Robert Moses and the freeways of Portland

During WW II, the city of Portland commissioned Robert Moses, an urban planner form New York City, to plan the transportation system for the future. Moses and his team envisioned a central freeway ring around city (see diagram below). This central ring became the Marquam and Fremont bridges, I-5 (aka East Bank freeway) and I-405 (aka Stadium freeway). Thru the 1950's and 60's, highway planners expanded on this ring, creating the following freeways: the Mount Hood (Marquam bridge ghost ramps), the Rose City or Prescott freeway (east end of Fremont bridge ghost ramps), the Baldock (I-5 south), the Banfield (I-84), the Sunset freeway (US 26 thru the west hills tunnels), the Minnesota freeway (I-5 north), the St. Helens 505 Industrial freeway (Hwy 30) and other freeways that were never built. These never-to-be-built freeways led to the many ghost ramps in our city.

The picture below shows the Marquam bridge under construction in 1964.

The Fremont bridge was completed in November of 1973.

The diagram pictured below was taken from Robert Moses Portland plan published in 1943.