SECTION SIX
Pages 1 to 8
Automobiles, Road Trips and
Northwest Highway News
VOL. XXXIX. v rOKTLAAD, OltEGOX,- SUKDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 14, 1920 , NO. 46
COLUMBIA HIGH WAY NOW OPEN FROM HOOD RIVER TO ASTORIA
. . .
Laying of Last "Hot Stuff" West of Westport Completes Lo we r Highway Pavement and Adds Another 100 Miles to Oregon's Incomparable Scenic Automobile Road.
: . : : '
,j I. vrf . ' rj v Jmy S "
BT II. "W. LYMAN.
OREGON, last week, through the
completion of the paving in the
vicinity of Westport, on the
lower highway, added another 100
miles to the already incomparable Co
lumbia. River highway. Pavement
now extends in practically an un
broken line from the city of Hood
River, on the east, through Portland
to Astoria, on the west, a distance of
173 miles.
When the last of the paving wa
laid late Saturday afternoon, Novem
ber 6, and the road pronounced opei
for uninterrupted travel beginning
Sunday moralng a week ago another
important milestone in the great
move tor a scenic road along the Co
lumbia throughout the breadth of
Oregon had been passed. During Sun
day and throughout the past week
travel over the lower route to As
toria has steadily increased, as the
news has spread that the way Is now
open through to the lower Columbia
liver city without detours.
a result of the hard surface laid
this past summer and fall on both
the upper and the lower roadways
the Columbia river highway has been
extended for a distance 'n both direc
tions from Portland which a few
' years ago was undreamed of. Dur
ing the early summer work of pav
ing the stretch from Cascade Locks
to Hood River w-as carried out and
approximately 20 miles had been
added to the upper road by the first
of August. Paving work on the lower
highway, from Scappoose to Deer
Island and frm Clatskanie to Sven
een. was delayed during the fall be
cause of co'ttiueA rains in September
and early Octbr, and but for this
fact woul have Veen completed much
arlier thnn November 6. The two
stretches of paving laid on the lower
highway this year total 41 miles in
length, and this with the 20 miles
on the upper highway, makes a total
or over 60 miles of hard surface added
to the Columbia River highway as a
result of 1920 paving operations.
Short Cap at Rainier.
In the- entire length from Hood
River to Astoria there are but three
points at which the motorist jogs off
of pavement, and in all cases he hits
hard macadam. These are all euch
short distances that they scarcely
need to be mentioned. The first, be
ginning at the east. Is a block at
the city limits of Hood River, where
the highway joins the city pavement.
This is kept in excellent condition by
the city and will no doubt be paved
shortly.- The second stretch is about
4000 feet through the city of Rainier.
A fill through the city has been made
here which it was the intention to
pave through a joint agreement be
tween the state, county and city.
However, a decision of the attorney
general, handed down after the agree
ment wu entered Into, prevented tae
state from aiding in this work. This i
decision held that the state highway
commission had no authority to per
form any work or aid in any work I
through an incorporated town. As a
result pavement was held up and the
fill at Rainier is not used. Motorists
are forced to follow the old macadam
road for about a mile through the
city limits. No action toward pav
ing this gap can be taken by the
state highway commission, it is
stated, unless some authority is
granted by act of the legislature, and
In the meantime it is hoped that the
city or county may go ahead with
the work.
The third nnpaved gap Is one block
long In the city of Astoria, where the
highway drops down to Bond street.
This gap will have to be used until
the city of Astoria completes the
magnificent work which it is now
doing of tearing a route along the
hillside for the highway from the
easterly edge of the city to the busi
ness district. " The present unattrac
tive entrance to Astoria can. then be
done away with and in its stead will
be a scenic entrance which will take
its place as one of the features of the
lower road. i
Plane for 1921 Under Way.
No sooner was the present stretch
from Hood River to Astoria nearing
completion than steps were under
way for further paving on America's
most scenic automobile road for 1921,
and next year should see the hard
surface extended from Hood Stiver to
The Dalles on the east and- from As
toria to Seaside on the west, adding
about 45 miles more of hard surface
and boosting the Columbia River
highway pavement over the 200-mile
mark in length.
Probably one of the first cars over
the new lower highway last week,
after the completion of the paving,
was a roomy Jordan six. with Frank
Brandenburg, service man for Mitch
ell, Lewis & Staver, Jordan distribu
tors in this territory, at the steering
wheel, and the writer alongside. The
upper highway is already so familiar
to Poruanaer mat needs no- a-
scription, but the lower highway is
unitnown LU mauy, hiiu iiavo uvi
looked upon it as a scenic road. Be
cause of this, and also because the
final pavement had just been laid on
the lower highway, this stretch was
chosen for the, tr'.y.
The distance from Portland to As
toria totals 105 miles and the trip is
an excellent one in five or six hours.
While the road cannot claim the
scenic distinction of the upper high
way, it will easily rank as one of
the most beautiful roads of the west.
Particularly scenic points are found
in the vicinity of Goble, west of
Rainier, at Clatsop Crest and along
the lower Columbia nearing Astoria.
On a clear day Mount St. Helens
stands out as a guardian of the road
and seems to follow the motorist
throughout the entire trip, only sink
ing away in the distance when As
toria is reached.
Careful Driving; Necessary.
The lower highway is liable to be
the scene of frequent automobile ac
cidents, if drivers fail to use precau
tion, and careless driving or speed
ing should be carefully guarded
against. In the first place the high
way is not as heavily traveled as
the upper road, and this fact alone
tends toward fast driving. Then the
road, particularly the western section
is replete with curves. As the high
way winds among big trees and along
a north hillside for mucn or tne ais
tance there are many points where
the Bun scarcely ever penetrates, at
least in the winter, and the pavement
at these places will nearly always be
wet and slippery. A driver approach
ing such a point over dry pavement
would be liable, unless he exercised
care, to swing into a slippery curve
at a greater speed than is saf3. An
other fact that makes care necessary
for some time is that the graveling
work along the edges of the highway.
where the new pavement has just
been laid, is not completed and a jog
off the edge of the hard surface at
high speed might have serious re
sults. As the pavement is only 16
feet wide not a great deal of bpace
fs provided for passing another car.
On the Widby loops and at a number
of other curves the width has been
lncerased to 20 feet, however, and this
does away with danger to a large
extent at these points.
Los; of Lower Road,
A complete log of the lower high
way from the county court house in
this city to the court house at As
toria has been prepared by R. Walsh,
en-gineer in charge of road signs, of
the state highway department, and is
as follows:
TMat. Dint.
From From
Portland. Aotorla.
Portland. Multnomah county
court houte 0.0
Foreistry building 2.8
Beginning St. Helens road., a.t
St. Jonns ferry ............ 7.5
Llnnton postofftce ......... 8.7
Portland city limits iO.l
Cornelius Pass road 13.6
Multnomah-Columbia line... 18.8
Scappoose 21.4
Road to Spltzenberg 2.1.0
Warren 25.8
Trenholm-PlttBburg road, left
road on right to St. Hel
ena, 1:5 miles 29.0
Deer Island S4.5
Goble, Kalama ferry........ 41.1
Little Jack (alls 44.4
Rainier 47.8
Summit Rainier hill 50.7
Road to Mayger 54. .1
Zelena , .-. . -. . 55.7
Qulncy-Mayger road 63.8
Clatskanie 63.5
Road to Mist 65.4
Mamhland 70.2
Kerry 73.5
Columbia-Clatsop county line 74.4
Westport 75.1
Road to Wauna 77.2
Clatsop Crest 80.3
Road to Knappa 88.9
Road to Svenaen ........... . S3.S
Astoria city limits 102J.
Astoria court Uoue.-i.
105.5
102.7
102.4
118 0
Hi. 8
95.4
91.9
88.7
S4.1
82.5
78.7
7.5
71.0
64.4
61.6
67.7
54.8
51.0
4.98
41.9
40.2
40.1
85. 3
82.0
81.1
80.4
28.S
25.3
li
12.2
8.4
VO