Harbor Drive is a short roadway in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, spanning a total length of , which primarily functions as a ramp to and from

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

. It was once much longer, running along the western edge of the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

in the downtown area. Originally constructed from 1942–43, the vast majority of the road was replaced with

Tom McCall Waterfront Park Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located in downtown Portland, Oregon, along the Willamette River. After the 1974 removal of Harbor Drive, a major milestone in the freeway removal movement, the park was opened to the public in 19 ...

in the 1970s. Signed as U.S. Route 99W, it had been the major route through the city and its removal is often cited as the first instance of

freeway removal Freeway removal is a public policy of urban planning to demolish freeways and create mixed-use urban areas, parks, residential, commercial, or other land uses. Such highway removal is often part of a policy to promote smart growth, transit-orient ...

in the U.S. and as a milestone in

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

; the original road is remembered as the first

limited-access highway A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, partial controlled-access highway, and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a contro ...

built in the city.

History

Construction

Harbor Drive opened in stages from 1942 to 1943, with a formal dedication on November 20, 1942, and completion of the last work in 1943. Seventy-nine buildings and houses were demolished, mostly along Front Avenue, to make room for Harbor Drive. Although the project was criticized for the removal of some historic buildings and for the fact that the new roadway would impede the public's access to the waterfront, most civic organizations supported it, and a majority of the public also indicated its support by approving in 1940 a $1.25 million bond measure (65,000 to 35,000 votes) to help fund the project, which included the city's acquisition of all property between Front Avenue and the river along the stretch from Glisan to Columbia streets. The roadway was the original route of

US 99W The following roads have been numbered 99W: United States * U.S. Route 99W (central California), Manteca to Stockton * U.S. Route 99W (northern California), Sacramento to Red Bluff * U.S. Route 99W (Oregon) * Oregon Route 99W See also

*List o ...

(locally called "Highway 99W") into downtown Portland from the south.Lloyd, Mike (May 23, 1974). "Asphalt strip to disappear from Portland riverfront". ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'', p. 29. The highway came from Barbur Boulevard and ran through the downtown area via a couplet on 4th and 6th avenues. US 99W then crossed the

on the

Broadway Bridge Broadway Bridge may refer to: ;Canada * Broadway Bridge (Saskatoon), in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan ;United Kingdom * Broadway Bridge (Liverpool), in Liverpool, Merseyside ;United States * Broadway Bridge (Clarkdale, Arizona), listed on the Nationa ...

towards Interstate Avenue, where it headed north to the

Interstate Bridge The Interstate Bridge (also Columbia River Interstate Bridge, I-5 Bridge, Portland-Vancouver Interstate Bridge, Vancouver-Portland Bridge) is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, Parker through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 ...

and the city of

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

. In 1950, a

controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

, though crude by modern standards, opened and was at least partly known as Harbor Drive. It started with an interchange with Barbur Boulevard, joined the Willamette shore near an interchange with Clay and Market streets, and then ran along the shore to the

Steel Bridge The Steel Bridge is a through truss, double-deck vertical-lift bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, opened in 1912. Its lower deck carries railroad and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, while the upper deck carries ...

. US 99W then crossed the Steel Bridge, and turned north on a controlled-access extension to Interstate Avenue, until it resumed its old routing at an interchange with the Broadway Bridge. It was the first freeway to be completed in Portland, and the only north–south freeway for over a decade. In 1955, construction was approved on a new series of interchanges at Market and Clay streets to replace the existing at-grade intersections. This was competed in 1958. One block west of Harbor Drive was Front Avenue, then a minor street, and one block west of that was 1st Avenue. Many industrial and commercial buildings, including the

Portland Public Market The Portland Public Market was a public market in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1933 at a widely advertised cost of $1 million ($ million in ). Controversial and ambitious, it was intended to replace the Carroll Public Market, ce ...

building, were located between Harbor and Front. Harbor Drive connected to the downtown streets, the

Hawthorne Bridge The Hawthorne Bridge is a truss bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, joining Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street. It is the oldest vertical-lift bridge in operation in the United States and the o ...

and the

Morrison Bridge The Morrison Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. Completed in 1958, it is the third bridge at approximately the same site to carry that name. It is one of the most heavily used bridges in Portland. It ...

via a series of interchanges. In 1961, a new freeway (which at the time extended from

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

to Tigard) was completed to the existing Harbor Drive in downtown Portland, and signed as

and (temporarily) as

U.S. Route 99 U.S. Route 99 (US 99) was a main north–south United States Numbered Highway on the West Coast of the United States until 1964, running from Calexico, California, on the Mexican border to Blaine, Washington, on the Canadian border. It w ...

. In 1966, the

Marquam Bridge The Marquam Bridge is a double-deck, cantilever bridge, steel-truss cantilever bridge that carries Interstate 5 traffic across the Willamette River from south of downtown Portland, Oregon, on the west side to the industrial area of inner South ...

and the Minnesota Street Freeway were completed, thus making I-5 a contiguous freeway from the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

borders, and making Harbor Drive obsolete as a long-haul thoroughfare. The Olmsted Report (1903) and also the Bennett Plan (1912) had proposed an urban

greenway Greenway or Greenways may refer to: * Greenway (landscape), a linear park focused on a trail or bike path * Another term for bicycle boulevards in some jurisdictions * European Greenways Association, an association for sustainable transport Peopl ...

to preserve the Willamette riverfront; however, the Harbor Drive Freeway restricted pedestrian access to the riverfront in 1943 and the

Oregon State Highway Department The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway Dep ...

had proposals to extend Harbor Drive. Oregon Governor

Tom McCall Thomas Lawson McCall (March 22, 1913 January 8, 1983) was an American, politician and journalist in the state of Oregon, serving as the state's thirtieth governor from 1967 to 1975. A progressive Republican, he was known as a staunch environme ...

halted expansion and created a task force to study options for replacing Harbor Drive with a

public place A public space is a place that is open and accessible to the general public. Roads, pavements, public squares, parks, and beaches are typically considered public space. To a limited extent, government buildings which are open to the public, su ...

. The task force recommended closure and conversion to a park. During this period, there was growing resistance to the construction of additional proposed freeways both in Portland and elsewhere in the United States. The opening of the

Fremont Bridge Fremont Bridge may refer to: * Fremont Bridge (Portland, Oregon) * Fremont Bridge (Seattle) The Fremont Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge that spans the Fremont Cut in Seattle, Washington. The bridge, which connects Fremont Avenue North a ...

in 1973, which completed Interstate 405, resulted in a ''second'' Interstate through the downtown area, but accomplished a reduction in traffic levels on Harbor Drive. Harbor Drive was permanently closed north of Market Street in May 1974. Construction soon began on a new park, Waterfront Park. In addition, the buildings between Front Avenue and Harbor Drive were demolished, and Front Avenue (since renamed

Naito Parkway Naito Parkway is a major thoroughfare of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was formerly known as Front Avenue and Front Street and was renamed in 1996 to honor Bill Naito. It runs between SW Barbur Boulevard and NW Front Avenue, and adja ...

after

Bill Naito William Sumio Naito (September 16, 1925 – May 8, 1996) was an American businessman, civic leader and philanthropist in Portland, Oregon, U.S. He was an enthusiastic advocate for investment in downtown Portland, both private and public, and ...

, a local businessman and philanthropist) was widened to a

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...

. The southernmost segment of Harbor Drive connecting to I-5 southbound and from I-5 northbound, and has two intermediate intersections with

traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

s that provide access to the RiverPlace district. As all ramps to/from the continuation of I-5 as well as I-405 exit and enter from the right, it can be thought of as the default route for those traveling on I-5. Few signs identify it as such; the exit signs on the freeway indicate the route leads to Naito Parkway, and directional signs heading south all say "To I-5". One other remnant of Harbor Drive is a small portion of a

ramp stub An unused highway is a highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent ...

from the

; the majority of which has been removed due to construction of the new county courthouse. Waterfront Park opened on the land formerly occupied by the highway in 1978 and is a popular destination for sightseers, picnickers, and homeless campers, as well as a site for civic events such as the Rose Festival fun center. In 2016, a bike lane opened on the road.https://bikeportland.org/2016/07/15/first-look-the-city-has-finally-bridged-the-the-notorious-naito-gap-187687

Legacy

In addition to creating a major recreation facility for the city of Portland, the closure of Harbor Drive is widely considered a significant event in

– the first time a freeway had ever been removed without being replaced. It (along with the subsequent cancellation of

Interstate 505 Interstate 505 (I-505) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Sacramento Valley in Northern California. It is a spur auxiliary route of I-5 that runs from near Dunnigan south to I-80 in Vacaville. I-505 is primarily a ru ...

and the

Mount Hood Freeway The Mount Hood Freeway is a partially constructed but never to be completed freeway alignment of U.S. Route 26 and Interstate 80N (now Interstate 84), which would have run through southeast Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of ...

) cemented Portland's reputation as a model of pedestrian- and transit-friendly design. Since the completion of

Interstate 205 Interstate 205 may refer to either of two unconnected Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 5 * Interstate 205 (California), a connector in the San Francisco Bay Area * Interstate 205 (Oregon–Washing ...

in the mid 1980s, no new freeways have been built in the city other than a short realignment of

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...

near the

References

External links

Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Image of Harbor Drive, viewed from above Hawthorne Bridge

View of Harbor Drive, looking south

* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2_yNrP0hCY The Forgotten Story of Harbor Drive: Portland's Demolished Freewaydocumentary by Peter Dibble, 2021 * {{Coord, 45.516, -122.6726, type:landmark_region:US-OR_source:googlemaps, display=title 1942 establishments in Oregon Demolished highways in the United States History of transportation in Oregon Roads in Oregon Transportation in Portland, Oregon U.S. Route 99 Streets in Portland, Oregon Tom McCall Waterfront Park