State highways in Oregon

Standard route signage in Oregon
Highway names
Interstates	Interstate nn (I-nn)
US Highways	U.S. Route nn (US nn)
State	Oregon Route nn (OR nn)
Named highways	xx Highway No. nn
System links
Oregon Highways Interstate US State Named Scenic

Thestate highway systemof theU.S. stateofOregonis a network ofhighwaysthat are owned and maintained by the Highway Division of theOregon Department of Transportation(ODOT).

Highways and routes

See also:List of named state highways in OregonandList of numbered state routes in Oregon

The state highway system consists of about 8,000 miles (13,000 km) ofstate highways,that is, roadways owned and maintained by ODOT. When minor connections andfrontage roadsare removed, that number drops to approximately 7,400 miles (11,900 km) or around 9% of the total road mileage in the state. Oregon's portion of theInterstate Highway Systemtotals 729.57 miles (1,174.13 km).Transfers of highways between the state and county or local maintenance require the approval of theOregon Transportation Commission(OTC), a five-member governor-appointed authority that meets monthly.These transfers often result in discontinuous highways, where a local government maintains part or all of a main road within its boundaries.

Two separate numbering systems are used:routes(e.g.Interstate 84,U.S. Route 26,andOregon Route 140) are those used by the general public, and their shields are posted onguide signsand maps. These comprise theInterstate Highways,U.S. Highways,and Oregon state routes (e.g.OR 201).Highways,on the other hand, are used internally by ODOT; they are named and numbered (e.g.Pacific Highway No. 1,Willamette Highway No. 18). The two systems, while largely overlapping, are not congruent. Manyroutesare signed on streets which are maintained by counties and cities, and thus are not part of the statehighwaysystem at all, e.g.OR 8,whose eastern- and westernmost portions,Canyon Roadand Gales Creek Road, are not actually state highways. On the other hand, some statehighwaysare not signed asroutesat all; theBeaverton–Tualatin Highway No. 141has an official route designation (OR 141), but remains entirely unsigned. Signed routes may comprise several highways; for instance,OR 47is overlaid on theMist–Clatskanie Highway No. 110,Nehalem Highway No. 102,andTualatin Valley Highway No. 29.Likewise, highways may consist of several routes; Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29 comprises parts ofOR 8andOR 47.Every highway is fully state-maintained, and every route is at least partially state-maintained.

The OTC designates the paths of these routes as they follow state highways and local roads;any U.S. Route or Interstate numbers must also be approved by theAmerican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials(AASHTO). Route signs are maintained by the same agency as the roads they are posted along. If a local government maintains a numbered route, it signs an agreement with the state to keep the signs posted, thus keeping a continuous route for the benefit of travelers.

History

1918 state highway map

The initial primary state highway system was designated in 1917,initially consisting of 36 named and numbered highways,including some designated earlier that year by theOregon State Legislatureand others added to the network by theOregon State Highway Commission,the predecessor to the OTC.The first signed routes were theU.S. Routes,in 1926.It was not until 1932 that Oregon Routes were numbered by the OTC and marked by theOregon State Highway Department;every primary state highway that was not already part of a U.S. Route received a route number at that time.Starting in late 1931, the state took over maintenance of many county "market roads", which became secondary state highways with three-digit numbers;some of these were assigned route numbers in 1935, but many others remained unsigned.

1940s-style sign forOregon Route 50,incorporating theSeal of Oregon

The primary, two-digit route numbers were laid out in a grid system, similar to theInterstate Highway System.Odd-numbered routes were north-south and increased in number bearing west, ranging fromOR 3inWallowa CountytoOR 53inClatsopandTillamookcounties. Even-numbered routes were east-west and increased in number bearing south, ranging fromOR 6inTillamookandWashingtoncounties toOR 70inKlamath County.East-west highways in eastern Oregon were given route numbers betweenOR 74andOR 86,again increasing in number to the south. Despite this pattern, the internally used highway numbers for primary highways remained ad-hoc. A few route numbers were added after the 1930s, and broke these patterns for continuity reasons:OR 99,OR 126,OR 138,andOR 140.

Secondary route numbers, three digits starting with 2, were laid out to generally increase bearing west. They ranged fromOR 201inMalheur CountytoOR 240inYamhill County.The internally used highway numbers for secondary highways were also three digit numbers, but were designated by county, from No. 10X inClatsop County,No. 11X inColumbia County,No. 12X inMultnomah County,etc., until No. 45X inMalheur County.In 2002 and 2003, ODOT decided to assign route numbers to most of the previously unsigned secondary highways. Typically, these new route numbers were identical to the old highway numbers, and range fromOR 103toOR 454.In cases where the highway number was already in use by a different route, the first digit of the new route number was changed to 5 (e.g. Cape Arago Hwy No. 240, designatedOR 540in 2003). Most of these new route numbers are unsigned as of 2015.

Two state highways lack route numbers:Century Drive Hwy No. 372and Midland Hwy No. 420.

Cancelled or demolished highways

The following highways were constructed and/or planned, and then subsequently demolished or cancelled. In some cases, the cancellation resulted fromfreeway revolts.

• Mount Hood Freeway(Approaches built, project cancelled in 1974)
• Rose City Freeway(Project cancelled in 1974)
• Harbor Drive(Built in 1950, demolished in 1974)
• Roosevelt Freeway(Project cancelled in 1978)
• West Eugene Parkway(Project cancelled in 2006)
• Interstate 305(Partially built as anexpresswayin 1986)
• Interstate 505(Partially built, main segment cancelled in 1979)
• Alsea-Deadwood Highway(OR 501) (Partially built, never finished, partial route still in use; complete route cancelled 1936.

See also

• Oregon portal
• U.S. Roads portal

External links

• Oregon Department of Transportation
• Oregon Highways(history of most highways)
• ORoads: Roads & Highways(detailed history of some highways)