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Oregon 42N

Started by CGPerry, September 30, 2016, 05:20:20 AM

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CGPerry



I recently picked this sign up at an antique store in Salem, Oregon.  I've been unable to find much information on OR 42N, aside from a few mentions of traffic accidents on the highway near Roseburg in old newspapers from the late '50s.  The sign is about 36" x 30" and made of wood.  Is anyone familiar with this route?


nexus73

We have 42S between Bandon and Coquille, with that route being the original US 101.

42N may come from a time when 42 was a two-section highway, with the current 42 being 42N and the one which is currently another state route being the southern section.

"OR-42 was created at the inception of the Oregon route numbering system in 1932, running 58 miles from US-101 in Coquille to US-99 in Winston, just south of Roseburg. This road was (and still is) known as the Coos Bay-Roseburg Highway, though it didn't actually go between those two cities. The highway connected Roseburg to the Oregon Coast as it wended its way through the Coast Range, passing through small towns like Remote.

The route would stay this way until 1956, when US-99 began its upgrade to Interstate standards to accomodate I-5. For some unknown reason, OR-42 was extended southerly over at least 21 miles of US-99 between Winston and Canyonville, then southeasterly over all of OR-227 between Canyonville and Trail, ending at a junction with OR-62 close to Crater Lake in the Cascades."

http://www.angelfire.com/or3/oroads/roads/or42/index.html

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

NE2

#2
The News-Review (Roseburg), April 8, 1954

Reconstruction Of Highway Through Oregon To Result In Route Number Changes

Highway reconstruction in Oregon will result in changes in route numbers, it is announced by the Oregon Highway Commission. As new highway sections are completed and put into use, new titles will be adopted. Changes will start during the summer.

Several Douglas County roads are affected. A new route number will be given the existing Pacific Highway between Drain and Shady. Winchester and Roseburg, all to be bypassed when the new section of U.S. 99 is put into service, will be on the new S.H. 235 route. The designation of State Highway 231 will be given the similarly bypassed section of the present U.S. 99 in Lane County, while the bypassed section at Cold Hill will be known as State Highway 234.

Another announced change brings the Tiller-Trail Cut-Off into the system as an extension of the Roseburg-Coos Bay Highway. The road from Winston to Coquille now is known as State Highway 42. This route is to be extended eastward over the old Pacific Highway from Winston through Myrtle Creek to Canyonville and east from Canyonville through Tiller to Trail. The section from Winston to Roseburg, following the present highway, which is to be bypassed, will be known as S.H. 42N.

State Highway 38, the Drain-Reedsport route, is to be extended seven miles eastward over the route of the present Pacific Highway to connect with the new route of U.S. 99 at Anlauf. Moving the location of the Pacific Highway to a site west of Sutherlin will replace the Y connection at Deady with State Highway 225 between Sutherlin and Elkton. The existing 225 designation for the Deady branch will be eliminated.


pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

CGPerry

Thanks for the information and quick response!  I'm surprised that this information is so hard to come by.  It's interesting that they extended 42 so far east, then truncated it just a few years later.

nexus73

Great find NE2.  I had never heard of 42N so I had to guess what it may have been.  Thanks to you we now know for sure!

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

Bickendan

Interesting, I'd never heard of 42N nor knew of 42's extension down the Tiller-Trail Hwy.

JasonOfORoads

#6
I must confess I've never come across any information regarding OR-42N. It must have been very short-lived, because according to a Description of Signed US and Oregon Numbered Routes from December 1958, it was only known as a part of a larger US-99 Business:

QuoteUS99 - Business (Roseburg)

Over the connection with the Pacific Highway, US99, at Winchester, to its junction with the Oakland-Shady Highway, ORE235; thence southerly over the Oakland-Shady Highway, ORE235, via Roseburg to its junction with the Coos Bay-Roseburg Highway at Shady; thence southwesterly over the Coos Bay-Roseburg Highway to its junction with the Dillard Highway, ORE42, in Winston; thence southerly over the Dillard Highway to its junction with the Pacific Highway, US99, at Booth Ranch, approximately five miles north of Myrtle Creek.

Similarly, OR-42's description makes no mention of OR-42N:

QuoteORE42-

Over the Coos Bay-Roseburg Highway from its junction with the Oregon Coast Highway, US101, in Coquille, easterly via Myrtle Point, Remote and Camas Valley to its junction with the Dillard Highway, US99 Business, at Winston; thence over the Dillard Highway, US99 Business, to its junction with the Pacific Highway, US99, at Booth Ranch; thence over the Pacific Highway, US99, to its junction with the Myrtle Creek Highway north of Myrtle Creek; thence southerly over the Myrtle Creek Highway via Myrtle Creek to its junction with the Pacific Highway, US99, at Riddle Junction; thence over the Pacific Highway, US99, to its junction with the Tiller-Trail Highway north of Canyonville; thence southeasterly and easterly over the Tiller-Trail Highway via Days Creek and Tiller to its junction with the Crater Lake Highway, ORE62, at Trail.

Finally, OR-42N wasn't listed below OR-42.

WARNING: Wild Unsourced Speculation Ahead

Given this new information, I have a theory on approximately how long OR-42N existed. A lot of route numbering changes happened along the US-99 corridor starting in 1956. The biggest change was that US-99 now ran border-to-border, utilizing the new Portland-Salem Expressway between Hayesville and Tigard. As a result, US-99 was now split into three routes through the Willamette Valley for the second time in Oregon history. (The first split was in the 1930s before the Oswego Highway became OR-43.)

US-99's new status caused a ripple effect with route designations through major cities that same year. In Salem, for example, what is now I-5 was called US-99E Bypass in 1955, but US-99 Bypass in 1956. The old highway through Salem was US-99E in 1955, then US-99 Business in 1956. This technically means there was a gap in US-99 within Salem, though the 1958 description log considers the bypass to be plain ol' US-99. (This would also explain why US-99E started at the Hayesville interchange north of Salem; it would be strange for either US-99E to exit itself in Hayesville or run west of non-cardinal US-99.)

I'm guessing that a similar situation arose in Roseburg. As a 4-lane border-to-border freeway was becoming more of a reality, I imagine cities along the former highway balked at the idea of losing the US-shielded highway status symbol, Roseburg being one of them. As a compromise, the OSHC decided to redesignate old sections of US-99 as US-99 Business instead of or in addition to state highways, depending on the situation -- the 1958 descriptions log contains four of them. As mentioned in NE2's article, old US-99 between Drain and Shady was originally christened OR-235 when bypassed. US-99 Business was added on top of the section from Winchester to Shady in 1956, where I imagine it would've ended had Winston also not lobbied to retain a US shield through town. The OSHC then likely decided it was absurd to duplex OR-42N for its entire length with US-99 Business, so it was dropped, probably sometime in 1955 but certainly by 1958.

What's especially curious is that none of my official Oregon state highway maps from 1955, 1956 or 1957 show OR-42N. There's also no Roseburg inset in the 1955 map, and the two latter insets only show US-99 and US-99 Business through town. More research is definitely needed; I imagine there's something to be found in the OSHC minutes between 1954 and 1956. I guess I know what I'm going to research the next time I visit the ODOT Library.

However much you paid for that shield, you got an incredible deal. I'm way jealous. Fantastic find.  :-P :clap:
Borderline addicted to roadgeeking since ~1989.

Quillz

That shield is in great shape given it being made of wood and its age. Oregon used to have some really neat cutout shields, shame they retired them.

ylekot

Pretty interesting stuff.  I consider myself an expert when it comes to Oregon Highways and Routes, but I had never heard of 42N.  When I saw this route marker, I just assumed that for a short time, 42 between Coquille and Millington was maybe signed as 42N.  Very cool
Mike Wiley

e.mike.wiley@gmail.com

dvferyance

I was going to start a thread on this route myself but since there already is one I will react to it. Does anyone know why this route got 42S instead of just a regular number? State highway suffix routes are basically non existent as far as I know. Ok I know there is an 99E and 99W in Oregon but that's due to them being former US highways.

Quillz

Oregon seems to use a numbering scheme akin to US highways, so it seems that 42N could potentially have been Oregon 40. I don't know why it wasn't used, either.

nexus73

42S is referred to as 42 South by us locals.  Why "south"?  Because it is south of 42!  Back In The Day, US 101 went from Coos Bay to Coquille to Bandon.  A 2-lane bypass was completed in 1961 that directly connected Coos Bay to Bandon, which resulted in the now-isolated former US 101 stretch going between Coquille and Bandon getting renumbered as 42S. 

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

dvferyance

Quote from: Quillz on January 21, 2017, 01:35:32 PM
Oregon seems to use a numbering scheme akin to US highways, so it seems that 42N could potentially have been Oregon 40. I don't know why it wasn't used, either.
I really haven't noticed much of grid in Oregon. There kind of is a little bit but not like other states like South Dakota or Indiana. The S looks similar to a 5 so some might think it's Hwy 425!

Quillz

#13
Quote from: dvferyance on January 21, 2017, 10:07:41 PM
Quote from: Quillz on January 21, 2017, 01:35:32 PM
Oregon seems to use a numbering scheme akin to US highways, so it seems that 42N could potentially have been Oregon 40. I don't know why it wasn't used, either.
I really haven't noticed much of grid in Oregon. There kind of is a little bit but not like other states like South Dakota or Indiana. The S looks similar to a 5 so some might think it's Hwy 425!
Oregon actually has a pretty logical grid. Lower numbers in the north and east, higher numbers in the south and west. From east to west, you've got Oregon 3, Oregon 35, Oregon 43, etc. From north to south, you've got Oregon 18, Oregon 22, Oregon 36, Oregon 42, etc.

And some of the routes that seem out of place weren't in the past. For example, the portion of OR-22 north of OR-18 was once numbered Oregon 14. Why it was changed, I don't know.

As for suffixes, it's one of the reasons I like having letters half the height of the numerals. California used to have a nice aesthetic, with a half-height letter anchored by its upper-left corner:



I also like how South Dakota does it, with a half-height letter centered vertically:



Might create some legibility issues, but a nice way to make it clear letters aren't numbers.

dvferyance

Quote from: Quillz on January 22, 2017, 12:03:52 AM
Quote from: dvferyance on January 21, 2017, 10:07:41 PM
Quote from: Quillz on January 21, 2017, 01:35:32 PM
Oregon seems to use a numbering scheme akin to US highways, so it seems that 42N could potentially have been Oregon 40. I don't know why it wasn't used, either.
I really haven't noticed much of grid in Oregon. There kind of is a little bit but not like other states like South Dakota or Indiana. The S looks similar to a 5 so some might think it's Hwy 425!
Oregon actually has a pretty logical grid. Lower numbers in the north and east, higher numbers in the south and west. From east to west, you've got Oregon 3, Oregon 35, Oregon 43, etc. From north to south, you've got Oregon 18, Oregon 22, Oregon 36, Oregon 42, etc.

And some of the routes that seem out of place weren't in the past. For example, the portion of OR-22 north of OR-18 was once numbered Oregon 14. Why it was changed, I don't know.

As for suffixes, it's one of the reasons I like having letters half the height of the numerals. California used to have a nice aesthetic, with a half-height letter anchored by its upper-left corner:



I also like how South Dakota does it, with a half-height letter centered vertically:



Might create some legibility issues, but a nice way to make it clear letters aren't numbers.
There is somewhat of a grid in Oregon but there are a lot of violations to it. So one could not notice it unless they looked really carefully.

Quillz

A lot of it probably comes from the 2002 project to assign numbers to routes that did not already have them.

Bickendan

Not as much as you'd think, as those were virtually all three digit secondary routes. A good number of them still aren't signed, so they're still technically highways.

(Yes, I'm aware how absurd that sounds!)

nexus73

Quote from: Bickendan on January 23, 2017, 04:44:00 PM
Not as much as you'd think, as those were virtually all three digit secondary routes. A good number of them still aren't signed, so they're still technically highways.

(Yes, I'm aware how absurd that sounds!)

Coos County needs two "longer" routes signed while Curry County needs one.  Coos Bay OR could get Ocean Boulevard signed and that would be 4 miles.  When I lived in Louisiana back in the 90's, a street in Hammond which ran about about a fifth of a mile had a state route sign on each end, 4 digits long, almost as long as the street...LOL!

I wonder what would be the shortest state route in Oregon and the nation.

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

Bickendan

Shortest in Oregon at the moment is OR 204 Truck in Elgin at about 315 feet.

Alps

Quote from: nexus73 on January 23, 2017, 07:11:21 PM
Quote from: Bickendan on January 23, 2017, 04:44:00 PM
Not as much as you'd think, as those were virtually all three digit secondary routes. A good number of them still aren't signed, so they're still technically highways.

(Yes, I'm aware how absurd that sounds!)

Coos County needs two "longer" routes signed while Curry County needs one.  Coos Bay OR could get Ocean Boulevard signed and that would be 4 miles.  When I lived in Louisiana back in the 90's, a street in Hammond which ran about about a fifth of a mile had a state route sign on each end, 4 digits long, almost as long as the street...LOL!

I wonder what would be the shortest state route in Oregon and the nation.

Rick
For the nation, hard to beat VT 26, which is so short you can crabwalk it. It's really an extension of NH 26, but it has an official number.

nexus73

Quote from: Bickendan on January 23, 2017, 07:52:46 PM
Shortest in Oregon at the moment is OR 204 Truck in Elgin at about 315 feet.

Shorter than a football field...LOL!  We do have a "Truck Route" sign in our area but to find out a truck route was given a state number all to itself certainly qualifies as trucking trivia of the smallest sort literally!  Then to think this tiny route is in a tiny town.  Wow!

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

nexus73

Quote from: Alps on January 23, 2017, 08:42:24 PM
Quote from: nexus73 on January 23, 2017, 07:11:21 PM
Quote from: Bickendan on January 23, 2017, 04:44:00 PM
Not as much as you'd think, as those were virtually all three digit secondary routes. A good number of them still aren't signed, so they're still technically highways.

(Yes, I'm aware how absurd that sounds!)

Coos County needs two "longer" routes signed while Curry County needs one.  Coos Bay OR could get Ocean Boulevard signed and that would be 4 miles.  When I lived in Louisiana back in the 90's, a street in Hammond which ran about about a fifth of a mile had a state route sign on each end, 4 digits long, almost as long as the street...LOL!

I wonder what would be the shortest state route in Oregon and the nation.

Rick
For the nation, hard to beat VT 26, which is so short you can crabwalk it. It's really an extension of NH 26, but it has an official number.

Thanks for the info.  It might be hard to take a pix of this route unless one uses a microscope...LOL!

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

Alps

Quote from: nexus73 on January 23, 2017, 10:59:15 PM
Quote from: Alps on January 23, 2017, 08:42:24 PM
Quote from: nexus73 on January 23, 2017, 07:11:21 PM
Quote from: Bickendan on January 23, 2017, 04:44:00 PM
Not as much as you'd think, as those were virtually all three digit secondary routes. A good number of them still aren't signed, so they're still technically highways.

(Yes, I'm aware how absurd that sounds!)

Coos County needs two "longer" routes signed while Curry County needs one.  Coos Bay OR could get Ocean Boulevard signed and that would be 4 miles.  When I lived in Louisiana back in the 90's, a street in Hammond which ran about about a fifth of a mile had a state route sign on each end, 4 digits long, almost as long as the street...LOL!

I wonder what would be the shortest state route in Oregon and the nation.

Rick
For the nation, hard to beat VT 26, which is so short you can crabwalk it. It's really an extension of NH 26, but it has an official number.

Thanks for the info.  It might be hard to take a pix of this route unless one uses a microscope...LOL!

Rick
NJ 59 is also seriously short - just one short block under a railroad - but definitely longer than 26 which is at 69 feet long. I checked my VT 102 page and sure enough VT 26 is signed.

dvferyance

Here is one thing I have been wondering about Oregon. Do they have county routes or are they like Virginia where every road outside a city is maintained by the state?

nexus73

Quote from: dvferyance on January 25, 2017, 09:28:38 AM
Here is one thing I have been wondering about Oregon. Do they have county routes or are they like Virginia where every road outside a city is maintained by the state?

I see very few county route signs.  Maintenance in Coos County can fall under the aegis of several agencies depending on where the road is.  One unusual arrangement is for SR 540, which is state-maintained except for the section in Coos Bay.  Why is that?  ODOT gave that city around $16 million in exchange for taking over this section back in the 90's.  A good portion of the money was put into modernization and beautification projects with the last section getting this treatment done later this year.

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.



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