Oregon Route 8

State highway in Washington County, Oregon, US From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oregon Route 8, also known as Oregon Highway 8, is an Oregon state highway which serves the western suburbs of Portland.

Length19.20 mi[citation needed] (30.90 km)
Existed1957–present
Westend OR 6 near Gales Creek
Major intersections
Quick facts Route information, Length ...
Oregon Route 8 marker
Oregon Route 8
Route 8 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by ODOT
Length19.20 mi[citation needed] (30.90 km)
Existed1957–present
Major junctions
West end OR 6 near Gales Creek
Major intersections
East end US 26 in Beaverton
Location
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountyWashington
Highway system
OR 7 OR 10
Close

The road is locally known as Canyon Road and Tualatin Valley Highway (the Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29 or TV Highway),[1] and travels through the center of the Tualatin Valley. Tualatin Valley Highway runs between the cities of McMinnville and Beaverton. Between McMinnville and Forest Grove, the highway is signed as Oregon Route 47; between Forest Grove and Beaverton it is signed as Oregon Route 8. Oregon 8 becomes Canyon Road in Beaverton east of Hocken Road.

Oregon 8 is located entirely within Washington County. The portion of the route from US 26 to Oregon Route 47 is part of the National Highway System, listed as a principal arterial.[2]

Route description

The eastern terminus of OR 8 is an interchange with U.S. Route 26 (which is, at that point, the Sunset Highway) just west of the Portland city limits and the Washington-Multnomah county line. Initially, it is also known as Canyon Road, since it comes out of the gulch in which the Sunset Highway runs. The official designation, beginning from the eastern terminus, is the Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29 (see Oregon highways and routes).[3]

The highway in Beaverton near Murray Boulevard looking east

Continuing west, OR 8 enters the suburb of Beaverton, and after its interchange with Oregon Route 217, a freeway, its posted name changes to the Tualatin Valley (TV) Highway at Hocken Avenue. It comes within one block of Oregon Route 10, running parallel but never intersecting, although commuters often use surface streets to change between the highways.

TV Highway continues west as an expressway out of Beaverton, through the communities of unincorporated urban Washington County, including Aloha, where it runs right next to chipmaker Intel's facilities. The highway continues into the Hillsboro neighborhoods of Reedville and Witch Hazel, where it intersects with Cornelius Pass Road at Reedville. It then continues into the city proper of Hillsboro, running northsouth as 10th Avenue before turning eastwest with traffic split into a one-way pair. Westbound traffic runs as Baseline Street and eastbound traffic runs on Oak Street. In downtown Hillsboro it receives the northern terminus of Oregon Route 219, which is 1st Avenue.

Highway 8 signs near downtown Hillsboro

After passing through downtown Hillsboro, OR 8 moves westward through the adjoined towns of Cornelius and Forest Grove, passing next to Pacific University. At Cornelius the road is again split into a one-way pair, with westbound traffic running on Adair Street, and eastbound on Baseline. In Forest Grove, it intersects with Oregon Route 47, where it becomes part of the Nehalem Highway No. 102. TV Highway continues as OR 47 south to McMinnville. In downtown Forest Grove the road splits again, with eastbound traffic running on 19th Street, and westbound on Pacific Avenue. West of Forest Grove, OR 8 is known as Gales Creek Road, which is not actually a state highway; after passing through some farmland west of Forest Grove, including the community of Gales Creek, OR 8 reaches its western terminus in an intersection with Oregon Route 6 south of the community of Glenwood.

History

T.V. Highway sign in southeast Hillsboro
Highway in Beaverton near change to Canyon Road

The section between Beaverton and Hillsboro was built around 1918.[4] Constructed of cement, it partly replaced a county road built of dirt that ran on the southern side of the railroad tracks.[4] The earlier road came from Portland via Bertha Blvd. on Farmington Road and veered north on what is now Kinnaman Road until 209th Avenue in Reedville, where it then ran parallel to the rail tracks.[4] At Witch Hazel it then followed the modern Witch Hazel and River roads into Hillsboro proper.[4] In 1918, the highway was included as part of Oregon's state highways list as Forest Grove-McMinnville Highway No. 29.[5]

Hillsboro decided in March 1919 to have the new road travel along Baseline Street, two blocks south of Main Street where the road was to run.[6]

In March 1953, Washington County planners decided to have the highway widened to four lanes from Beaverton to Forest Grove.[6] The city of Beaverton paid $5.8 million in urban renewal funds to build an overpass between Murray and 170th Avenue that removed a railroad crossing in 1983.[7]

Major intersections

Note: mileposts do not reflect actual mileage due to realignments.
More information County, Location ...
CountyLocationmi[8]kmDestinationsNotes
Washington OR 6 Banks, Portland, Glenwood, Tillamook
Forest Grove17.8828.78 OR 47 Banks, Seaside, Yamhill, McMinnville
Hillsboro13.2121.26 OR 219 Scholls, Newberg
8.3213.39Cornelius Pass Road
Beaverton4.026.47Hocken Avenue to Cedar Hills Boulevard / Farmington Road (OR 10)
3.605.79Watson Avenue – Progress, FarmingtonFormer OR 217 south
2.894.65

OR 217 to I-5 / US 26
interchange
Multnomah0.000.00SylvanInterchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
0.000.00
US 26 east Portland
Interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance; US 26 exit 71A
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
Close

For the TV highway, those portions not on Oregon Route 8 are:

More information County, Location ...
CountyLocationmi[9]kmDestinationsNotes
YamhillSt. Joseph40.9965.97 OR 99W McMinnville, Newberg, Portland
Yamhill33.0053.11
OR 240 east Newberg
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
Close

Public transport

TriMet bus route 57-TV Hwy. provides public transit service over the full length of the section between Forest Grove and Beaverton.[10]

See also

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI