Getting to Know: Orientation

Main Streets

I-84 (Banfield Freeway or Expressway) enters Portland from the east. East of the city is I-205, which bypasses downtown Portland and runs past the airport. I-5 (East Bank Freeway) runs through on a north-south axis, passing along the east bank of the Willamette River directly across from downtown. I-405 (Stadium Freeway and Foothills Freeway) circles around the west and south sides of downtown. U.S. 26 (Sunset Highway) leaves downtown heading west toward Beaverton and the coast. Oregon Hwy. 217 (Beaverton-Tigard Highway) runs south from U.S. 26 in Beaverton. The most important artery within Portland is Burnside Street. This is the dividing line between north and south Portland. Dividing the city from east to west is the Willamette River, which is crossed by eight bridges in the downtown area. From north to south these bridges are the Fremont, Broadway, Steel, Burnside, Morrison, Hawthorne, Marquam, and Ross Island. There are also additional bridges beyond the downtown area, including the Sellwood Bridge between downtown and Lake Oswego and the St. John's Bridge from northwest Portland to north Portland. For the sake of convenience, we have defined downtown Portland as the 300-block area within the Fareless Square. This is the area (shaded on our map at the beginning of this chapter) in which you can ride for free on the city's public buses and the MAX light-rail system. In downtown, the Fareless Square is bounded by I-405 on the west and south, by Hoyt Street on the north, and by the Willamette River on the east. A Fareless Square extension now allows transit riders to travel between downtown Portland and both the Oregon Convention Center and Lloyd Center Mall for free. There is no charge to ride either the MAX light-rail trolleys or any of the 10 buses that connect downtown with the Rose Quarter and Lloyd District across the Willamette River in northeast Portland.

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