Oregon Route 47 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the Willamette Valley, near McMinnville, and the city of Clatskanie, along the Columbia River in the northwest part of the state. OR 47 traverses several highways of the Oregon state highway system: part of the Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29, part of the Nehalem Highway No. 102, part of the Sunset Highway No. 47, and the Mist–Clatskanie Highway No. 110.[2]
 Oregon Route 47 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Route 47 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by ODOT | ||||
| Length | 79.51 mi[1] (127.96 km) | |||
| Existed | 1932–present | |||
| Component highways |
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| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  OR 99W near McMinnville | |||
| North end |  US 30 in Clatskanie | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Oregon | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
edit
Oregon Route 47 begins (at its southern terminus) at a junction with Oregon Route 99W between the cities of McMinnville and Lafayette.[3] This stretch is known as the Tualatin Valley Highway. It continues north along the western edge of the Willamette Valley, hugging the Coast Range. It passes through parts of Oregon's wine country (and some prime agricultural land), and through small towns such as Carlton,[3] Yamhill,[3] and Gaston.[3] The first large city encountered is Forest Grove.[3] A bypass around the east side of town avoids the downtown area.
In Forest Grove, OR 47 intersects Oregon Route 8,[3] and the Tualatin Valley Highway leaves Oregon Route 47, and continues east towards Hillsboro and Beaverton on Oregon Route 8. North of the intersection, OR 47 is known as the Nehalem Highway. It continues north, passing through the town of Banks.[3] North of Banks, OR 47 shares an alignment for about 4 miles (6 km) with U.S. Route 26 over the Sunset Highway, which is—a bit confusingly—Highway 47. North of Manning, OR 47 and US 26 part ways. OR 47 continues north, following the North Fork of Dairy Creek to its source and passing L.L. "Stub" Stewart Memorial State Park[4] and shortly thereafter reaching the summit called "Tophill" where the highway departs the Willamette River drainage and enters the Nehalem drainage. From Tophill, the highway quickly winds down to a tributary of the Nehalem River and finds the Nehalem River at the extinct community of Treharne.
Though in the mountainous Northern Oregon Coast Range, the Nehalem Highway itself is just winding, as it follows the banks of the Nehalem River all the way to Jewell,[5] passing through Vernonia[6] and Pittsburg.[6] However, Pittsburg is little more than a road junction where the Scappoose-Vernonia Road breaks off and heads up the East Fork of the Nehalem River for Scappoose, Oregon. A few miles further north, Route 47 reaches the Apiary junction with destinations for Apiary and Rainier. The Apiary road is popular with truckers as it does not have the restrictive length limitations which are applied to OR 47 North of Mist or Oregon Route 202 west of Jewell because of numerous short turns.
After the town of Mist,[6] the Nehalem Highway continues west towards Astoria as Oregon Route 202; OR 47 continues north for 12 miles (19 km) as the Mist-Clatskanie Highway. This stretch of OR 47 is rather mountainous, with many sharp turns and steep grades. Eventually, OR 47 descends out of the mountains into the Columbia River basin, and ends in the city of Clatskanie at an intersection with U.S. Route 30.[6]
Major intersections
editMilepoints are as reported by ODOT and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. Z indicates overlapping mileage due to construction longer than established route, and – indicates negative mileage behind established beginning point.[7] Segments that are locally maintained may be omitted. For routes traversing multiple named state highways, each milepoint is preceded by the corresponding state highway number.
| County | Location[1] | Milepoint[1] | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yamhill | Saint Joseph | 29 42.46 | OR 99W – Newberg, Portland, McMinnville | ||
| Yamhill | 29 34.47 |  OR 240 / Moores Valley Road – Newberg | |||
| Washington | Forest Grove | 29 17.88 102 90.64 |  OR 8 (Pacific Avenue) – Forest Grove City Center | ||
| Banks | 102 83.72 |  OR 6 – North Plains, Portland, Glenwood, Tillamook | Partial interchange | ||
| Davies Junction | 102 (2)80.96 47 48.82 |   US 26 east – North Plains, Portland | Interchange; southern end of concurrency with US 26 | ||
| Staleys Junction | 47 45.41 102 76.96 |  US 26 west – Seaside | Northern end of concurrency with US 26 | ||
| Columbia | Mist | 102 46.14 110 11.89 |  OR 202 – Birkenfeld, Astoria | ||
| | 110 6.43 | Clatskanie Mountain summit, elevation 1,347 feet (411 m) | |||
| Clatskanie | 110 0.00 | US 30 – Rainier, Portland, Astoria | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
edit- ^ a b c Road Inventory and Classification Services Unit. "Straightline Charts". Transportation Development Division, Oregon Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
- Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29 (October 2012)
- Nehalem Highway No. 102 (February 2016)
- Sunset Highway No. 47 (October 2012)
- Mist–Clatskanie Highway No. 110 (April 2016)
- ^ Road Inventory and Classification Services Unit. "2012 Cross Reference Table of Highway Route Number to State Highway Number" (PDF). Transportation Development Division, Oregon Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g http://egov.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/rics/docs/NumRouteMap_enl.pdf |Portland Area Enlargement of map of State of Oregon Highway system-2006
- ^ Official State Parks Fact Sheet
- ^ The Nehalem River Highway, Jeffrey Butts
- ^ a b c d http://egov.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/rics/docs/NumRouteMap.pdf%7C State of Oregon Highway System Route Map 2006
- ^ Road Inventory and Classification Services (July 2017). "Straightline Chart Legend" (PDF). Oregon Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 7, 2018.