by Geon, Bryan
Lots of hand wringing about transportation is going on in the area, particularly about transportation in growing suburban communities, with the transit boosters facing off against the road builders (and with most people seemingly in the middle). The perceived problem is in part a deliberate regional choice to preserve existing neighborhoods and expand transit options rather than build big new freeways. The proposed Mount Hood Freeway, which would have obliterated many neighborhoods in Southeast Portland (along with 1% of the city’s housing stock), was killed off in the 1970s. The money that would have gone toward freeway construction was diverted to other projects instead, most notably the Eastside MAX project. The prevailing anti-freeway ethos means that roadway construction has not kept pace with population growth; instead of drastically expanding freeway capacity, Portland’s transportation planners have tinkered with the system, for example adding metered on-ramps to smooth the flow of merging traffic. At the same time, most highway engineers will tell you that freeway capacity fills up shortly after it is created, and the result is that Portland’s rush hour features congested four- and six-lane freeways instead of congested ten- or twelve-lane freeways.
For several years, the regional government, Metro, has been working on a comprehensive transportation plan to figure out how to accommodate the 725,000 newcomers it predicts will arrive by 2035. This new plan should help determine what the future mix of transportation options should be, whether and where to expand highways, and how to deal with aging transportation infrastructure. While you may not be in a position to determine the region’s transportation future, as a newcomer you at least have the chance to influence your personal transportation future: if you don’t want to spend a lot of time in traffic, consider living close to your workplace or someplace where you’re likely to have access to convenient public transportation. If you choose to commute across the metropolitan area, or to live in an outlying area and work in Portland, accept that traffic congestion is not likely to improve much in the future. Good luck with those gas prices, too.
By Car
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated in 2014 that 59.5% of workers living in the city of Portland commuted to work by car, alone. The figure for the metro area as a whole is closer to 70%. That percentage seems to have declined slightly, and it’s lower than in some other metropolitan areas, but the fact remains that most people in the Portland area get around primarily by car.
Major Freeways
As you get to know Portland, you’ll find alternatives to the freeways, highways, and major thoroughfares (unless you have to cross a bridge, in which case your options are limited). Until then, here are some of the major traffic arteries.
Interstate 5 is the main north-south highway artery, not just for the Portland area, but for the entire West Coast. It travels through the southern suburbs and Southwest Portland, crosses the Willamette at the south end of downtown, and runs along the east bank of the river, then due north through North Portland and across the Columbia River into Vancouver. The northbound stretch of I-5 north of downtown during the evening commute is typically the most congested section of highway in the metro area.
Interstate 84 (the Banfield Freeway), the main east-west artery on the east side, runs from Interstate 5 just across the river from downtown Portland to outer Northeast Portland, through Fairview, Wood Village, and Troutdale, into the Columbia River Gorge, and ultimately on to Idaho. The I-5/I-84 interchange is often extremely congested.
The Sunset Highway is the name for US Highway 26 west of downtown Portland. It runs over the West Hills at Sylvan and skirts the northern fringes of Beaverton and Hillsboro before losing its freeway characteristics and continuing on to the coast. According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, traffic on the Sunset is the most inconsistent in the area: one day, the commute is relatively free-flowing, and the next day it’s an ever-living nightmare. During peak hours, the latter condition is more common than the former. Be aware that east of I-405, US 26 is not a freeway; it crosses the Ross Island Bridge to Southeast Portland and becomes Powell Boulevard. At the eastern edge of Gresham, it again becomes a limited-access highway—the Mount Hood Highway—and runs to Sandy and eventually continues (as a regular highway) over the shoulder of Mount Hood to Central Oregon.
Interstate 405 (technically the Stadium Freeway, although you’ll rarely hear it called anything other than 405) loops around the west side of downtown Portland. In its short existence it branches off of Interstate 5 just south of downtown, connects with the Sunset Highway, skirts downtown, the Pearl District, and the Northwest Industrial District, crosses over the Willamette on the Fremont Bridge, and reconnects with I-5 north of the I-84 interchange.
Interstate 205 is the closest thing Portland has to a beltway (albeit only a half-beltway). This 37-mile eastern alternate to I-5 branches off that highway in Tualatin, loops through West Linn and Oregon City, and travels north through Clackamas and East Portland before passing near the airport and crossing over the Columbia into eastern Vancouver. It eventually rejoins I-5 in Salmon Creek, Washington. I-205 is a useful bypass if you’re traveling north or south through the metro area and you want to avoid downtown, although the I-5 through route encompasses a shorter distance. I-205 is officially named the War Veterans Memorial Freeway, but almost no one ever calls it that.
Highway 217 connects the Sunset Highway north of Beaverton with Interstate 5 in Tigard. Traffic is often stop-and-go here, even on weekends, and the short distances between on- and off-ramps tend to exacerbate congestion.
Washington State Highway 14 runs from downtown Vancouver east along the Columbia River to Camas, and continues into the Gorge as a two-lane highway.
Some non-freeway major arteries include the Milwaukie Expressway (Highway 224), which links Milwaukie and Clackamas; McLoughlin Boulevard (Highway 99E), which runs from Southeast Portland through Milwaukie to Oregon City; Pacific Highway (Highway 99W), which connects Tigard and Southwest Portland with Yamhill County; Highway 30, which runs from Northwest Portland north to Linnton, St. Helens, and ultimately Astoria; and Washington State Highway 500, a major east-west arterial in northern Vancouver.
Major Bridges
If you need to cross either the Willamette River or the Columbia River, the bridges can be a major chokepoint. There are currently no tolls for any metro-area bridges, although tolling is being considered for whatever new bridge might one day be built across the Columbia.
Columbia River
Only two bridges cross the Columbia in the Portland area.
The Interstate Bridge carries I-5 over the Columbia between Portland and Vancouver. It has no shoulders, and its drawbridge is occasionally raised to allow ship traffic to pass. Plans to replace the bridge with a new multi-modal span at an estimated cost of several billion dollars, known as the Columbia River Crossing project, or CRC, died (for the time being) in 2013 for lack of funding.
Interstate 205 crosses the river at the Glenn Jackson Bridge east of the airport.
Willamette River
Several bridges span the river in or near downtown Portland. From north to south, the Broadway, Steel, Burnside, Morrison, Hawthorne, and Ross Island bridges carry local traffic between the east side neighborhoods and downtown. With the exception of the Ross Island, all of these bridges are drawbridges of one kind or another, and passing barge or other boat traffic can cause auto traffic backups; the Hawthorne Bridge, with a lower road deck, tends to get raised more often than the others. Two double-decker freeway bridges also bracket the downtown waterfront. At the south end, Interstate 5 crosses the river on the hulking, unlovely Marquam Bridge, which has the redeeming quality of offering an excellent view of downtown. The much more elegant Fremont Bridge carries I-405 over the river at the north end of downtown.
Tilikum Crossing, a new bridge between the Ross Island and the Marquam bridges, is scheduled to open in fall 2015. The Tilikum will carry light rail trains, streetcars, buses, bikes, pedestrians, and emergency vehicles, but will be closed t
o private cars and trucks.
The only road bridge over the Willamette downstream (north) of the Fremont Bridge is the St. Johns Bridge, a beautiful suspension bridge opened in 1931 that connects the St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland with the Linnton neighborhood on the west bank. The new Sauvie Island Bridge spans Multnomah Channel north of Linnton.
South of downtown, the narrow, aging Sellwood Bridge links Sellwood on the east bank with Macadam Avenue (Highway 43) south of the Johns Landing area. After years of planning, the Sellwood Bridge is being replaced with a new structure in the same location; the new bridge is scheduled to open in fall 2015. Upstream (south) of the city of Portland, three other road bridges cross the river in the metro area—the Boone Bridge for I-5 at Wilsonville and the I-205 (George Abernethy) and Highway 43 bridges between West Linn and Oregon City.
The Canby Ferry (toll required) shuttles passenger vehicles (and passengers) across the river north of Canby.
Traffic Reports
Most Portland radio and television stations provide frequent traffic updates during morning and evening rush hours, but you’ll need to know the nicknames of area highways to make heads or tails of the information. (See “Major Highways” and “Major Bridges” above.) Frequent bottlenecks with non-obvious meanings include “Delta Park,” meaning the section of I-5 just south of the Interstate Bridge in North Portland; the “Tunnel,” where Highway 26 (a.k.a. the Sunset Highway) passes through the Vista Ridge Tunnel just west of downtown; and the “Terwilliger curves” (or often just “the curves”), the stretch of Interstate 5 south of downtown where the highway goes around a series of relatively sharp curves near the Terwilliger Boulevard exit. (The latter location, where the speed limit drops from 55 to 50, is reputed to have the highest traffic accident rate of any spot on Interstate 5 between Canada and Mexico.)
The Oregon Department of Transportation’s tripcheck.org website has a map showing current freeway speeds, construction, and expected delays; you can also check out the view from one of ODOT’s many strategically placed highway cameras. Across the Columbia River, the Washington State Department of Transportation posts traffic information at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic. A new Google Maps service shows real-time traffic conditions. Go to maps.google.com, type in the location you’re interested in (e.g., Beaverton), and click on the “Traffic” button in the upper right corner of the map. Various color codes indicate current speeds: green means more than 50 mph, orange 25–50 mph, red means pretty darn slow, and gray denotes a lack of data. In general, the evening commute is slightly worse than the morning commute, but freeways are typically free-flowing by 7 p.m.
Parking
Street parking is free in most suburban communities, except in a few older commercial districts that still have street meters. In Portland, you’ll have to pay to park downtown and in the Pearl District, Old Town/Chinatown, the South Waterfront neighborhood, and in parts of Northwest Portland and a few sections of the Inner East Side, such as the Lloyd District/Rose Quarter neighborhood. Some neighborhoods require parking permits; if you don’t live or work in the neighborhood, you’ll be limited to two hours or so of free parking. (See Getting Settled for details.)
Most street meters in downtown Portland and other close-in neighborhoods have been replaced by high-tech, solar-powered SmartMeters. Look for a SmartMeter at the center of the block instead of next to your parking space; to pay, you select the amount of time you plan to park (up to the maximum time allowed) and insert cash, a credit or debit card, or a reusable smart card (available from various vendors). There is a $1 minimum charge for credit and debit cards. The machine spits out a receipt, which you then set gingerly in place between the glass and the weatherstripping on the inside of the door window on the sidewalk side of your car, making sure the print is facing the exterior. Try to avoid either jamming the receipt so deep that it disappears into the window well or placing it so precariously that it drops off into the vehicle interior when you shut the door. The receipt shows the expiration time; if you return to your car with time remaining, you can park in another spot until time is up. (Just be sure the receipt is still on the sidewalk side of the car.)
Parking garages are abundant downtown and in the Pearl District. Around the periphery of downtown and in Old Town/Chinatown, surface parking lots predominate. Many lots cater to commuters and charge relatively high rates for short-term parking on weekdays, but the city-owned Smart Park garages (www.portlandonline.com/smartpark/) charge low hourly rates for three hours or less, and many downtown merchants will validate parking for two hours with a minimum purchase. You can find Smart Park garages in the following locations:
SW 1st Ave at Jefferson St
SW 3rd Ave at Alder St
SW 4th Ave at Yamhill St
SW 10th Ave at Yamhill St
O’Bryant Square, SW Stark St at 9th Ave
NW Davis St at Naito Pkwy
Star Park (www.star-park.com) also has several lots of its own with reasonable hourly rates.
Towed Vehicles
Hope that your car is never towed from a parking lot against your will. The City of Portland imposes some minor regulations on towing companies—the so-called “temper fee,” imposed on people who manifest anything more than mild bemusement when they see their car being towed away, is not allowed, for example—and 2007 state legislation imposed a few obligations on predatory towers (see http://www.doj.state.or.us/consumer/pages/towing.aspx), but beyond those limited protections you’re stuck with the whims of what former Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard, a man no stranger to temper tantrums, once called “a cowboy industry with few rules.”
Driving Rules and Habits
Oregon and Washington don’t have many unusual traffic rules. Northwesterners are generally pretty good about following rules of the road—crazy drivers are invariably dismissed as California transplants—and you may be pleasantly surprised at the ease with which you can merge onto highways. Surveys repeatedly find Portland motorists to be among the most courteous drivers in the country, based on assessments of the frequency of road-rage behaviors in major U.S. cities. (Portlandia satirized the painfully polite Portland driver in the “No, you go” sketch involving two drivers at a four-way intersection; each driver insists that the other go first, leading to an hours-long stalemate.) At the same time, polite driving doesn’t necessarily equate to competent driving; for example, you may be infuriated by cars that travel in the fast (passing) lane going just below the speed limit, even when there is nothing in front of the car and nothing preventing the car from moving into the slow lane. The single car lane in each direction on the downtown transit mall also confuses many people — disproportionately people in cars with Washington plates. (Hint: if you’re in a lane that says “Buses Only” or are driving on light rail tracks, you shouldn’t be there.) Many drivers turning left at signals seem disinclined to move forward into the intersection before a gap in the traffic materializes, only to speed away when the light turns yellow, leaving the cars behind them to wait for a new cycle. There are just some regional habits you’ll have to learn to live with. And, as elsewhere in the country, you’ll see plenty of people flouting state laws prohibiting talking on a cell phone or texting while driving.
Be aware of one-way streets, especially in downtown Portland. Red-light and speed cameras are used in Portland and some surrounding jurisdictions, so keep your speed down and don’t try to run yellow lights. Don’t attempt to pump your own gas in Oregon, where self-help of that kind is illegal. (Oregon and New Jersey are the only states that ban self-service at retail gas stations.) In winter, you are required to carry chains or have traction tires—generally studded tires that tear up roads and make a distinctive clacking sound on dry pavement—when you travel through snow zones. (Snow zones include most of the state’s mountainous regions, but even some urban roads, like West Burnside Street as it crosses the West Hills, or SW Sam Jackson Park Road as it winds upward to OHSU, meet the definition during rare snowy weather.
) During ice or snow storms, chains or traction tires may be required (although four-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles with all-weather tires are usually exempt from this requirement except when conditions are unusually severe).
Car Sharing
If you want the freedom of driving a car without the trouble and expense of owning one, consider joining a car-sharing service.
Car2Go (877-488-4224, www.car2go.com) offers two-seater Smart cars for $0.41 per minute or $15/hour; the company’s cars are ubiquitous in the city center.
Zipcar (866-494-7227, www.zipcar.com) places vehicles in strategic locations throughout Portland and in some suburban communities. Zipcar members determine their monthly driving needs, and choose an hourly or monthly rate plan; costs for the “occasional driver” plan begin at $8 per hour. The company pays for gas, insurance, and maintenance.
Carpooling
Local governments offer significant incentives to employers to arrange carpools or vanpools. If you’re interested in carpooling but your employer doesn’t sponsor carpools, and you don’t already know someone you can share a ride in with, visit Drive Less Connect (www.drivelessconnect.com) or, in Southwest Washington, the Clark Country Trip reduction Office (360-487-7733, www.clarkcommute.com) for online ride matching. If you can get 5 to 15 carpool buddies together, and your group meets some basic requirements (e.g., you commute at least 10 miles or through a congested corridor), Metro’s VanPool program (http://www.oregonmetro.gov/tools-living/getting-around/share-ride/vanpool) will subsidize part of the cost to lease a van. C-Tran has a similar vanpool service for Clark County commuters; visit http://www.c-tran.com/vanpool.html or call 360-906-7510. (C-Tran’s program currently has a waiting list.)
