PACIFIC HIGHWAY LEADING Of 358 Miles in Oregon, TVo Grade Exceeds 5 Per Cent 200 By John W. Kelly. A STREET 358 miles in length, that Is the Pacific highway In Oregon. An unbroken ribbon Of hard-surface pavement, extending from the Columbia river through the Willamette, Umpqua and Rogue river valleys, across the summit of the Sis kiyou mountains to the Oregon-Cali fornia line. Such is the Oregon link In the Pacific highway, which, when completed, will extend from British Columbia through Washington, Ore gon and California to the Mexican line. The Pacific highway Is one of the two great traffic arteries in Oregon, Its direction being north and south: he Columbia river highway being the other, stretching east and west. In time a second great arterial high way, north and south, will be built. This second road Is The Dalles-California highway and will be on the ast side of tho Cascade mountains. substantial start has been made on this second route. reoeiraung me section of the state hp toe pvuuiauuu is most aense. the most Important commercial thoroughfare In the state. Situated between the Cascade mountains and the Coast range, it follows the trade route of the early settlers and pens-. trates. in succession, the chain of fer tile and populous valleys which have contributed so materially to the wealth and development of Oregon. Several mountain ranges, spurs from the main ranges, are crossed by the Pacific highway on natural and easy passes. It Is possible to drive a motor car from Portland to the California line over the Pacific highway In high gear. There is no place in its entire length of 358 miles where the grade at tains a steepness greater than i per cent, and even the cheapest cars can negotiate a grade of that kind with out going Into low or intermediate gear. Even when the highway climbs tho Siskiyou mountains, in southern Oregon, and crosses "the hump" to California, on the south side, the maximum 5 per cent grade is main tained, although a car crawls several thousand feet above sea level. Three Mare Yean .Needed. Possibly three years more will be required to finish the Pacific highway its entire length through Oregon. To finish mean to have the entire dis tance hard-surfaced and all bridges In place and guard fences installed at dangerous points. At present the Pacific highway is an all-year road, even In its Incomplete condition. There is hard - surface paving or a crushed rock surface from end to end of the highway with in the confines of Oregon, with the exception of one section of a couple of miles, where an old road Is being temporarily used. The hard-surfacing approximates 200 miles. Grades have all been made, save for some half dozen miles or less, where work was delayed by liti gation. All grades have been pro tected by broken rock and it is the policy of the state highway commls MOUNT HOOD LOOP ROAD WILL BE UNEXCELLED SCENIC ROUTE. ' One hundred and seventy-two miles of paved highway through the finest scenery In America that will be the Mount Hood Loop foad when completed. Al ready one link, 66 miles of the Columbia River highway, has been paved and attracts tourists from all parts of the world. The grandeur of the gorge of the mighty Columbia has been told by many pens. The remainder of the route will wind through vir gin forests and skirt the base of America's most majestic mountain. Mount Hood, a conical pile of snow, perpetual glaciers and ice-faced cliffs rising more than 11.000 feet above sea level. THE MORNING OREGONIAN, SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 1921 Miles Hard -Surfaced, slon to wait until 'new grades have been subjected to the storms and traffic of at least two winters before a paving contract is awarded. For this reason the last of the grade sec tlons, completed this year, are not likely to be hard-surfaced for two years more. Owing to the scope of the enter prise the state highway commission has not followed a plan of building the highway continuously, but has cut the road into sections and caused work to be under way in a score of places at the same time. Because of this programme there are now nu merous sections which have been com pleted and accepted by the state and between these links are unpaved gaps, which are to be finished as rap idly as conditions warrant Work on the highway has proceeded In half a dozen counties simultaneously and in each of these counties the highway can be found in its various stages of development, from the grade protect ed by a rock surface to a bituminous pavement. Mueh Pavement Finished. Northbound traffic, starting from the California line, has an almost un interupted stretch of pavement to Grants Pass. From Portland south to Salem there is pavement save for the small gap of new grade between Can- COMMERCIAL THOROUGHFARE HHMHUHM Remainder Graded, With Crushed -Rock Base T I ... i by and Aurora. More finished pave ment is picked up in Lane and Doug las counties. The present year, 1921, should witness contracts let for pav ing mora than half of the rocked grades. Progress has not been as rapid In bringing the Pacific highway to com pletion as could be desired, owing to natural causes. Because of weather conditions contractors have had ap proximately only 70 working days in a season. The character of the soil is such that a few days of rain cause operations to bog down. Battling against the elements In this fashion has prevented contractors from push ing forward their jobs, but despite these obstacles a remarkable showisg has been made. Two more large bridges are to be constructed on the Pacific highway. One will span the Willamette river at Oregon City and the other will cross the Umpqua river at Myrtle Creek. Contracts for both of these structures should, normally, be let during the ensuing year. From end to end the Pacific high way is being made as fool-proof as the state highway commission can make it. One of the greatest dangers to vehicular traffic is found at grade crossings. The commission is elimi nating every grade crossing on the highway. In this task the railroad company has co-operated. Where ever possible the highway is built to avoid crossing railroad tracks, even when this policy has necessitated the acquiring of long strips of right-of- way. When' a highway must cross tracks, an overhead or underground crossing has 'been built. The Pacific highway acts as a main stem, north and south, west of the Cascade range and from it radiate a number of east and west roads, some STATE HIGHWAYS RAPIDLY DEVELOPING OREGON. In the state highway system of Oregon there are 390.5 miles of hard-eurfaced roads, 612.4 miles of macadam and 958 6 miles of arteries tapping rich farming, dairying and industrial sections. The sum already spent or which will be spent under contracts now let for Oregon highways is $28,471,195.89. There are 4317 miles embraced in the highway system, of which 1961.5 miles have been improved in recent years. Of the roads not yet touched by the highway commision of Oregon, many are in excellent condition. The fig ures quoted on paving do not Include hundreds of miles with in municipalities of the state. Traffic Demands Are Proving Very Heavy I penetrating to the coast and others I boring across the mountain range into central Oregon. Wherever there are natural passes In the coast range or Cascade mountains, a road swings out from the Pacific highway to these passes. From the Pacific highway there branches a road to Newport and an other headed toward Florence. This Florence road will ultimately extend from the Pacific ocean eastward to the Pacific highway, thence continu ing by way of McKenzie pass across the Cascades into Redmond, connect ing the Pacific with The Dalles- Cali fornia highway and becoming, in turn, the central Oregon highway. From the Pacif'c highway, striking west to the coast, Is the Roseburg-Coos Bay highway, now in course of construc tion. Also from the Pacific highway branches the Crater Lake scenic high way and still another branch leads off to Klamath Falls and Lakeview. From the Pacific highway, at Grants Pass, is to be built a highway to Crescent City, Cal., replacing the pres ent road which served the pack trains of miners in the days of the gold each cpunty through which it passes, the Pacific highway is con nected with the local road systems, the county roads serving as feeders! S Ul.HHIIIIHt tlll1llllll o'f freight and traffic. All traffic in these counties eventually drains into the Pacific highway, for this highway serves to connect the markets of western' Oregon, as well as to pro vide the most direct route for through travel. Even In its present Incomplete state, the Pacific highway has become a great travel lane. Thousand of automobile tourists have traversed It since the work started and each year has shown a great Increase in this volume of visitors. Many of the prin cipal towns along the highway have sensed the importance of the tourist and they have established free camp grounds for the traveler who prefers camping out to living In a hotel. It remained for the gasoline shortage last summer to bring home In con crete fashion the value of tourist travel over the Pacific highway. With the shortage of motor fuel came a sharp falling off in business in the hotels and small stores along the highway and the business did not show, a revival until the . gasoline rationing was discontinued. Truck lines for freight business have already been established and are operating on the highway through the Willamette valley and automobile busses are now competing with the steam and electric lines for passenger traffic. The possibilities of the Pacific high way are materializing rapidly.