It’s awesome learning about a more obscure part of my state’s history. I loved the Portland video because now my wife and I look for the ramp-stubs when we take trips out of Portland.
Didn’t know Salem had a canceled freeway, I knew of the Portland example and several in Seattle. A couple of those, a small stretch were built. An interchange in Interbay for one, another in Montlake for the Thompson Expressway.
This is some of the best researched and produced stuff out on the internet today. Love learning more about recent Oregon history. Thanks so much for sharing, Peter!
Living in Salem for the past 5 years I didn't know the exact story around I-305 and it's relation to Salem Parkway and a 3rd bridge. Thanks for making this!
It's NIMBYs like you, the reason we don't have a needed 3rd bridge. It's going to screw over someone. Tough! We need a new bridge. if it's you? Well, sucks to suck i guess.
I’ve never heard of I305, this was interesting. The Salem Parkway was a nice addition; but traffic through and in Salem as a whole is a nightmare, I avoid Salem at all costs!!
Great stuff, Peter. I grew up in Salem - McKay Class of 90 - and I never realized the Salem Parkway was a remnant of a proposed freeway. And then the reminders of the construction at Chemawa and Marion St. really brought me back. Thanks again for all the work you put in to these!
Awesome video! I know Eugene had a very interesting proposed freeway that would have been a circle around the city. The Beltline is 1/4 of that proposed project.
Better that I-5 just glances Salem, where it goes through major metro areas, ie. Seattle; Portland, LA, it becomes choked. It passes the perimeter of Tacoma, but it was made to curve along the profile of Puget Sound. The concept of 'limited access' is lost where entrance merges come every couple of blocks. The 'needles eye' at the south end of Seattle where development and geography squeeze the freeway down to two lanes is a total joke. Ideally I-5 should have been sited in a more direct route, similar to how it passes through California's Central Valley, with spurs connecting to the urban areas.
Good point, although around Seattle, where would this "direct route" have been? Maybe around present-day I-405 (which is sometimes even more congested than I-5)?
Ah yes, Salem. Where, if you take any exit, you're guaranteed not to find a gas station until you're as deep in as at least 10 city blocks. Also guaranteed: At each intersection, you will encounter a red light. The duration of which, never fewer than 9 minutes. Should you deviate from your Garmin's suggested route, in hopes of a shortcut - you will come to regret your error. For only after it is too late, will you realize you are stuck on some sort of endless, exit-less bypass road half sunken into the ground and surrounded only backyards of housing. Ah yes, Salem! Where, once back on the freeway you fight with your passenger who asks you "Justt HOW did it take 48 minutes to fill up with gas in Salem? We need to be in Sacramento now, we're gonna be late!" and you shout back "I don't KNOW!! Why does ANY mammoth fall into a tar pit, honey? Because he doesn't know it's a trap!" After this exasperation breaks the ice, passenger jokes "There there, you couldn't know how poorly-gridded this all was. I've seen patterns in spaghetti that makes more sense!" And then, a much less awkward drive to California commences. A sort of trauma-bond develops between you and your passenger. But - God help you if you experience it alone. You'll need therapy.
I found out they have cancelled both future I-92 and I-98 in the Upstate of New York, because of they could not put the money to the highway funds. I-92 supposed to connect from I-87 in Glens Falls New York to I-95 in Portsmouth New Hampshire, via US-4, I-89, and NH-101, and I-98 supposed to connect from I-87 in Watertown New York to Swanton Vermont, via US-11 and US-2. However I-81 and I-88 in New York are the first two interstate highways might change it exit numbers to a mileage based system, then follow by I-86 in New York. Vermont might change its exit numbers to a mileage based system on I-89 and I-91. Massachusetts and most of Rhode Island (except for I-95) already changed their exit numbers to a mileage based system, including I-90 (Mass Pike), I-84, I-195, I-295, and I-495. Connecticut, Delaware and New Hampshire said “no” for the exit numbers change on all interstate, US, and state highways which are freeways.
I used to be firmly in the "build the third bridge" camp, but since becoming addicted to urban planning videos I've had a bit of a rethink. Like I still think we _definitely_ need a third bridge, but at the same it shouldn't be a wide highway-style bridge... That will just cause even more congestion, via induced demand. Therefore, I think a hypothetical third bridge should be just two car lanes, with wider sidewalks for pedestrians and bikes, thank you for coming to my TED talk. PS - Could you maybe please do a video about Eugene's proposed freeways next?
Another great video! Thank you, Peter! A small note: born and raised in Salem. Watched a lot of these improvements be built in the 80s. However: Chemawa, like Champoeg to the north (And previous capitol of the territory) is pronounced not with the hard Ch like in chip (Potato chip or chocolate chip cookie, for example), but with a softer Ch, like in Shampoo, the stuff you put in your hair to wash it. Shampoo-y. Sha-ma-wa. At least, that's how the kids at the Indian School on Chemawa always used to pronounce it. There's a little more nuance than I've put here, but it'll get you closer and will keep ya from getting funny looks amongst the old-timers. :D (Also: they'll always be Filberts here, you can keep your fancy Hazelnuts! LOL)
Interesting.... My grandmother who has now been gone for many decades once owned a home adjacent the proposed road site. Her home was condemned and purchased by highway dept due to the mentioned upcoming road construction. She was forced to sell and move elsewhere. And she did after much sell price battles. But low and behold, ultimately the Parkway was built, and decades later her once home still stands today under someone elses ownership. Good government planning 😕 wouldn't you say!
Oh wow, that's an unfortunate sequence of events. During that era the Highway Commission (now ODOT) really seemed to have carte blanche power to condemn private properties for these sort of projects.
Been loving your content since I discovered your channel! You shed light on obscure projects in such a thoughtful way! If you're ever in need of another idea, maybe for one of these shorter format videos, perhaps consider the highway to nowhere in Baltimore? Interesting and sad story relating to redlining and segregation but a reality present in so many American cities. Looking forward to the next video!
As always- great content and production. Infrastructure greatly effects us all, we we work, where we live, where we recreate. Returned from the central coast through Salem to I-5 on a non- holiday Saturday. Surface streets were snarled up, hope it's not that bad on weekdays.
Thanks! I'd say it's pretty unlikely. The third bridge project was effectively killed in 2019, and it sounds like it'll be decades before it can be seriously considered again (let alone constructed). But I imagine they could easily upgrade OR-22 and OR-99W as needed between those cities.
This is a great video...Nice to see the history of what Salem would be like if it had that Freeway system today.🙂I am sending in a proposal to resurface the I-305 designation routing it along OR 126 in Springfield.I'll see what happens.🤔Again Great Video!👏👏👍
As a resident of Salem Oregon I can tell you that we still do need this interstate 305 would be the perfect situation to help relieve traffic over the bridge into West Salem it's a shame they don't still consider this and make Salem Parkway as part of it and thank you for the video
As an ex Oregon resident who recently left, maybe you could answer why Oregon has obnoxiously slow speed limits on freeways and highways! Analogous highways in my state have 80 mph speed limits compared to 55 back in OR.
Peter, awesome channel!! This I-305 video found me, a Salem OR resident and history nerd, tonight in recommended, and I’ve been binging all night since! I’m especially entranced because I worked at Evergreen Wings and Waves as a lifeguard in 2014, unfortunately the year Del passed away. This video, the evergreen one, and all the others have been freaking fantastic! You’ve earned a sub for life already, and I’ll be sharing with friends. Truly, you’re doing some fantastic work here!!!
Love these canceled freeway videos, Peter. If you ever do freeway cancellation documentaries in other states you should do the Harrisburg freeway and Alvin freeway in Houston TX.
I have really enjoyed the way you present these videos. Are there any plans on doing one on Eugene and it's various routings of U.S. Route 99, and other proposed highways. I have some of the documents in *.pdf. You can even talk about how Eugene created the first one-way couplet in the State, before Portland.
If you ask me they should have put that 3rd bridge in. After the city council (most of which don't live on the west side of the river, so what do they care) killed their last opportunity it will be decades before they can even restart the process. Traffic to/from the west is going to become insanely awful long before then.
This was great! Just curious, is there anything you can find about I5 originally being planned with a different route through Oregon? Around Klamath Falls or US97?
This is fantastic! As a recent Salem resident, it should be noted that the Salem Parkway has been renamed to the MLK Jr. Parkway! Keep making these great videos!
I always thought Portland was the Capitol. And the only other city that was of significance was Eugene. You never stop learning even at 51. And than to think San Francisco was the Capitol of California 10 years ago and finding it was indeed Sacramento. So it must be were San Jose is? No! That city is way north. How could anything be north of San Francisco? 😂 Oh. By the way, I bet Seattle is not the Capital of Washington state either?
Wow, there could have been a loop/connecting freeway system in Salem just like Eugene/Springfield? Salem is the worst city to drive in if you have to go from one side to the other! It has needed more bridges for DECADES!!!!!
I live in West salem, and... yeah the traffic getting in and out is still extremely bad, especially around 4:00pm, meaning that if you want to go anywhere or order food, then good fucking luck lol (though that would have been good back when we had a lot more "30 minutes or its free!' deals from pizza places.)
I have to believe that the 1976 Interstate Hwy transfer bill you mention is a direct descendant from the "Boston provision" of the 1973 Federal-Aid Highway Act. Massachusetts lobbied to transfer $$$ from a cancelled I-95 extension through the city to use for mass transit. It was the first time cancelled Interstate highway funds could be re-purposed. You're welcome.
As someone from Salem, I can say this idea would have only worked if they chose the bridge option. To this day, every city election is about the candidates promising to build another bridge. And yet the bridge never gets built. This has been going on for generations and it's beyond stupid. Still, the traffic is nowhere near as bad as most cities. It's really just Commercial street which is bad. And that is mostly because of the bottleneck of both ramps going onto the Center Street bridge. Hence why everyone wants another bridge. What's even more stupid is they built a pedestrian only bridge right next to the Marion Street bridge. Money that could have been used to make a vehicle bridge. It's like the politicians are just mocking the citizens.
You should do a Freeway documentary of unbuilt or cancelled freeways or LA, or even an entire documentary of the original planned LA freeway system that never came to be
This video should be called Keizer's canceled freeway ;-) It starts and ends in the city of Keizer. Thank you so much for putting this together. I grew up in this town and always wondered how that road came to be
I lived in Salem for six months. I'm glad they didn't build this interstate. Especially the Mission Street variation, would have destroyed the character of that area.
I live in Salem and drive the parkway all the time. There are always people on the bridges as well with build a third bridge signs. It would be nice to have one connecting somewhere north near keizer which is building an in and out and a Chick-fil-A so traffic is going to increase.
We still need the 3rd bridge desperately. Traffic is so congested downtown, and since Salem is growing so fast and surrounding towns are too, an alternative route that bypasses high volume areas would be great.
Love your videos! Great production, information and for people who love to learn infrastructure, a place to learn of freeway history. Any chance you can talk about lost freeways in Northern California like Hwy 65?
Moved to Oregon almost six years ago and love the state - and really loving your content! Thanks for making these so I can learn more about my new home and I look forward to more of your content, subbed!
Interesting to note they got what they needed without calling it a "freeway". Can we we be against freeways and yet make incremental improvements without all the drama?
The previous capitol building (which looked very similar to the one in Olympia) was destroyed by fire in 1937 and was replaced by the then vouge post-modern monstrosity that is there now.
Living in Europe and only knowing about Salem as a place where people liked to burn woman that were into medicinal botany, this infrastructural bit of recent history was very informative. Next time I'm watching a Salem-related film with friends, I'll be able to fully confuse the witch-burning debacle of a debate with multiple semi-historical road stories. Being a pagawiccan myself my gratitude for this is most.... well... let's just say: thanks!
Somehow not mentioned: That the odd-numbered prefixes (e.g. "3 ... 05") in the Interstate system represent spurs, as opposed to even-numbered loops ("405") and bypasses ("610").
I actually considered mentioning this, but it interrupted the flow of the story too much so I left it out. This route would've been one of five auxiliary interstates in Oregon: 105 in Eugene, 205 in Portland, 305 in Salem (canceled), 405 in Portland, and 505 in Portland (canceled).
Really, Salem has 1 bridge... or as I call it a singe, "bridge system" as together he two existing bridges make only one functional bridge. We really need a second, "Bridge system"
And the last time the city council torpedoed the most recent effort to build one, it will be about 25 years before we would even be to the point of considering it it. I wonder what the traffic will be like then? How about f***ked?
Absolutely fantastic! I remember seeing a huge full scale model in the lower floors of the Salem Library as a kid. And my parents had built their house on the corner of Wallace Rd & Hope Ave... which if a person drew a straight line across the Willamette River would have run directly into the Pine Street Bridge / Pine Street. Which the model I saw showed that... and it showed a branch going on down Hope Ave. which then matched up exactly with Orchard Height Road, too. It's just amazing that the 2nd biggest city in Oregon still only has two (2) bridges. Sometimes I have to shake my head, as pretty much all the Freeways from Salem to Portland and the from South Salem to Eugene are still only three (3) and two (2) lanes. Well, I guess it's the same for 205 when I was a kid. Almost nothing has changed in 50 years. Which by the way... I think the toll this is simply ridiculous as the freeways were federally funded... seems the state government is a lil' greedy in my own humble opinion. Now maybe, and only maybe if they want to add a "Fast Pass" / extra lanes to 205 just like toll roads in TX... where those were built in addition to the freeways who wanted to pay to skip Freeways. I just don't see how anyone will be expected to get around... guess they will need to change all the "Freeway" signs, too. Get it since it's not Free even though our tax dollars had already paid for it. ha ha 🤣 That will cost them even more to change signage... just like the proposed per mile tax which when calculated with super simple math comes out to be 4X to 6X times MORE to the cost of everyone driving a Hybrid or EV (which I've had both). A per mile tax when calculated is as if every vehicle is only getting 14-16 MPG with the taxes they make on the Gas Tax. Crazy world! Well, I digress! 😇
I remember when Phoenix planned and built the “Outer Loop” around the city of Phoenix, Scottsdale, and a few east and east valley cities; this was also known as the Loop 101. Phoenix and the rest of the Valley of the Sun have grown so much that the Outer Loop has been eclipsed by the 202 and now the 303. The growth is just incredible, but makes me sad for what I remember from growing up in the 1980s and 1990s there. I’ve left the state of Arizona since but still visit occasionally.
![The Wrong Way to Set Speed Limits [ST06]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bglWCuCMSWc/mqdefault.jpg)
It’s awesome learning about a more obscure part of my state’s history. I loved the Portland video because now my wife and I look for the ramp-stubs when we take trips out of Portland.
Glad you two are enjoying them, Christian!
Didn’t know Salem had a canceled freeway, I knew of the Portland example and several in Seattle. A couple of those, a small stretch were built. An interchange in Interbay for one, another in Montlake for the Thompson Expressway.
PLEASE do one on detroit, there's gotta be so many juicy cancelled plans there
STILL only has two bridges!!! Which is a constant nightmare for anyone trying to cross them. BUILD A THIRD BRIDGE ALREADY!!!
This is some of the best researched and produced stuff out on the internet today. Love learning more about recent Oregon history. Thanks so much for sharing, Peter!
I'm a bridge engineer in Oregon and I really like these videos. Thanks for making these
This is very quickly becoming one of my favorite channels. Outstanding work!
Thank you!
Living in Salem for the past 5 years I didn't know the exact story around I-305 and it's relation to Salem Parkway and a 3rd bridge. Thanks for making this!
Hello from Salem! Great video. We still need a third bridge, as long as in doesn't increase traffic near my house, of course.
It's NIMBYs like you, the reason we don't have a needed 3rd bridge. It's going to screw over someone. Tough! We need a new bridge. if it's you? Well, sucks to suck i guess.
I’ve never heard of I305, this was interesting. The Salem Parkway was a nice addition; but traffic through and in Salem as a whole is a nightmare, I avoid Salem at all costs!!
I need more of this voice and well researched production
Great stuff, Peter. I grew up in Salem - McKay Class of 90 - and I never realized the Salem Parkway was a remnant of a proposed freeway. And then the reminders of the construction at Chemawa and Marion St. really brought me back. Thanks again for all the work you put in to these!
These documentaries are fantastic! I expect this channel to hit the algorithm big soon.
Love these videos so much! Have you ever looked into the Bend parkway construction?
Thank you, John! I've never actually researched that but I'll look into it.
Awesome video! I know Eugene had a very interesting proposed freeway that would have been a circle around the city. The Beltline is 1/4 of that proposed project.
Now I'm hoping for a Roosevelt Freeway/WEP video.
I hadn't come across this but it looks like there's some interesting history there. Thanks for the recommendation!
I’m way in NC learning about cancelled Oregon highways…
So am I. Something about learning about proposed infrastructure projects from yesteryear that I’ve always found fascinating
I'm in SC watching this too.
That’s cool. I’m in Oregon and just watched a documentary on a NC serial killer. It’s good to learn about our neighbors
@@caseycasey621 come again?
Your work is priceless, I truly appreciate what you do. Please keep it up!
Well made! Incredible production quality and research, and perfect length for film about this specific highway. I am incredibly impressed!
Better that I-5 just glances Salem, where it goes through major metro areas, ie. Seattle; Portland, LA, it becomes choked. It passes the perimeter of Tacoma, but it was made to curve along the profile of Puget Sound. The concept of 'limited access' is lost where entrance merges come every couple of blocks. The 'needles eye' at the south end of Seattle where development and geography squeeze the freeway down to two lanes is a total joke. Ideally I-5 should have been sited in a more direct route, similar to how it passes through California's Central Valley, with spurs connecting to the urban areas.
Good point, although around Seattle, where would this "direct route" have been? Maybe around present-day I-405 (which is sometimes even more congested than I-5)?
Ah yes, Salem. Where, if you take any exit, you're guaranteed not to find a gas station until you're as deep in as at least 10 city blocks.
Also guaranteed: At each intersection, you will encounter a red light. The duration of which, never fewer than 9 minutes.
Should you deviate from your Garmin's suggested route, in hopes of a shortcut - you will come to regret your error.
For only after it is too late, will you realize you are stuck on some sort of endless, exit-less bypass road half sunken into the ground and surrounded only backyards of housing.
Ah yes, Salem! Where, once back on the freeway you fight with your passenger who asks you "Justt HOW did it take 48 minutes to fill up with gas in Salem? We need to be in Sacramento now, we're gonna be late!" and you shout back "I don't KNOW!! Why does ANY mammoth fall into a tar pit, honey? Because he doesn't know it's a trap!"
After this exasperation breaks the ice, passenger jokes "There there, you couldn't know how poorly-gridded this all was. I've seen patterns in spaghetti that makes more sense!" And then, a much less awkward drive to California commences. A sort of trauma-bond develops between you and your passenger. But - God help you if you experience it alone. You'll need therapy.
I found out they have cancelled both future I-92 and I-98 in the Upstate of New York, because of they could not put the money to the highway funds. I-92 supposed to connect from I-87 in Glens Falls New York to I-95 in Portsmouth New Hampshire, via US-4, I-89, and NH-101, and I-98 supposed to connect from I-87 in Watertown New York to Swanton Vermont, via US-11 and US-2. However I-81 and I-88 in New York are the first two interstate highways might change it exit numbers to a mileage based system, then follow by I-86 in New York. Vermont might change its exit numbers to a mileage based system on I-89 and I-91. Massachusetts and most of Rhode Island (except for I-95) already changed their exit numbers to a mileage based system, including I-90 (Mass Pike), I-84, I-195, I-295, and I-495. Connecticut, Delaware and New Hampshire said “no” for the exit numbers change on all interstate, US, and state highways which are freeways.
Born and raised in Salem... I had no idea about Salem Parkway almost being I305.. Thank you for doing all this research for all these Oregon videos.
I wish it was, that way we wouldn't have those FUCKING street lights on it!!!
I used to be firmly in the "build the third bridge" camp, but since becoming addicted to urban planning videos I've had a bit of a rethink.
Like I still think we _definitely_ need a third bridge, but at the same it shouldn't be a wide highway-style bridge... That will just cause even more congestion, via induced demand.
Therefore, I think a hypothetical third bridge should be just two car lanes, with wider sidewalks for pedestrians and bikes, thank you for coming to my TED talk.
PS - Could you maybe please do a video about Eugene's proposed freeways next?
Eugene won't be my next video but I'm hoping to explore that topic pretty soon. :)
Another great video! Thank you, Peter!
A small note: born and raised in Salem. Watched a lot of these improvements be built in the 80s. However: Chemawa, like Champoeg to the north (And previous capitol of the territory) is pronounced not with the hard Ch like in chip (Potato chip or chocolate chip cookie, for example), but with a softer Ch, like in Shampoo, the stuff you put in your hair to wash it. Shampoo-y. Sha-ma-wa. At least, that's how the kids at the Indian School on Chemawa always used to pronounce it. There's a little more nuance than I've put here, but it'll get you closer and will keep ya from getting funny looks amongst the old-timers. :D (Also: they'll always be Filberts here, you can keep your fancy Hazelnuts! LOL)
Interesting.... My grandmother who has now been gone for many decades once owned a home adjacent the proposed road site. Her home was condemned and purchased by highway dept due to the mentioned upcoming road construction. She was forced to sell and move elsewhere. And she did after much sell price battles. But low and behold, ultimately the Parkway was built, and decades later her once home still stands today under someone elses ownership. Good government planning 😕 wouldn't you say!
Oh wow, that's an unfortunate sequence of events. During that era the Highway Commission (now ODOT) really seemed to have carte blanche power to condemn private properties for these sort of projects.
I love the maps and general editing of this channel. I wonder how they do it.
Been loving your content since I discovered your channel! You shed light on obscure projects in such a thoughtful way! If you're ever in need of another idea, maybe for one of these shorter format videos, perhaps consider the highway to nowhere in Baltimore? Interesting and sad story relating to redlining and segregation but a reality present in so many American cities.
Looking forward to the next video!
Instead, Salem got a road where there is no median barrier to eliminate crossover head-on crashes, and with traffic lights which wastes gas and time.
Great Stuff!
As always- great content and production.
Infrastructure greatly effects us all, we we work, where we live, where we recreate.
Returned from the central coast through Salem to I-5 on a non- holiday Saturday.
Surface streets were snarled up, hope it's not that bad on weekdays.
I absolutely love your work. Please keep producing these fantastic videos!!
I LIVE IN SALEM Thank you for making this I wanted to know more about it.
I-305 would have been very good for Salem.
Another great and professional video! Thank you
Love your vids, peter
These videos are pretty neat! I wonder if I305 will ever be a thing considering how fast Salem, Dallas andMcMinnville are growing.
Thanks! I'd say it's pretty unlikely. The third bridge project was effectively killed in 2019, and it sounds like it'll be decades before it can be seriously considered again (let alone constructed). But I imagine they could easily upgrade OR-22 and OR-99W as needed between those cities.
I trust more to you than the government! I love your videos!
Random topics yet really interesting!
This is a great video...Nice to see the history of what Salem would be like if it had that Freeway system today.🙂I am sending in a proposal to resurface the I-305 designation routing it along OR 126 in Springfield.I'll see what happens.🤔Again Great Video!👏👏👍
As a resident of Salem Oregon I can tell you that we still do need this interstate 305 would be the perfect situation to help relieve traffic over the bridge into West Salem it's a shame they don't still consider this and make Salem Parkway as part of it and thank you for the video
What do you think the Salem parkway is?
As an ex Oregon resident who recently left, maybe you could answer why Oregon has obnoxiously slow speed limits on freeways and highways! Analogous highways in my state have 80 mph speed limits compared to 55 back in OR.
I believe that we have voted twice to raise them and the pointy-heads in Salem have found 'reasons' not to.
At least they made a cool pedestrian bridge out of the Union st train bridge 😁
True!
It's a homeless highway
I was completely gobsmacked!!
I'd had several dreams through the years of walking across that bridge!
Now I've done it!
Peter, awesome channel!! This I-305 video found me, a Salem OR resident and history nerd, tonight in recommended, and I’ve been binging all night since! I’m especially entranced because I worked at Evergreen Wings and Waves as a lifeguard in 2014, unfortunately the year Del passed away. This video, the evergreen one, and all the others have been freaking fantastic! You’ve earned a sub for life already, and I’ll be sharing with friends. Truly, you’re doing some fantastic work here!!!
I'm glad you're enjoying them, Riley, thank you!
Love these canceled freeway videos, Peter. If you ever do freeway cancellation documentaries in other states you should do the Harrisburg freeway and Alvin freeway in Houston TX.
I have really enjoyed the way you present these videos. Are there any plans on doing one on Eugene and it's various routings of U.S. Route 99, and other proposed highways. I have some of the documents in *.pdf. You can even talk about how Eugene created the first one-way couplet in the State, before Portland.
Thanks! A couple of people have recently asked me to explore this sort of history in Eugene, so I plan to research it in the future.
These videos are always so informative and well produced! Thank you so much for these videos
If you ask me they should have put that 3rd bridge in. After the city council (most of which don't live on the west side of the river, so what do they care) killed their last opportunity it will be decades before they can even restart the process. Traffic to/from the west is going to become insanely awful long before then.
This was great! Just curious, is there anything you can find about I5 originally being planned with a different route through Oregon? Around Klamath Falls or US97?
I didn't know about that but that's pretty interesting! I'll look into it, thanks for the recommendation.
Very well done! Great video, content and production. Keep it up!
This is fantastic! As a recent Salem resident, it should be noted that the Salem Parkway has been renamed to the MLK Jr. Parkway! Keep making these great videos!
Love this channel. We need Good quality Oregon history. Thank you!!
I always thought Portland was the Capitol. And the only other city that was of significance was Eugene. You never stop learning even at 51. And than to think San Francisco was the Capitol of California 10 years ago and finding it was indeed Sacramento. So it must be were San Jose is? No! That city is way north. How could anything be north of San Francisco? 😂 Oh. By the way, I bet Seattle is not the Capital of Washington state either?
Wow, there could have been a loop/connecting freeway system in Salem just like Eugene/Springfield? Salem is the worst city to drive in if you have to go from one side to the other! It has needed more bridges for DECADES!!!!!
I live in West salem, and... yeah the traffic getting in and out is still extremely bad, especially around 4:00pm, meaning that if you want to go anywhere or order food, then good fucking luck lol
(though that would have been good back when we had a lot more "30 minutes or its free!' deals from pizza places.)
I have to believe that the 1976 Interstate Hwy transfer bill you mention is a direct descendant from the "Boston provision" of the 1973 Federal-Aid Highway Act. Massachusetts lobbied to transfer $$$ from a cancelled I-95 extension through the city to use for mass transit. It was the first time cancelled Interstate highway funds could be re-purposed. You're welcome.
As someone from Salem, I can say this idea would have only worked if they chose the bridge option. To this day, every city election is about the candidates promising to build another bridge. And yet the bridge never gets built. This has been going on for generations and it's beyond stupid. Still, the traffic is nowhere near as bad as most cities. It's really just Commercial street which is bad. And that is mostly because of the bottleneck of both ramps going onto the Center Street bridge. Hence why everyone wants another bridge. What's even more stupid is they built a pedestrian only bridge right next to the Marion Street bridge. Money that could have been used to make a vehicle bridge. It's like the politicians are just mocking the citizens.
I-505 was another abandoned project but a small part of it now survives as a connector between US-30 NW Yeon St and I-405 in NW Portland.
Sometimes I think the original I305 could've been built, and maybe they look into expanding it down the road (literally and figuratively).
You should do a Freeway documentary of unbuilt or cancelled freeways or LA, or even an entire documentary of the original planned LA freeway system that never came to be
Cool to remember back when Salem had both the OS (morning) and the CJ (afternoon) with independent editorial boards, before getting bought by Gannett.
I remember delivering both!
@@timothykronser1341 Me too when I subbed for my brother (OS). Our routes were in the suburban hills of West Salem. Sleds in the winter!
I lived in Salem for years and never knew about I - 305. Thank you for your amazing content!
This video should be called Keizer's canceled freeway ;-) It starts and ends in the city of Keizer.
Thank you so much for putting this together. I grew up in this town and always wondered how that road came to be
Solid piece of content for highway fans
I lived in Salem for six months. I'm glad they didn't build this interstate. Especially the Mission Street variation, would have destroyed the character of that area.
I live in Salem and drive the parkway all the time. There are always people on the bridges as well with build a third bridge signs. It would be nice to have one connecting somewhere north near keizer which is building an in and out and a Chick-fil-A so traffic is going to increase.
The Salem Parkway has recently been renamed the Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.
I sure do enjoy your Oregon specific productions. Such obscure and interesting stories - all of them.
We still need the 3rd bridge desperately. Traffic is so congested downtown, and since Salem is growing so fast and surrounding towns are too, an alternative route that bypasses high volume areas would be great.
Love your videos! Great production, information and for people who love to learn infrastructure, a place to learn of freeway history. Any chance you can talk about lost freeways in Northern California like Hwy 65?
Moved to Oregon almost six years ago and love the state - and really loving your content! Thanks for making these so I can learn more about my new home and I look forward to more of your content, subbed!
Interesting to note they got what they needed without calling it a "freeway". Can we we be against freeways and yet make incremental improvements without all the drama?
The route of 305 till Broadway st is the current Salem Parkway.
off topic, you should do a video of the cancelled north portion of I-215 in Salt Lake county.
Very interesting. I hope you do more videos on forgotten Oregon topics.
1:55 a 3 digit interstate need to be 5 or greater miles long,but it will be very useful though.
Why does the state capitol look like it was built in Minecraft?
Our governor needed a safe place to keep her diamond pickaxe.
The previous capitol building (which looked very similar to the one in Olympia) was destroyed by fire in 1937 and was replaced by the then vouge post-modern monstrosity that is there now.
1:20 WE STILL only have two one way bridges
Good stuff keep it up we need more of this here in Oregon .. wired is not so many highways in the state
Your videos are amazing!!! Keep up the Oregon history lessons
Thank you! It's good to know they're appreciated.
@@peterdibble they are!
New here....
☮️💜
I'm not too fond of freeways myself, more of a minor reason but still
Living in Europe and only knowing about Salem as a place where people liked to burn woman that were into medicinal botany, this infrastructural bit of recent history was very informative. Next time I'm watching a Salem-related film with friends, I'll be able to fully confuse the witch-burning debacle of a debate with multiple semi-historical road stories.
Being a pagawiccan myself my gratitude for this is most.... well... let's just say: thanks!
That Salem is in Massachusetts, the other side of the U.S.! This is Oregon.
As a trucker, this explains why getting through there sucks.
These are some awesome videos
Somehow not mentioned: That the odd-numbered prefixes (e.g. "3 ... 05") in the Interstate system represent spurs, as opposed to even-numbered loops ("405") and bypasses ("610").
I actually considered mentioning this, but it interrupted the flow of the story too much so I left it out. This route would've been one of five auxiliary interstates in Oregon: 105 in Eugene, 205 in Portland, 305 in Salem (canceled), 405 in Portland, and 505 in Portland (canceled).
Really, Salem has 1 bridge... or as I call it a singe, "bridge system" as together he two existing bridges make only one functional bridge. We really need a second, "Bridge system"
And the last time the city council torpedoed the most recent effort to build one, it will be about 25 years before we would even be to the point of considering it it. I wonder what the traffic will be like then? How about f***ked?
I did n t see the state capital when I was in Oregon last June but I did go to Salem
still need a 3 bridge through salem west salem area.
I love the freeway episodes!
Amazing work as always.
I live in salem and I believe they just made it a parkway
You should do one on the West Eugene Parkway which was canceled. That was pushed back for decades then finally canceled.
I'm actually planning to cover this at some point in the future, both the original Roosevelt Freeway proposal and the later West Eugene Parkway.
Awesome video!
Could you do one on highway 217? That road always baffles me. It's short, and it has a flawed design.
Thanks! 217 is actually a topic I've wanted to do for a while. I have a feeling that there's going to be some interesting history there...
I memba the day the parkway opened
great video
Absolutely fantastic! I remember seeing a huge full scale model in the lower floors of the Salem Library as a kid. And my parents had built their house on the corner of Wallace Rd & Hope Ave... which if a person drew a straight line across the Willamette River would have run directly into the Pine Street Bridge / Pine Street. Which the model I saw showed that... and it showed a branch going on down Hope Ave. which then matched up exactly with Orchard Height Road, too. It's just amazing that the 2nd biggest city in Oregon still only has two (2) bridges.
Sometimes I have to shake my head, as pretty much all the Freeways from Salem to Portland and the from South Salem to Eugene are still only three (3) and two (2) lanes. Well, I guess it's the same for 205 when I was a kid. Almost nothing has changed in 50 years. Which by the way... I think the toll this is simply ridiculous as the freeways were federally funded... seems the state government is a lil' greedy in my own humble opinion. Now maybe, and only maybe if they want to add a "Fast Pass" / extra lanes to 205 just like toll roads in TX... where those were built in addition to the freeways who wanted to pay to skip Freeways. I just don't see how anyone will be expected to get around... guess they will need to change all the "Freeway" signs, too. Get it since it's not Free even though our tax dollars had already paid for it. ha ha 🤣 That will cost them even more to change signage... just like the proposed per mile tax which when calculated with super simple math comes out to be 4X to 6X times MORE to the cost of everyone driving a Hybrid or EV (which I've had both). A per mile tax when calculated is as if every vehicle is only getting 14-16 MPG with the taxes they make on the Gas Tax. Crazy world! Well, I digress! 😇
Another great video, Peter, keep it up!
I remember when Phoenix planned and built the “Outer Loop” around the city of Phoenix, Scottsdale, and a few east and east valley cities; this was also known as the Loop 101. Phoenix and the rest of the Valley of the Sun have grown so much that the Outer Loop has been eclipsed by the 202 and now the 303. The growth is just incredible, but makes me sad for what I remember from growing up in the 1980s and 1990s there. I’ve left the state of Arizona since but still visit occasionally.
Excellent work! Very well done.
Years ago Salem got another bridge