ORoads: Oregon 99E Business (Salem)

"Beginning at the junction of Hazelgreen and Chemawa county roads and Pacific Highway East, OR99E, north of Salem; thence westerly over Chemawa Road to its junction with Pacific Highway, I-5, and the Salem Highway;

"Thence southerly over the Salem Highway to its junction with the Willamina-Salem Highway in Salem;

"Thence southeasterly over the Salem Highway via Front Street, Pringle Parkway, and Mission Street (in common with OR22) to its junction with Pacific Highway, I-5 and OR99E, at the North Santiam Highway Interchange in Salem."

~ ODOT, Descriptions of US and Oregon Routes, March 2007

OR-99E Business itself isn't that old of a route, but it is an incarnation of a 3-mile freeway (the Salem Freeway Highway #65) that was planned for the Salem area in 1956 as part of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways Act. The route in question was Interstate 305, a route that was all-but-certain (and even on some maps) until it, along with the Salem Freeway Highway designation, was ceremoniously killed in 1977 in a referendum; this referendum resulted in improvements to local streets and the OR-22 bridges over the Willamette River, as well as the ensuing Parkway. Construction of the parkway began in the early 1980's and the parkway was completed around 1986. I created a map of the proposed I-305, which is below.

Now, there seems to be some confusion as to the exact routing and history of OR-99E Business. First Misconception: OR-99E Business follows the route of either the old US-99E or US-99E Business through town. For the most part, this is false; while it is true that in the center of town, OR-22, OR-99E, and what was the old Pacific Highway came together, it never followed the route of US-99E all the way through town. The old highway (labelled US-99 in the 1950's and US-99E in the 60's and 70's; it was never US-99E Business) followed Fairgrounds Rd., then the Sumner-Capitol couplet, the Marion-Center couplet, and the Liberty-Commercial couplet before simply becoming Commercial St. as it exited town; OR-99E Business follows the Salem Parkway, an entirely new route into Salem from the north, then uses the Liberty-Commercial couplet past the junction with OR-22 to the Ferry-Trade couplet before finally merging onto Mission St. The overlap would've happened from the Marion-Center couplet to the Ferry-Trade couplet on Commercial and Liberty St. Second Misconception: the OR-99E Business southern terminus is currently I-5 Exit 249, the Commercial St. ramp. It is unclear if OR-99E Business was ever routed that way, as it was the old US-99E routing through Salem and some maps indicate that it does. However, as far as ODOT's concerned, OR-99E Business is routed with OR-22 for its last 3¾ miles, and its southern terminus is currently at I-5 Exit 253. It's even mentioned on BGS's on I-5 Northbound for Exit 253.