The Rose City Freeway, also known as the Fremont Freeway,
was a proposed freeway alignment through the Northeast sector of
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, ...
. The freeway's path would have begun at the
I-5/
I-405 interchange near the
Fremont Bridge's east approach. From the elevated
stack interchange
A directional interchange, colloquially known as a stack interchange, is a type of grade-separated junction between two controlled-access highways that allows for free-flowing movement to and from all directions of traffic. These interchanges e ...
, it would transition to grade, moving roughly northeast to Prescott Street. To establish a northern cross-town freeway belt, a second section of freeway was to follow NE Prescott Street east to
I-205. Although functionally the same freeway, this section was going to be named the Prescott Freeway.
A successful
freeway revolt surrounding the controversial
St. Helens Freeway (I-505) and
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 ...
in the late 1970s impacted all Portland area freeway plans.
Remnants
The present north I-405/I-5 interchange is actually an incomplete full stack interchange. A short section of freeway was built past the interchange which transitioned to grade.
Ramp stubs exist which would have connected both northbound and southbound I-5 to the eastbound Rose City Freeway. Also the NB I-5 to SB I-405 ramp was built with enough clearance to allow installation of the extra ramps needed to make a full connection to the planned freeway. All of this was built along with the Fremont Bridge, which opened in 1973.
The unfinished freeway structure now serves as the Kerby Avenue exit on the Fremont Bridge's lower deck. Although removing the structure was once considered, nearby
Legacy Emanuel Hospital lobbied to connect it to the surface street grid in order to have emergency access from the Fremont Bridge.
See also
*
Rose City Transit
The Rose City Transit Company (RCT, or RCTC) was a private company that operated most mass transit service in the city of Portland, Oregon, from 1956 to 1969. It operated only within the city proper. Transit services connecting downtown Portland ...
References
{{reflist
External links
''Willamette Week'': Highway to Hell(March 8, 2005): Retrospective article on Portland's cancelled freeways
Cancelled highway projects in the United States
History of transportation in Oregon
Roads in Oregon
Transportation in Portland, Oregon