends at OR 99. To continue on US 99 take a right. To see the chopped off curve, turn left on Morgan Lane right before you hit OR 99, then turn left at 7th street and head north on OR 99. Go under I-5 and turn right on Scoville Road, then left on Scenic Drive where the curve begins. The curve continues down Scenic drive and dead ends at the Interstate. When heading into Grants Pass on old US 99, note US 199. It's a "child" of US 99 and is still an active U.S. Highway. It leads to Oregon Caves State Park and eventually to Arcata, California. This is also the beginning of the "Redwood Highway" (although part of OR 99 north of it is considered the Redwood Highway as well). Lastly, Fruitdale Drive is the old US 99 out of Grants Pass. The later one, now the Rogue River Highway, was the later route out of Grants Pass.

If you want to know more, I can send you some old photos and files, courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation and a trip I took down US 99 from Seattle to Yreka. PM me for my email and if necessary, the email for the very friendly woman in charge of the Oregon DOT's archives and records. Also, be sure to visit the following: http://www.oregonhighways.us/html_files/Highways/hwy-001.html . The aforementioned link is a very informative website put together by Mike Wiley (not affiliated with the DOT) using DOT records. If needed, I can provide a link to Mapquest Directions taking you right down the old road from Roseburg to Grants Pass, including the dead end sections. I'm happy to hear you have an interest in US 99 and hope that more people like you can come around to help preserve this old road.

[nexus73]

199 connects with 101 just north of Crescent City.  Arcata is about 85 miles south of the interchange.

Rick

[Canyonville born]

When I came across this forum and this topic I had to join the forum. I grew up in Canyonville, Oregon and my Dad worked on building hwy 99 just south of Canyonville before sexton pass. He was a driller for the dynamite that they used to cut through the canyon. That was in the fall of 1950 I believe. He was injured when a blast caused boulders to roll down the side of the canyon and hit him in the back putting him in the hospital for a while.  I just wondered if anyone worked on the highway or if any of the forum members knew people that did. I grew up witnessing the construction of hwy 99 and remember the old highway that was Canyonville's 'main street' until HWY 99 was completed. 

Our house was overlook hwy 99/I-5 just west Canyonville. Later the property was bought out when I-5 went in about the spring of 1965.  My Dad worked at the Hanna Nickel mine in Riddle, Oregon just a few miles west of Riddle. I so enjoyed reading all about hwy 99 and it's construction during the growing up years.  My family traveled many times on the old hwy and the new hwy 99 traveling down to the bay area a few times every year while growing up. Just had to post this on this forum. Please let me know if you or anyone that you knew actually worked on hwy 99 during those early years. I was born in September of 1951. Thanks for reading my post.