This view captures Harbor Drive at the height of its purpose, the six-lane limited-access highway running along the Willamette's west bank that opened in 1950 as Portland's first true freeway, carrying US Route 99W straight through downtown. The multiple bridges crossing the river below, likely including the Steel, Broadway, Burnside, and Hawthorne, show a city still organized entirely around river crossings and rail, years before Interstate 5 rerouted traffic to the opposite bank in 1966.
That shift made Harbor Drive obsolete almost as quickly as it had become essential. Governor Tom McCall pushed for its removal in the early 1970s, and by 1978 the roadway had been replaced with what's now Tom McCall Waterfront Park, a project still cited today as the first time an American city voluntarily tore out a freeway rather than expanding it.
A postcard showing a highway that no longer exists, sold as a point of civic pride at the very moment automobiles were rearranging Portland's downtown for good.
Zoom in on photos as they are considered part of the description.
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