INTERSTATE 84 (WEST)

'Interstate 84' (abbreviated 'I-84') is an interstate highway that runs from an intersection with Interstate 5 at Portland, Oregon to an intersection with Interstate 80^[1] at Echo, Utah—roughly the same route as the Oregon Trail.
Starting in Portland, where it is referred to as the Banfield Expressway, the interstate runs through the Columbia River Gorge parallel to the historic Columbia River Highway to The Dalles. It then continues along the Columbia River until it veers in a southeasterly direction at Boardman. It crosses the Blue Mountains, and continues toward Ontario, Oregon, at the Idaho border.
Crossing southern Idaho, I-84 passes through Boise (a spur, I-184 connects to the city center), near Twin Falls and through Burley and Rupert. East of Rupert it veers to the southeast and crosses the Utah border. Within Utah I-84 passes through Tremonton, Brigham City and Ogden, terminating at I-80 in the mountains near Echo, Utah.
I-84 was known as 'I-80N' until May 1, 1980^[2]. (The western I-76, branching off in Nebraska and going into Denver, was I-80S.) Federal law restricted the use of suffix letters on interstates, and these two were renumbered, as were some other highways that had E and W branches. The only remaining such split is I-35E and I-35W, which exists in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Contents

Route description

Oregon

Idaho

Utah

History

Major intersections

Auxiliary routes

See also

References

Route description

|-
|OR
|375
|603
|-
|ID
|276
|444
|-
|UT
|119
|192
|-
|Total
|770
|1239
|}

Major cities 'Bolded cities' are officially-designated control cities for signs
★ 'Portland, Oregon' ★ 'The Dalles, Oregon' ★ 'Pendleton, Oregon' ★ 'La Grande, Oregon' ★ 'Baker, Oregon' ★ 'Ontario, Oregon' ★ 'Nampa, Idaho' ★ 'Boise, Idaho' ★ 'Twin Falls, Idaho' ★ 'Ogden, Utah'

Oregon

In the Portland metropolitan area, I-84 is sometimes referred to as the Banfield Freeway or simply "the Banfield", although the official name is the Banfield Expressway. The freeway is named after Thomas H. Banfield, chairman of the Oregon Transportation Commission from 1943-1950.
East of Pendleton, Oregon, I-84 traverses the infamous Cabbage Hill grade (a 6% grade). This grade is legendary for the fact that the westbound lanes switchback twice on its descent into Pendleton. Eastbound lanes feature what are the tightest curves on the Interstate system, even though those curves are on the uphill (eastbound) direction. This grade is also well known due to the fact that it features such a great distance between eastbound and westbound lanes, nearly 2 miles between directions of travel at points.

Idaho

Main articles: Interstate 84 in Idaho

I-84 enters Idaho after crossing the Snake River from Ontario, Oregon. From there, it continues on to Caldwell, Nampa, Meridian, and Boise (where I-184 connects travelers to downtown). From Boise, I-84 continues on towards Twin Falls after passing near many small towns (such as Gooding, and Glenns Ferry). After Twin Falls, I-84 continues southeast after passing near Rupert, and enters Utah near the border town of Stone.

Utah

Main articles: Interstate 84 in Utah

I-84 enters Utah near Snowville and proceeds diagonally to Tremonton where I-84 joins the route of Interstate 15. Just south, at Corinne, Utah, I-84 joins the route of the First Transcontinental Railroad which I-84 follows to the freeway's terminus. I-15/I-84 pass to the west of Ogden where I-84 separates from I-15 and follows the Weber River. As the freeway passes through Weber Canyon it also passes through several small farming communities, including Morgan, Utah where the Browning Arms Company headquarters can be seen from the freeway. Also visible in the canyon is Devil's Slide, an unusual rock formation just off the freeway. Farther up the canyon is the 1000 mile tree, planted by Union Pacific Railroad workers to mark 1000 miles from the railroad's origin in Omaha, Nebraska. The freeway ends at Echo, a near ghost town that before served as a stopover for the railroad, at a junction with Interstate 80. Also near the junction is Echo Reservoir and Echo Dam.
The Utah sections of I-84 not concurrent with Interstate 15 are defined at Utah Code Annotated § 72-4-114(4).^[3]

History

After renumbering, I-84 violated the Interstate Highway Numbering Convention by being south of I-82. The Portland, Oregon segment of then-I-80N was proposed to run on the Mount Hood Freeway. Plans for this were officially dropped in 1978 after a successful Freeway revolt.

Major intersections

★ Interstate 5 in Portland, Oregon

★ Interstate 205 in Portland, Oregon

★ Interstate 82 in Hermiston, Oregon

★ Interstate 184 in Boise, Idaho

★ Interstate 86 in Heyburn, Idaho

★ Interstate 15 from Tremonton, Utah to Ogden, Utah.

★ Interstate 80 in Echo, Utah

Auxiliary routes

★ Boise, Idaho - I-184

See also

★ Interstate 84 (east)

References

1. Google map of Echo, Utah
2. Interstate Guide - Interstate 84
3. Utah Code Annotated for overlap with I-15