Favorite/Least favorite stretch of freeway in the Northwest

[kkt]

And driving I-5 south from the ship canal bridge into downtown Seattle through the convention center is just stunning, day or night.

And you usually have plenty of time to enjoy the view, because it's stop & go...

[drummer_evans_aki]

Favorite stretch of freeway - I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge. Beautiful drive. Also, I-84 east of Pendleton through Deadman's Pass. I love the views.

Least favorite stretch of freeway - I have to go with all of OR-217. That's one HEAVILY congested freeway. I think if they got rid of a few non-essential exits like Allen Blvd, Greenburg Rd, and Denny Rd (they all connect to Scholls Ferry Road not far from the freeway), and reserve the interchanges for major highways such as OR-8, 10, 210, and 99W, then it would be better. But we all know that's not going to happen.

[sp_redelectric]

Least favorite stretch of freeway - I have to go with all of OR-217. That's one HEAVILY congested freeway. I think if they got rid of a few non-essential exits like Allen Blvd, Greenburg Rd, and Denny Rd (they all connect to Scholls Ferry Road not far from the freeway), and reserve the interchanges for major highways such as OR-8, 10, 210, and 99W, then it would be better.

Egh, I agree with removing exits from 217, however you pointed out two exits that generally need to stay - and omitted two that should go.  From north to south:

Walker Road - too close to Canyon Road, serves just a residential collector street.  That traffic can easily be routed to Canyon Road or Cedar Hills Boulevard.  Maybe leave it as just an exit for southbound traffic/entrance for northbound traffic, to clear up the confict with Canyon.

Canyon Road/Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway - this interchange needs some work.  Frankly, Canyon/T.V. Highway should be a freeway, or at least an expressway, from 217 to Shute Park in Hillsboro.  But Metro seems to think T.V. Highway should be a lot more like a 25 M.P.H. street.  It would be good to install a flyover ramp from 217 NB to Canyon/TV Highway WB, and a direct ramp from Canyon to 217 SB without having to cross Beaverton-Hillsdale.

Allen - It's too close to Beaverton-Hillsdale, but it serves an important industrial area.  I could see reconfiguring the NB exit/entrance into a jughandle (using the old Greenwood Inn property that was razed and is sitting dormant).  SB is a bit harder to figure out because of the railroad.  Shutting this exit down would require improvements to get truck traffic to Western Avenue via Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway (already a congested route).

Denney - shut it down.  Easy access from Scholls Ferry and Hall Boulevard, like Walker it's just a residential collector street.  Maybe Denney could be the exit for SB traffic but Allen for NB traffic, with Western Avenue extended south to Denney for the truck traffic.

Hall (SB only) - This one is pretty important.

Scholls Ferry - NB is important, but SB is a poorly designed, cramped ramp.  Traffic can use Hall instead; it's a quick left turn, one block to Scholls Ferry.

Greenburg - this exit is pretty important as well; it has direct access to Washington Square, downtown Tigard, and a number of commercial and industrial areas.  Plus it isn't necessarily unsafe or too close to another exit.  Even though it looks close to Scholls Ferry I never have a problem getting on/off at Greenburg.  Let it stay.

99W - no question, it stays

72nd - This is one exit that makes no sense.  Not only does 72nd have plenty of good access via 99W but it has multiple accesses to/from I-5, including Upper Boones Ferry Road (Carmen) to get on/off 217 via I-5.  Especially SB it is another too-small, cramped ramp, and the on-ramp makes it impossible to do anything but go onto I-5 SB (and yet people try to get onto I-5 NB from 72nd...WHY?  Just use 72nd to 99W to I-5!)

[Bickendan]

I've used the ramp from 72nd to get to I-5 north quite a bit. The problem isn't so much the proximity between 72nd and 65th (which is I-5); it's the boneheaded design of the I-5 interchange -- a freeway to freeway interchange... with stoplights.
ODOT fixed part of the problem with the I-5 north to OR 217 north flyover, but the overall problem still exists. If the interchange had been properly built in the first place, traffic coming in from 72nd would have to weave to the far left to make the left hand turn at the second signal to go on I-5 north. They'd likely be exiting to the right.

Sadly, the idiocy won't be limited to the Kruse Way interchange -- the future Sunrise Freeway (OR 212-224) will have the same issues at I-205 (rebuild of I-205, OR 213, 224 with 212 rerouted).

[sp_redelectric]

I've used the ramp from 72nd to get to I-5 north quite a bit. The problem isn't so much the proximity between 72nd and 65th (which is I-5); it's the boneheaded design of the I-5 interchange

Is there even room for a cloverleaf loop from 217 SB to I-5 NB?  Maybe there was when the interchange was built; certainly not anymore.

It's still a ramp that has so many other alternates that it's not needed:

Traffic from 72nd to I-5 north can use either 99W, Haines, or Upper Boones Ferry/Carman

Traffic from 72nd to Kruse can use 72nd to Bonita to Bangy to Kruse; or backtrack to 99W and use 217 to Kruse

Traffic from 72nd to I-5 south can use the Dartmouth ramp, or Upper Boones Ferry Road

[Bickendan]

No, no room for a cloverleaf loop. It'd have to be a flyover or 'duckunder', which by necessity render the ramp from 72nd to 217 south a safety hazard. I can see the use for the other ramps at 72nd (and 217 north to 72nd's the most arguable of the set), but 72nd to 217 south could be eliminated without too much ill-effect.

[ctroadgeek]

This has been a problem since the "Keep Right Except to Pass" signs were removed in Oregon. I-5 even had a lane diagram between Salem and Portland depicting the usages of the three lanes: Left, passing. Center, travel and passing. Right, passing.

The "Keep Right Except to Pass" signs haven't been wholly banished, I'm happy to note. They still exist on the OR 211/224 overlap between Estacada and Eagle Creek.

I would say that slow drivers are more a result of the local driving culture than any amount of signage. Having lived back east for awhile where freeways into central cities have posted speed limits of 50 like the Portland metro area with numerous curves, bad sight lines, exits to the left, yet people there will be driving 70-75 during the off peak hours. I like that Oregonians are generally pretty laid back, but that drawback seems to mean people in the left lane oblivious to others around them. Another potential reason is the enforcement of speeding. Oregon's fines are a bit stiffer than what I have seen in other states, and the grace area is much smaller.

[Sd_fan2119]

Favorites:
US-101 along the South Coast
US-97 from Chiloquin to Klamath Falls (nice drive along Upper Klamath Lake)
OR-66 from Ashland-Klamath Falls
Also, a lot of OR-22 and US-20 from Silverton to Bend/Redmond is scenic, and of course Crater Lake
Least favorites:
I-5 from Wilsonville to Albany- took this route a couple hundred times as an OSU student, no scenery at all just farmland and buildings in Salem
217 during rush hour...of course

[sp_redelectric]

Another potential reason is the enforcement of speeding.

Aside from the unmarked Ford Mustangs in Marion County...WHAT enforcement? 

It's well known that there is virtually no speed enforcement on the freeways in Portland - OSP is so incredibly strapped for manpower that their troopers are focused mostly on I-84, U.S. 26, Oregon 212/224.  There is no OSP office in Multnomah or Washington County (the OSP metro area office is in Clackamas near the I-205/224 interchange); western Washington County is patrolled out of the McMinnville office of all places, and generally they have their hands tied up dealing with Oregon 18 (especially through the Van Duzer Corridor, which passes through not only Polk and Lincoln Counties, but a sliver of Tillamook County as well.)

Portland Police doesn't have the time to patrol the freeways.  Multnomah County generally focuses on east county so they will also patrol I-84 east of Troutdale but not west. 

Beaverton will snag the speeders on U.S. 26 westbound as a money-making tool, only because there's a convenient place for them to sit on the Cemetery overpass, and park a bunch of cruisers and cycles on the wide shoulder just to the west (where the emergency access is to the MAX tunnel).

Neither Tigard, Tualatin or Lake Oswego have much interest patrolling a freeway on the edge of their cities.  After all, if they pull someone over on the wrong side of the road, it's a long trip to the county courthouse (in Hillsboro or Oregon City).  Wilsonville doesn't have its own police department, instead using Clackamas County Sheriff's deputies (even in the north of town which is in Washington County...but again that means having to go to court in Hillsboro.)

[OCGuy81]

I always found Oregon cops easier to spot even when hidden versus California.  The yellow license plates are kind of a giveaway.

[Bickendan]

Another potential reason is the enforcement of speeding.

Aside from the unmarked Ford Mustangs in Marion County...WHAT enforcement? 

It's well known that there is virtually no speed enforcement on the freeways in Portland - OSP is so incredibly strapped for manpower that their troopers are focused mostly on I-84, U.S. 26, Oregon 212/224.  There is no OSP office in Multnomah or Washington County (the OSP metro area office is in Clackamas near the I-205/224 interchange); western Washington County is patrolled out of the McMinnville office of all places, and generally they have their hands tied up dealing with Oregon 18 (especially through the Van Duzer Corridor, which passes through not only Polk and Lincoln Counties, but a sliver of Tillamook County as well.)

Portland Police doesn't have the time to patrol the freeways.  Multnomah County generally focuses on east county so they will also patrol I-84 east of Troutdale but not west. 

Beaverton will snag the speeders on U.S. 26 westbound as a money-making tool, only because there's a convenient place for them to sit on the Cemetery overpass, and park a bunch of cruisers and cycles on the wide shoulder just to the west (where the emergency access is to the MAX tunnel).

Neither Tigard, Tualatin or Lake Oswego have much interest patrolling a freeway on the edge of their cities.  After all, if they pull someone over on the wrong side of the road, it's a long trip to the county courthouse (in Hillsboro or Oregon City).  Wilsonville doesn't have its own police department, instead using Clackamas County Sheriff's deputies (even in the north of town which is in Washington County...but again that means having to go to court in Hillsboro.)

You're going to hate it when you finally do get pulled over if you speed. I've seen the OSP trolling I-205 around Gladstone many a time, and I've seen them on the Baldock Freeway between Tualatin and Tigard. I've seen the Portland Police pull someone over on the Banfield. Don't get complacent and think because the OSP's strapped for manpower or the Portland Police doesn't have time they won't pull you over if they need to issue onnne more ticket to qualify for free doughnuts and coffee at Krispy Kreme.

[luokou]

No wonder the Krispy Kreme off of Cornell Rd. is still doing well, what with that speed trap right before Murray Blvd. on US 26 westbound.

[sp_redelectric]

I've seen the OSP trolling I-205 around Gladstone many a time

Because the OSP office is at the junction of I-205 and 224 now...

I've seen them on the Baldock Freeway between Tualatin and Tigard

There's a median pullout on I-5 (Baldock Freeway?  Nobody calls it that, not even ODOT!!), right smack between I-205 and Tualatin-Sherwood Road.  Popular for them to bust folks coming out of the 65 zone and not dropping down to 55.  But the good part is that you can see the officer before he can gun you.  So you have to be blind to get caught there.  But once you pass him, it's extremely difficult to do any sort of speed enforcement north of there owing to a jersey barrier, a lack of any police pullouts, heavy traffic (especially heavy merging traffic), and in some cases some narrow shoulders.  Plus, OSP has a "worksite" at the Tualatin Police station so troopers sometimes work there.

That said...maybe I've been lucky because after 19 years I have yet to get a speeding ticket in Oregon.  I very much enjoyed my Montana speeding ticket (my one and only).  It didn't even register on my driving records as it was essentially equal to a parking ticket.  Could have just handed the cop a $20 bill - if I had a $20 bill on me.

[Bickendan]

^Which would be considered bribing an officer if in Portland!

[sp_redelectric]

Sure enough, Friday afternoon Portland's finest had a motor officer sitting on I-5 southbound at the Hood onramp.

That said, I was with a friend of mine who has a tendancy to buy retired police cruisers, and for some reason people don't like to drive fast around him.

And...yes...giving a $20 to an officer in Portland would probably result in a Taser shock.  If not worse.

[707]

My favorite is definitely US 101 on the Oregon Coastline. It doesn't get any prettier than that. My least favorite... I honestly don't know. Maybye somewhere along the lines of I-5 in Seattle because of its ugliness and late-in-the-day traffic.

[sp_redelectric]

My favorite is definitely US 101 on the Oregon Coastline.

Is there a stretch of 101 in Oregon that qualifies as a "freeway" or even an "expressway"?  Even the Lincoln Beach divided stretch has a 45 MPH speed limit with intersections...I guess there are the 101/18 and 101/26 interchanges.

[Bickendan]

The Cannon Beach Bypass comes close to a Super-2 feel, and it includes the Sunset Junction (US 26).

[nexus73]

101 from Coos Bay to Coquille (the original route prior to the 1961 bypass heading to Bandon) is an early postwar expressway design other than the last four miles of two lane road heading into Coquille.  Some parts have been modernized but there are enough divided sections with differing elevations to let a person see how 101 followed the terrain instead of taming it.  The improved sections show the modern way to build a road.

ODOT classifies 101 and the old section which became state route 42 as expressway.  Plans to extend the 4-lane to Coquille have been discussed in the past but ODOT gives this region of Oregon short shrift.  Lots of yak-yak over various proposals but no action. 

Rick

[New to Seattle]

And driving I-5 south from the ship canal bridge into downtown Seattle through the convention center is just stunning, day or night.

And you usually have plenty of time to enjoy the view, because it's stop & go...

Ha, exactly.

I have been thinking about this thread and how 5 through Seattle gets a bum rap. The view of downtown from the south is also quite nice. The first clear day when I turned around the curve at Exit 161 and saw Mount Rainier looming in the distance was really something else. Maybe I'm still on an emotional high from moving here and I'll learn to hate I-5 without mitigation soon enough.

[kkt]

I've seen lots uglier roads than I-5 through Seattle.  For instance, I was just in the Bay Area, and the Nimitz through Oakland.  Narrow lanes, tangent sections running into each other with no curve connecting them, no shoulders, lots of garbage on the sides of the road, and of course heavy traffic and lots of drivers who play chicken while cutting in.

Mt. Rainier makes a lot of things better.  I hope you go for a closer look, if you haven't already.

[mp_quadrillion]

I-84 in Oregon:

Columbia River Gorge, esp btw jeo Portland and The Dalles. Besides the scenery, you won't find a quicker transition from rainforest to desert anywhere else. Pendleton to La Grande is pretty, too. Be sure to admire the expansive view at Emigrant / Cabbage Hill.

The remainder can be nice. Heading westbound along the Columbia at sunset is great. There are some good spots in eastern Oregon, too (see Baker Tower in Baker City).

I-82 in Washington:

Yakima to Ellensburg, especially, but the rest has its own appeal to me. The Yakama nation has a restaurant in Toppenish that serves a native menu. The Teapot Dome gas station is nearby and being restored. And there's a great vista point not too far off the highway in Prosser. http://goo.gl/maps/5MOQA

Most of I-5 in southern Oregon is pretty, but as mentioned elsewhere lacks climbing lanes. This is how it used to be done, son! Canyonville is a quaint little town. From a highway-evolution perspective, one spot in Medford is interesting (http://goo.gl/maps/4qQCg): they built a new SPUI and removed the older interchange just to the north. There are a bunch of motels and fast-food places that had a perfect end-of-the-ramp location that are not so blessed anymore.

I like the Snoqualmie stretch of I-90 in Washington, but haven't driven it recently enough to be specific.

Also, I'm not sure if it really counts as the Northwest.. but I would recommend the stretch of I-15 between Great Falls and the ID-MT line to anyone. Gorgeous in a lot of spots, with more history and anachronism than you can shake a stick at. (Roadside "radon health mines", an expansive historic district in Butte, huge mining headframes interspersed with houses, unpaved towns at several exits.)

[707]

Perhaps I am giving I-5 in Seattle an unnecessary hard time. I guess its just the rush hour traffic that makes me put it down. I will say though, I-5 in Seattle certainly beats the I-95 Cross Bronx Expressway in New York. It's filled with potholes, nowhere near the width of I-5 (which is six lanes where I-95 in the Bronx is four) and don't even get me started on the small tunnels and traffic.

[CentralCAroadgeek]

Quite a while since my trip up north, but here's mine:

Best
~ I-5 in Seattle
This section of I-5 is really pretty, especially going northbound toward Seattle. The views are great and it was even better driving through that section during sunset. The I-5 Express Lanes were also a nice experience.

~ I-5 in southern Oregon
All the hills are so pretty...

~ US-26 in Portland
Driving east from Tillamook, it's amazing to see how quickly the rural areas turned into urban Portland.

Worst
~ I-5 in the Willamette Valley
Really boring stretch of freeway, very reminiscent of the Central Valley a couple hundred miles south.

[JasonOfORoads]

Best:

• I-84 in the Columbia Gorge - Duh.
• I-90 through the Snoqualmie Pass
• The Sunset Highway from Sylvan through the Vista Ridge Tunnels - I love the fact that it's such a dense forest, but then you pass through a tunnel and BAM! you're in Portland.
• WA-7 south of I-5 to South 38th - For a similar reason as above, though not as picturesque as the Sunset.
• I-5 from Ashland to Sweet Home, save for Medford, Canyonville, and Roseburg - I happen to like this section, but then again I love forests.
• I-5 from Burlington to Bellingham - For the same reason as above, though not as hilly as the prior stretch
• The TCH from Hope to Kamloops
• Most of I-205, but especially between I-5 (Tualatin) and West Linn (Exit ８).
• I-5 entering Portland from the South, especially once the construction ends between Terwilliger and Corbett Ave.

Worst:

• OR-217 - SO CONGESTED.  50 MPH, poorly-spaced interchanges, no room to expand, and two lanes except for Walker to the Sunset.
• I-5 through Portland or Seattle - As a native Portlander, it pains me to say that Seattle's stretch is better, though not by much.  Portland at least eschews with the random left-lane exits, but is only two lanes most of the way and clogged.
• I-705 - I went to school in Tacoma, so I know this freeway well.  The part where it becomes Ruston Way is nice... but it isn't a freeway, so it doesn't count.  Exception: The pedestrian bridge featuring the Dale Chihuly glass.
• I-5 between Albany and Coburg - This is not only the most boring road I've driven on, but because it's so flat it's hard to gauge my speed, so I end up going 85 without realizing it.  Plus, when it rains, the road reflects the gray from the sky, making it a little bit dangerous.
• I-5 from JB Lewis-McChord to Fife - My god.  If there's any accident along that stretch it takes hours to get past it.  It also doesn't help that the I-5/WA-16 interchange is under construction again... and now working in I-705/WA-7.  And god help you if you try to exit onto WA-512 from I-5 south.
• WA-518 if you're trying to get to SeaTac from I-5 North.  Good lord, so many close calls and short merges.
• I-84 and I-82 in and around Hermiston - Your nose can tell you why that's on there.
• WA-16 used to be on this list before they added another Galloping Gertie.
• Any freeway in and around Vancouver, BC.  Especially BC-99 south to the border (clogged through the tunnel/bridge between Richmond and Delta), but especially the TCH from North Vancouver to Fraser Heights at least.