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US 101 from Cannon Beach over the Astoria-Megler Bridge

Started by Max Rockatansky, October 28, 2019, 10:43:18 PM

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Max Rockatansky

This past month I drove a segment of US Route 101 northbound from Cannon Beach in Clatsop County, Oregon over the Washington State Line via the Astoria-Megler Bridge.  US 101 through Clatsop County, Oregon has some really interesting alignment changes over the years with much of the original route inherited from the earlier Grant Highway.  Segments of OR 53, OR 104, the US 101 Business Route and OR 202 are all former segments of US 101.  Much longer explanations on alignment changes of US 101, maps and other information are on the link below.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/10/us-route-101-from-cannon-beach-oregon.html


JasonOfORoads

Great post Max. I've always enjoyed reading up on Gribblenation posts in California, so it's cool to know that you've been doing some entries for the Beaver state.

A point of clarification on the Cannon Beach rerouting: According to my information, US-101 was actually routed along the Cannon Beach bypass all the way back in 1952. That date comes from both an ODOT bypass analysis document from 2004 and the National Bridge Inventory record for the current US-101 Ecola Creek Bridge. The straightline charts from 1950 and 1956 also appear to show the bypass, with old US-101 now considered a "frontage road":





I'm not certain why the bypass was constructed -- a bit more research is needed on that front -- but my guess is that it had something to do with slow moving traffic through Cannon Beach causing safety concerns, especially in low visibility situations. I don't doubt that the original bridge washed away in 1964, however; the NBI record for that bridge says it was built (read: rebuilt) that year (and carries "Alternative Hwy 101").
Borderline addicted to roadgeeking since ~1989.

Max Rockatansky

Yeah I'd say that is pretty clear the bypass was around in the 1950s from what you posted.  I'd speculate that traffic woes were hellacious on US 101 once it opened in downtown Cannon Beach.  The roads can barely handle tourist traffic, I can't imagine they'd fare much better with mainline traffic.  I suspect you're right about the original bridge, I would think it might have been damaged but not outright destroyed.  There are a lot of earlier homes still near Ecola Creek that in theory shouldn't be there if a true washout occurred. 

nexus73

Thank you for the Oregon North Coast history lesson to go along with the highway photos!

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.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: JasonOfORoads on November 30, 2019, 04:34:27 AM
Great post Max. I've always enjoyed reading up on Gribblenation posts in California, so it's cool to know that you've been doing some entries for the Beaver state.

A point of clarification on the Cannon Beach rerouting: According to my information, US-101 was actually routed along the Cannon Beach bypass all the way back in 1952. That date comes from both an ODOT bypass analysis document from 2004 and the National Bridge Inventory record for the current US-101 Ecola Creek Bridge. The straightline charts from 1950 and 1956 also appear to show the bypass, with old US-101 now considered a "frontage road":





I'm not certain why the bypass was constructed -- a bit more research is needed on that front -- but my guess is that it had something to do with slow moving traffic through Cannon Beach causing safety concerns, especially in low visibility situations. I don't doubt that the original bridge washed away in 1964, however; the NBI record for that bridge says it was built (read: rebuilt) that year (and carries "Alternative Hwy 101").

I went back and added the information you cited regarding US 101 bypassing Ecola Creek, I made sure to cite you and your blog.   I have two more Oregon blogs relating to US 30 that I need to get around to but I don't think either will measure up to your post about the derelict section of the Columbia River Highway.  Doug usually hits on Oregon way more than I do on Gribblenation, he posted a bunch of covered bridge stuff earlier this year.

CovalenceSTU

Reviving the thread with a discovery I made searching USGS maps:

On this 1937 map of Cannon Beach (published 1940), US-101 has a suffixed split at Cannon Beach Junction with 101W going to Cannon Beach and Nehalem while 101E follows the original routing (currently US-26 and OR-53):
   

However it didn't last long, as a map of Nehalem with road data from 1942 (published 1943) shows US-101 and OR-53:


Is there any record of the suffixes appearing in the wild (or at all, besides this map)?

pderocco

Quote from: JasonOfORoads on November 30, 2019, 04:34:27 AM
Great post Max. I've always enjoyed reading up on Gribblenation posts in California, so it's cool to know that you've been doing some entries for the Beaver state.

A point of clarification on the Cannon Beach rerouting: According to my information, US-101 was actually routed along the Cannon Beach bypass all the way back in 1952. That date comes from both an ODOT bypass analysis document from 2004 and the National Bridge Inventory record for the current US-101 Ecola Creek Bridge. The straightline charts from 1950 and 1956 also appear to show the bypass, with old US-101 now considered a "frontage road":





I'm not certain why the bypass was constructed -- a bit more research is needed on that front -- but my guess is that it had something to do with slow moving traffic through Cannon Beach causing safety concerns, especially in low visibility situations. I don't doubt that the original bridge washed away in 1964, however; the NBI record for that bridge says it was built (read: rebuilt) that year (and carries "Alternative Hwy 101").
Those images aren't showing up.

Anyway, the Oregon Official maps show US-101 through Cannon Beach in 1952, and not in 1950. The routing through Warrenton in 1921 but not in 1923.

I never realized the Astoria-Megler Bridge was so new. I've been over it many times, and it always felt like the same vintage as the Lewis and Clark Bridge upstream, which was opened in 1930. I guess bridge technology didn't change much over that period. These days, people keep thinking up all kinds of extravagant designs for bridges.

compdude787

Quote from: CovalenceSTU on February 10, 2024, 01:06:03 AM
Reviving the thread with a discovery I made searching USGS maps:

On this 1937 map of Cannon Beach (published 1940), US-101 has a suffixed split at Cannon Beach Junction with 101W going to Cannon Beach and Nehalem while 101E follows the original routing (currently US-26 and OR-53):


That is quite surprising. I thought US 101 stayed on what is now OR 53 until it was built along the coast in the 1950s. Or was it built along the coast between Cannon Beach and Nehalem as early as the 1930s?

xonhulu

Quote from: compdude787 on February 21, 2024, 11:38:05 PM
QuoteOn this 1937 map of Cannon Beach (published 1940), US-101 has a suffixed split at Cannon Beach Junction with 101W going to Cannon Beach and Nehalem while 101E follows the original routing (currently US-26 and OR-53):

That is quite surprising. I thought US 101 stayed on what is now OR 53 until it was built along the coast in the 1950s. Or was it built along the coast between Cannon Beach and Nehalem as early as the 1930s?


The 1941 Official Oregon Highway Map still shows US 101 routed along the Necanicum Highway (present-day OR 53), with the road between Cannon Beach and Nehalem still incomplete. Then my 1944 Rand McNally atlas shows the coastal routing of 101 as complete, with OR 53 replacing it along the Necanicum Highway. So 101 was rerouted sometime between 1941 and 1944, according to these two maps.

Interestingly, the History of State Highways in Oregon document puts the creation of Necanicum Highway #46 in 1939. That seems to contradict the 1941 map, but it's possible they were anticipating the pending completion of the Cannon Beach-to-Nehalem coastal route for 101 and designated the new highway a few years early.

I guess it's possible that the road into Cannon Beach from the north could have been signed as a spur of 101 named 101W in 1937.  Otherwise, I've never seen any other evidence 101 had suffixed routes in that area.


CovalenceSTU

Full map:


Interestingly it shows the whole route as "usually travelled", except for the Arch Cape tunnel which is dashed as it wouldn't be completed until 1940.

Alps

Quote from: CovalenceSTU on February 26, 2024, 04:51:17 PM
Full map:


Interestingly it shows the whole route as "usually travelled", except for the Arch Cape tunnel which is dashed as it wouldn't be completed until 1940.
Also interesting to trace the pieces of old 101 that are left - for example, the old 101E still exists as a driveway east of the 101/26 interchange, even crossing the river!

xonhulu


Thanks for sharing the map.  I agree with Alps, it's very interesting to see the little details of the older routings.

Since the HSHO document and other online sources put the creation of OR 53 in 1939 and the completion of 101's new routing in 1940, I'm beginning to doubt my state hwy map is from 1941.  There's no date on the map itself; I got that date from the eBay seller I bought the map from.

The more I think about it now, it seems very plausible the State Highway Commission had split 101 signage on both the Necanicum Hwy route and the Cannon Beach-to-Nehalem highway from 1935-1939 while waiting for the latter to be completed.



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