Mount Hood Freeway

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The Mount Hood Freeway is a partially completed but never to be finished freeway alignment of U.S. Highway 26 and Interstate 80N (now Interstate 84), which would have run through southeast Portland, Oregon and the neighboring suburb of Gresham, out to the city of Sandy.

The proposed route was to run parallel to the existing alignment of US-26 on Powell Boulevard, and would have required the destruction of several long-standing Portland neighborhoods and one percent of the Portland housing stock. Plans for the freeway triggered a revolt in Portland in the late 60s and early 70s, leading to its eventual cancellation. In addition, other proposed freeways in Portland were also scratched, including Interstate 505. Funds for the project (and other cancelled freeways) were reinvested in other transportation projects, including the first section of the MAX Light Rail system.

When the freeway was cancelled, a segment was already completed southeastwards from East Burnside Road and Southeast Powell Blvd in Gresham, continuing to Sandy, Oregon which remains in use today; an unusual divided sweeping turn is visible where the junction with Highway 26 would have been.

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[edit] Alignment

The proposed freeway was to be built in three sections. Section One of the new routing would have been built between Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 and was known as the Mount Hood Freeway. In 1962, this section was formally submitted for inclusion in the U.S. Interstate Highway System as part of Interstate 80N, today's I-84.

The alignment would have started with the unfinished elevated wye interchange at the east end of the Marquam Bridge. It then would transition to an open-cut as it moved southeast to a point just south of Division Street. From there, the route would travel directly east until about SE 52nd Avenue. At this point, there would be a curve to the southeast, resulting in another direct easterly route on or near SE Powell Blvd. to I-205. A spur off of this route would connect to a proposed replacement for the Ross Island Bridge.

I-205 itself was in the planning stages at the time the Mount Hood Freeway was first proposed. The I-205 routing was originally envisioned for the 52nd Avenue corridor, but ended up being built farther east at about 93rd Avenue. All plans for the Mount Hood Freeway allowed for a future I-205 connection at various spots.

Section Two of the proposal was called the Mount Hood Expressway. It would have continued the Mount Hood Freeway alignment past a stack interchange at I-205, continuing to follow Powell Blvd. before skirting Gresham to the south and connecting to the existing route.

Section Three of the proposal continued southeast from Gresham and ran to the outskirts of Sandy. This section was actually constructed (and is an expressway-grade highway), with a single interchange at the junction with Oregon Highway 212.

[edit] Route Designations

The new highway would have carried US Highway 26 along the entire alignment, while I-80N was to be re-routed along the portion between I-5 and I-205. The I-80N designation would have been removed from the Banfield Freeway, and the route would be duplexed over I-205 between the segments. US 26 would be taken off Powell Blvd, the Ross Island Bridge, and downtown Portland streets, continuing on I-5 and I-405 to the Sunset Highway. The Banfield Freeway section would have been taken out of the Interstate system and signed only as U.S. Highway 30.

[edit] Revolt and aftermath

By the time planners began to seriously think about building the Mount Hood Freeway in the 1970's, the neighborhoods in its path mobilized grass-roots efforts against the freeway. The movements gained city-wide and local support which changed the political landscape in local elections. Soon, it seemed as if the Federal government and some in the Oregon State Highway Department (now the Oregon Department of Transportation) were the only ones who wanted the freeway.

The freeway's promoted virtue of a speedy commute were debunked by the freeway's opponents. On one hand, it was seen as benefiting only suburban Gresham and East Multnomah County at the expense of Portland's neighborhoods. On the other hand, many opponents stated that the freeway would be obsolete the minute it opened, jamming with traffic volumes that the freeway was not designed for.

Efforts to make the freeway more acceptable made their way into the later proposals. Among the proposals were increased landscaping and bike paths along the route as well as parks and community centers built over the freeway's "air rights" and a "transitway" with three-level stations (separate levels for local buses and express buses) for an express busway. These efforts, however were not enough to sell the project.

When the project was finally cancelled in 1974, local transportation planners began to look at completing I-205. Disputes with the new freeway-adverse Multnomah County Commission had left a huge gap between the two completed sections. I-205 ended in the south just across the Clackamas County line and stopped at the Columbia River in the north. After the successful battle over the Mount Hood, activists were pushing for I-205's cancellation, while some neighborhoods and businesses wanted it further east or west (depending on the proposal).

After some negotiation, I-205's Multnomah County segment was finalized, reducing interchanges, eliminating a possible provision for a Mount Hood Freeway interchange, and resulting in the alignment of today's I-205. An unfinished, grade-separated transitway and a bike path were added to I-205, part of the Mount Hood Freeway ideas that actually influenced another freeway. Plans are now in the works to use the transitway for the MAX Green Line.

Since the completion of I-205, no major freeways have been built in the Portland metropolitan area. While some new urban routes have been proposed, they are generally kept from the public in the planning stages as to avoid public outcry that has been seen in the past.

Some believe the Mount Hood Freeway is one of the things most recognizable as a reason for the development and promotion of alternative forms of transportation in Portland. Natural progression is another reason. The MAX light rail system, the Portland Transit Mall, and the city's notable bicycle-friendly policies are said by some Portlanders to have stemmed from the freeway revolt.

[edit] Remnants

Only a few physical signs are around of the cancelled freeway, mostly in the form of incomplete connecting ramps or ramp stubs. Some previous evidence of the Mount Hood Freeway has been eliminated with new roadwork.

  • Interchange grading: At the western end of Segment Three, the highway was graded to support an interchange with the proposed Segment Two.
  • Ramp from I-5 southbound: Just as the southbound lanes enter the lower level of the approach to the Marquam Bridge, a left exit (which would have been 300A) is blocked off, complete with an empty sign bridge. This would have been the southbound I-5 access to the Mount Hood Freeway eastbound. Similar ramps were built for other directions of travel on I-5, but widening of the freeway in 1990 (and reconstruction of the ramp from I-5 northbound to I-84) eliminated these other ramps. There is a bridge support is wider than needed to support the existing lanes of I-5.
  • Marquam Bridge configuration: On the lower deck (southbound), the ramp to I-405 exits in the left lanes, not the right. This was because the Mount Hood Freeway ramps were to come onto the bridge on the same side before the span, so lane changes would be unnecessary to continue on US 26 (it was to be duplexed with I-405). The same applies for the upper deck for the right lanes.
  • Grand Avenue Viaduct: A ramp stub on the bridge over the railroad tracks may have been intended as a connection to at least I-5, if not the Mount Hood Freeway.[original research?]
  • I-84 Exit numbering: I-84, which replaced I-80N, has a strange numbering pattern near its junction with I-205, indicating that its Banfield Freeway portion was originally considered to be temporary. Specifically, there is about 1.5 miles between exits 5 and 9, and mileposts along the Banfield Freeway jump between Mile 7 and Mile 10. The current exit numbers are different from original numbers on the Banfield, which were based on the actual mileposts; for example, what is exit 1 eastbound was originally exit 2A, and what is exit 9 was exit 6. This original exit numbering scheme also points to the temporary routing of I-84 on the Banfield.
  • I-84/I-205 junction configuration: As one approaches the interchange on I-84 from the east, one uses an exit off of the freeway alignment to access the Banfield Freeway (continuing on I-84), whereas one stays on the mainline to access I-205. Also, as one approaches from the west, the Banfield Freeway's lanes merge on the right of lanes that come from I-205.
  • I-405 signage: At I-405's northern terminus, one keeps left to follow US-30 exiting on I-5 and eventually I-84. The overhead signs marking this exit, however, only mention "US-30 East The Dalles" without any mention of I-84 (however, auxiliary signs do say "I-5 South I-84 East Next Left"). While the current signage is newer and more reflectorized, the original sign's text probably was the same when the Fremont Bridge was opened in 1973, when the Mount Hood Freeway was still planned to be I-80N's Portland routing. (As a side note, I-405's northern interchange with I-5 contains many ramp stubs and truncated ramps of another scrapped Portland freeway, the Rose City Freeway.)
  • Piccolo Park: According to a Portland Tribune article, this small park sits on land that was acquired for the freeway.
  • Along Powell Blvd, on the south side of the street are a series of linear parking lots and skinny buildings that have been built in the last 25 years on land that was acquired for the freeway.

[edit] External links

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