Interstate 405 (Oregon)
Template:Short description Template:Other uses of Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Good article Template:Infobox road
Interstate 405 (I-405), also known as the Stadium Freeway No. 61,<ref name="ODOT-CrossRef">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is a short north–south Interstate Highway in Portland, Oregon. It forms a loop that travels around the west side of Downtown Portland, between two junctions with I-5 on the Willamette River near the Marquam Bridge to the south and Fremont Bridge to the north.
The Stadium Freeway was envisioned in the 1940s and 1950s by the state government and was added to the Interstate Highway system in 1958. Construction began in 1963, utilizing a trench with extensive landscaping and frequent overpasses, and was the most expensive freeway project in state history at a cost of $121 million. Hundreds of buildings were demolished to make way for the freeway, which displaced approximately 1,100 households.
The southernmost section of I-405 opened on October 26, 1965, and was followed by extensions in 1966 and 1969. The final section, including the Fremont Bridge, opened in November 1973. Plans for a spur freeway, I-505, were cancelled in 1978 following public opposition; its interchange with I-405 was subsequently reused for a 1988 realignment of U.S. Route 30 (US 30), which runs concurrent with I-405 across the Fremont Bridge to I-5.
Route descriptionEdit
I-405 begins at a three-way stack interchange with I-5 and Harbor Drive on the south side of Downtown Portland near the South Waterfront neighborhood. I-5 continues northeast from the interchange to the Marquam Bridge to East Portland and south towards South Portland, passing under the Ross Island Bridge. I-405 travels northwest along the foothills of the Southwest Hills, traveling around the urban campus of Portland State University and passing the end of the South Park Blocks. It begins a short concurrency with US 26.<ref name="google">Template:Google maps</ref><ref name="OR-Map">Template:Cite map</ref>
US 26 splits from I-405 at an interchange north of Montgomery Street, traveling via the Vista Ridge Tunnels onto the Sunset Freeway towards the western suburbs of Portland. I-405 then turns northeast and narrows to four lanes as it travels through the east edge of the Goose Hollow neighborhood, passing the Multnomah County Central Library, Lincoln High School, and Providence Park, home of several local soccer teams. The below-grade freeway is connected to the neighborhood and the western fringe of downtown by a series of ramps that lead to Salmon and Taylor streets. At Yamhill and Morrison streets, I-405 crosses under bridges carrying MAX Light Rail trains, which continues west towards Beaverton and east to Downtown Portland.<ref name="google"/><ref>Template:Cite map</ref>
I-405 intersects Burnside Street and turns due north as it climbs out of the below-grade trench, running parallel to 15th and 16th avenues. After an interchange with Glisan Street, the freeway becomes elevated and passes over cross-streets in the Pearl District, including those carrying the tracks of the Portland Streetcar's NS Line. A streetcar maintenance barn and railyard is located under the freeway between Marshall and Overton streets.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Transit">Template:Cite map</ref> At the northwest edge of Downtown Portland, I-405 intersects US 30,<ref name="google"/> which continues northwest along a short freeway into the Northwest Industrial Area that was originally intended for the cancelled I-505.<ref name="ODOT-IH2004">Template:Cite report</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
I-405 and US 30 become concurrent as they cross over the Willamette River on the eight-lane Fremont Bridge, a steel tied-arch bridge that carries southbound traffic on its upper deck and northbound traffic below.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The double-decker freeway continues northeast over the Union Pacific Railroad's Albina railyard and Interstate Avenue, a part of Route 99W that also carries the MAX Yellow Line. The northern terminus of I-405 is at a stack interchange with I-5 in the Eliot neighborhood; US 30 continues southeasterly onto I-5 for a short distance before beginning a concurrency with I-84.<ref name="google"/> A set of ramps continue northeast from the interchange to Legacy Emanuel Hospital along the alignment of the cancelled Rose City Freeway.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
I-405, also designated as Stadium Freeway No. 61,<ref name="ODOT-CrossRef"/> is the shortest Interstate freeway in the Portland area, at Template:Convert. It has a posted speed limit of Template:Convert because of the short distance between interchanges and high volume of merging traffic.<ref name="ODOT-TrafficReport">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The highway is maintained by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), who conduct an annual survey of traffic volume that is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. The busiest section of I-405 is at Burnside Street, which carried a daily average of 131,400 vehicles in 2018; and the least-trafficked section, at Southwest Broadway, carried 84,400 vehicles.<ref name="ODOT-TVT">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite map</ref> The freeway had an estimated 8 hours of northbound congestion and 11.8 hours of southbound congestion in 2017, with average speeds of Template:Convert for northbound traffic and Template:Convert for southbound traffic during weekday afternoon rush hours.<ref name="ODOT-TrafficReport"/> TriMet operates one bus route on I-405, Line 24, which uses the Fremont Bridge as a connection between Slabtown and Legacy Emanuel Hospital.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
HistoryEdit
Planning and routing disputeEdit
Highway planner Robert Moses was commissioned by the city government in 1943 to envision a program of public improvements that would begin after the end of World War II to provide employment for returning soldiers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Among these were a network of "thruways" for Portland, including a downtown loop consisting of the Foothills Thruway (later forming I-405) and the East-Side Thruway (later I-5), connected by a northern crossing of the Willamette River.<ref name="Moses">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Foothills Thruway would run along Northwest 24th Avenue and terminate at two intersections with Harbor Drive at the Ross Island Bridge to the south and the new Willamette River bridge to the north.<ref name="Moses"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A city study released in June 1955 proposed the construction of several freeways in downtown Portland, including the Sunset Freeway and Stadium Freeway—later combined to form I-405.<ref name="ODOT-IH2004"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The northern crossing would use the double-decker Fremont Bridge,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which had been proposed earlier as part of U.S. Route 99W in the 1920s but defeated in public referendums.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The federal Bureau of Public Roads included the Stadium Freeway in its 1955 recommendation for a national system of expressways that were later funded by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Template:Convert freeway was estimated to cost $71 million in 1958 dollars (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars)Template:Inflation-fn and would be funded primarily by the federal government under the Interstate Highways program.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Oregon Highway Division studied a set of five alternate routes for the freeway, designated as Interstate 405 by the federal government in 1958,<ref name="AASHTO-1958"/><ref name="Statesman-1961">Template:Cite news</ref> with input from the city government over potential impacts to the west side of the central business district.<ref name="OR-Alt1959">Template:Cite news</ref> The southern section from the Marquam Bridge to US 26 near Southwest Jefferson Street was split into two options: the Clay–Market route, following Clay and Market streets to the north of Portland State College; and the Foothills route, which would curve along the southwest side of an urban renewal area with a depressed roadway.<ref name="OR-Jan1960">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The northern section from US 26 to the Fremont Bridge was split into three options: an elevated freeway between 15th and 16th avenues proposed by the city; an elevated freeway between 18th and 19th avenues; and a depressed roadway between 21st and 22nd avenues.<ref name="OR-Alt1959"/><ref name="OR-Alt1960">Template:Cite news</ref>
The city government, Portland State College, and downtown business groups lobbied in support of the Clay–Market route,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> producing their own study that claimed it would preserve downtown property values.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Oregon State Highway Commission and Bureau of Public Roads preferred the Foothills route because it had $4 million (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars)Template:Inflation-fn in cost savings compared to the Clay–Market route.<ref name="OR-Jan1960"/> The Oregon chapter of the American Institute of Architects and several industry groups recommended a delay in deciding the route based on potential damage to the cityscape caused by the designs in both options.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By late May, a total of 389 households and 37 businesses had been relocated in anticipation of the freeway project, while 47 buildings had been demolished.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The state highway commission hosted a public hearing in June 1960 to hear testimony from 300 people at Portland's Public Auditorium.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The commission adopted the Foothills route and 15th–16th elevated freeway for I-405 on July 8, which would cost an estimated $75.7 million to construct (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars).Template:Inflation-fn<ref name="OR-Foothills">Template:Cite news</ref> The Portland City Council then voted on July 14 to approve the general route endorsed by the state highway commission.<ref name="OJ-March1962">Template:Cite news</ref>
Property acquisition and Foothills constructionEdit
The state government began negotiations to acquire property along the Stadium Freeway's future right of way in October 1960, later requesting federal funds to aid the city government with relocating an estimated 1,100 households affected by planned demolitions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> An estimated 554 buildings with 1,668 residential units were in the right of way for the freeway,<ref name="OR-Foothills"/> including a school, several churches, and a recently completed synagogue for Congregation Shaarie Torah.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1963, the owner of the Carlton Hotel, a long-term care home with 139 elderly residents, appealed the condemnation and planned demolition of the building to make way for the Stadium Freeway.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The state government agreed to assist in relocating the residents to a new building,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but its lack of a fire sprinkler system mandated for recipients of state welfare forced the eviction of 80 residents from the Carlton Hotel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Further planning work was delayed by a dispute with the city government and Bureau of Public Roads over the location of ramps and interchanges in early 1961, which were resolved with formal federal approval in August.<ref name="Statesman-1961"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The state highway commission approved the designation of Highway No. 61 for the Stadium Freeway on December 8, 1961.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In February 1962, the Portland City Council postponed its decisions on closing streets for freeway construction and ratification of an agreement with the state highway commission on maintenance of ramps and overpasses after protests from local residents, who described I-405 as a "gigantic monstrosity" and the "West Side Suicide".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The state highway commission halted its property acquisition negotiations the following month while awaiting the city council's approval of the agreement and other plans, which were required under federal law.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The protests coincided with the growing opposition to other freeway projects in the Portland area, including the Laurelhurst Freeway (I-205), at the onset of the region's freeway revolts.<ref name="ODOT-IH2004"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A pair of downtown businessmen formed the Citizens for Sane Freeways Committee and attempted to lobby the Bureau of Public Roads to adopt Harbor Drive as its route for I-405, but they were rejected because it did not meet modern freeway standards. The group later circulated a public petition with 3,000 signatures opposing the construction of the 13th–14th avenues section of the freeway between US 26 and Burnside Street.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On March 22, the city council voted unanimously to approve its agreements with the state highway commission after a four-hour public hearing with 35 speakers, allowing the state government to resume property acquisition.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Stadium Freeway project was divided into several stages to reduce long-term disruption to cross-town access, beginning with the trenched roadway in the Foothills area with 19 overpasses and working northward.<ref name="OR-Relief1969">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The project required the demolition of 282 homes, 138 businesses, and 131 apartment buildings, costing $25 million (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars)Template:Inflation-fn in condemnations and land purchases.<ref name="OR-Monster1969">Template:Cite news</ref> The state highway commission awarded the first construction contract for the Stadium Freeway project in August 1963, accepting a $4.4 million bid (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars)Template:Inflation-fn from the Donald M. Drake Company to build the Template:Convert section from the Ross Island Bridge to Southwest Broadway with connections to the Marquam Bridge and the new freeway which became I-5.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Construction began with utility relocation and the construction of temporary street detours in October 1963, ahead of work on the Vista Ridge Tunnels (part of US 26), which began the following month.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Demolition and site clearing began by the end of 1963, with the St. Joseph's Catholic Church (built in 1887)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> among the oldest buildings to be demolished for the project;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> other buildings were saved from demolition and moved to new locations, including the two-story Century Building (which suffered fire damage during its month-long move),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the former home of territorial governor George Law Curry,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and St. Helen's Hall at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The broadcast studios of KGW-TV were also demolished for the project, requiring a $865,000 settlement from the state government for its property.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Stadium Freeway's first completed overpass, carrying Southwest 4th Avenue, opened to traffic in March 1965 and replaced a temporary crossing that had been in use since May 1964.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The not-yet-complete freeway was used as the boundary between the state's 1st and 3rd congressional districts following a special redistricting vote by the state legislature in May 1965.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first section of I-405, between the Ross Island Bridge and Southwest Broadway, opened to traffic on October 26, 1965, two months later than scheduled and at a cost of $5.5 million (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars).Template:Inflation-fn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The delay was attributed to heavy rains that prevented painting of lane markings and to a failed shipment of raised pavement markers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Excavation of the second section, also under the direction of the Drake Company, began in September 1965.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It opened in September 1966, extending I-405 from Broadway to Southwest Montgomery Street near the Vista Ridge Tunnel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Marquam Bridge opened a month later, granting access to East Portland via new ramps from I-405 to I-5.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Northern section and cancelled extensionsEdit
.jpg){kind=link}
Construction of the third phase of I-405, covering Template:Convert between Montgomery and Johnson streets, began in July 1966 under a $12.3 million contract (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars)Template:Inflation-fn—the largest to be awarded by in the state highway commission's history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It included 22 overpasses to reduce disruption to the street grid and 55 retaining walls, which were covered by planted trees, shrubs, and ivy to beautify the freeway.<ref name="OR-Monster1969"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> An estimated Template:Convert of dirt were excavated for the project and reused to fill industrial sites on the Willamette River.<ref name="ODOT-IH2004"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The freeway's overpasses were opened to traffic in October 1968, but completion of the lanes and ramps was delayed over heavy rains that disrupted grading and installation of guardrails and signs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Montgomery–Johnson section was opened to traffic on February 25, 1969, after an additional two-month delay because of snowy and icy weather.<ref name="ODOT-IH2004"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It coincided with the opening of the Vista Ridge Tunnels, which provided a connection to the Sunset Freeway (US 26) and replaced an earlier street.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The tied arch design of the Fremont Bridge was approved by the state government, city council, and Bureau of Public Roads in May 1966.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The costlier design was recommended by the Portland Art Commission after public outcry over the perceived "ugliness" of the Marquam Bridge and the initial cantilever design for the Fremont Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Construction began in late 1968 and was originally estimated to cost $22.4 million (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars)Template:Inflation-fn until later design changes caused its total cost to reach $50 million (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars).Template:Inflation-fn<ref name="OR-Monster1969"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Fremont Bridge and I-5 interchange opened on November 15, 1973, at a final cost of $82 million (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars).<ref name="ODOT-IH2004"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> I-405 cost a total of $121 million to construct (equivalent to $Template:Format price in Template:Inflation-year dollars),Template:Inflation-fn making it the most expensive freeway project in Oregon on a per-mile basis.<ref name="ODOT-IH2004"/>
The northern section included construction of stub ramps to two future freeway extensions: the Industrial Freeway (I-505) from the west end of the Fremont Bridge and the Rose City Freeway from the I-5 interchange at the east end of the bridge. I-505 was approved by the federal government in 1969 and was planned to begin construction shortly after the bridge opened, but was halted by lawsuits from neighborhood activists.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The project was cancelled in 1978 and the ramps were reused for an expressway section of US 30 connecting to Yeon Avenue, which opened in 1988.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Rose City Freeway remained part of a long-term freeways plan from the city government, but was later cancelled because of a lack of funding.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The unused ramps were instead redirected to Kerby Avenue to serve the expanded Legacy Emanuel Hospital with approval from the city council in 1974 despite protests from local residents, which stalled the project for several years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The ramps were opened in 1979 with limited access to nearby streets as a compromise for the neighborhood.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Later developmentsEdit
In August 2009, the entirety of I-405 with the exception of the Fremont Bridge was completely repaved for the first time by ODOT.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge itself was repaved in August 2011.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> ODOT began a year-long project to repair and replace expansion joints on elevated sections of the freeway in March 2019 because of extended deterioration of the structure.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1998, Mayor Vera Katz proposed capping the southwest portion of I-405 to create space for parks, housing, and offices.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A similar proposal was suggested by the Portland Art Commission in 1964, but not studied until the adoption of the 1972 Downtown Plan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Plans to cap portions of I-405 have been made by grassroots organizations since the 2000s, aiming to mitigate the effects of the freeway and create new development in northwestern Portland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A Template:Convert bridge, named Ned Flanders Crossing for The Simpsons character Ned Flanders,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> was built to create a pedestrian and bicycle connection across I-405 between two sections of Northwest Flanders Street in Northwest Portland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Construction on the bridge began in June 2020 and it opened a year later at a cost of $9.5 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Exit listEdit
Template:Jcttop Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:Jctbridge Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:ORint Template:Jctbtm