Sunset Highway (Oregon)

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Sunset Highway (Oregon)

The Sunset Highway No. 47 (see Oregon highways and routes), in the state of Oregon, is an official designation for the portion of U.S. Route 26 between its western terminus, south of Seaside

Seaside, Oregon

Seaside is a city in Clatsop County, Oregon, Oregon, United States. The name Seaside came from a summer resort built by the railroad magnate Ben Holladay in the 1870s, Seaside House, located a mile south of the business center....
, and the interchange with Interstate 405

Interstate 405 (Oregon)

Interstate 405 is a short Interstate Highway in Portland, Oregon. It forms a loop from Interstate 5 in Oregon that travels through downtown Portland west of the Willamette River....
in downtown Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Northwestern United States United States, near the confluence of the Willamette River and Columbia River rivers in the state of Oregon....
. The highway was officially named January 17, 1946 for the US 41st Infantry Division of the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for Army operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S....
, also known as the "Sunset Division".

road was originally named the Wolf Creek Highway and was under construction by January 1933.

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Encyclopedia

The Sunset Highway No. 47 (see Oregon highways and routes), in the state of Oregon, is an official designation for the portion of U.S. Route 26 between its western terminus, south of Seaside

Seaside, Oregon

Interstate 405 (Oregon)

Portland, Oregon

United States Army

History

The road was originally named the Wolf Creek Highway and was under construction by January 1933. Both the Works Progress Administration

Works Progress Administration

The Works Progress Administration was the largest New Deal agency, employing millions of people and affecting almost every locality in the United States, especially rural and western mountain populations....
and the Civilian Conservation Corps

Civilian Conservation Corps

File:CCC constructing road.gifThe Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program for unemployed men, focused on natural resource conservation from 1933 to 1942....
participated in the construction during the Great Depression

Great Depression

File:International depression.pngThe Great Depression was a worldwide economic Recession starting in most places in 1929 and ending at different times in the 1930s or early 1940s for different countries....
. Portions of highway officially opened to the public on September 19 1941. In 1949, the highway was completed.

Route description

The western terminus of the highway (and of US 26) is at an interchange with U.S. Route 101 between Seaside and Cannon Beach. The highway heads east from there through the Oregon Coast Range

Oregon Coast Range

The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range in the United States of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean....
, passing through the valleys of the Necanicum

Necanicum River

The Necanicum River is river on the Pacific Ocean coast of northwest Oregon in the United States, approximately 21 mi long. It drains a timber industry area of the Northern Oregon Coast Range northwest of Portland, Oregon....
and Nehalem

Nehalem River

The Nehalem River is a river on the Pacific Ocean coast of northwest Oregon in the United States, approximately long. It drains part of the Northern Oregon Coast Range northwest of Portland, Oregon, originating on the east side of the mountains and flowing in a loop around the north end of the range near the mouth Columbia River....
rivers. It then crosses over the Oregon Coast Range

Oregon Coast Range

Dennis L. Edwards Tunnel

The Dennis L. Edwards Tunnel is a highway tunnel in northwestern Oregon that carries the Sunset Highway through the Northern Oregon Coast Range mountains near the unincorporated community of Manning, Oregon, west of Portland, Oregon....
, descending into the Tualatin Valley

Tualatin Valley

The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon, Oregon in the United States. The valley is formed by the meandering Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, east of the Northern Oregon Coast Range....
, into the community of Banks

Banks, Oregon

Banks is a city in Washington County, Oregon, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,286 at the 2000 census. The 2007 estimate is 1,435 residents....
.

East of Banks, the highway merges with Oregon Route 6 and becomes a freeway

Freeway

A freeway is a type of road designed for Road safety#Motorway high-speed operation of motor vehicles through the elimination of at-grade intersections....
, which passes through the high-tech regions

Silicon Forest

|}Silicon Forest is a nickname and specifically refers to the cluster of computing technology companies located in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area in the U.S....
of Washington County

Washington County, Oregon

Washington County is one of 36 List of counties in Oregon in the U.S. state of Oregon. Originally named Twality in 1843, the Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon Geographic Names for the first president of the United States, George Washington, in 1849....
. The freeway enters the Portland metropolitan area in the northeast corner of Hillsboro

Hillsboro, Oregon

Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County, Oregon. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many hi tech companies such as Intel that comprise what has become known as the Silicon Forest....
, then passes through the northern part of the city of Beaverton

Beaverton, Oregon

Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland, Oregon in the Tualatin River Valley., its population is estimated to be 86,205, almost 14% more than the United States Census, 2000 figure of 76,129....
and the communities of Cedar Hills

Cedar Hills, Oregon

Cedar Hills is a census-designated place and neighborhood in Washington County, Oregon, near the intersection of highways Oregon Route 217 and U.S....
and Cedar Mill

Cedar Mill, Oregon

Cedar Mill is a census-designated place and an unincorporated community in Washington County, Oregon, Oregon, mostly north of U.S. Route 26 and west of the Willamette Stone....
near the intersection with the northern terminus of Oregon Route 217. Also at this point, MAX Light Rail is adjacent on the north side of the highway for nearly two miles until it submerges into Robertson Tunnel

Robertson Tunnel

The Robertson Tunnel is a tunnel through the Tualatin Mountains of Portland, Oregon, U.S. for the TriMet public transit MAX Light Rail system. The tunnel is 3.1 miles long and consists of twin 21 foot diameter tunnels....
.

The highway enters the Portland city limits near the Sylvan neighborhood, where it is also joined by Oregon Route 8; east of here the highway descends a steep grade through a canyon which penetrates Portland's West Hills

Tualatin Mountains

The Tualatin Mountains are a range of hills on the western border of Multnomah County, Oregon, Oregon, United States. A spur of the Northern Oregon Coast Range, they separate the Tualatin Valley of Washington County, Oregon from the Portland Basin of western Multnomah County and Clark County, Washington, Washington....
; this stretch of the Sunset is coincident with Canyon Road

Canyon Road

Canyon Road is a road connecting Beaverton, Oregon and Portland, Oregon, United States. It was the first road between the Tualatin Valley and Portland and contributed significantly to Portland becoming the area's major deep water port, and subsequent early growth of the city....
. The highway skirts the southern edge of Portland's Washington Park, providing access to the Oregon Zoo

Oregon Zoo

The Oregon Zoo, formerly the Washington Park Zoo, is a zoo two miles west southwest of downtown Portland, Oregon in Portland's Washington Park ....
and other attractions. At the bottom of the grade, the highway passes through the Vista Ridge Tunnel into downtown Portland. Immediately east of the tunnel is an interchange with I-405; this interchange is the end of the Sunset Highway. US 26 continues past from there; briefly sharing an alignment with I-405 before crossing the Willamette River

Willamette River

The Willamette River is a tributary of the Columbia River. The name derives from a similar Clackamas Indian village name. The river is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States....
on the Ross Island Bridge

Ross Island Bridge

The Ross Island Bridge is a cantilever bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It carries U.S. Route 26 across the river between southwest and southeast Portland....
.

Sunset Highway (Oregon)

History

Route description

External links