Alphonso Boone (grandson of Daniel Boone) and his son Jesse Boone started the Boone's Ferry over the Newberg Pool stretch of the Willamette River in 1847.[2] They also cleared timber and constructed a road south towards Salem and north towards Portland, creating the first overland connection from Salem to the northern section of the Willamette Valley.[2] A railroad bridge was constructed just upriver in 1907 and was used for the Oregon Electric Railway.[3]
In 1953, Oregon began construction of a highway bridge just east of the ferry landings to carry what became Interstate 5.[4] The four-lane, north-south aligned bridge was finished in 1954 and opened to traffic in July, with the ferry ending service at that time.[3] The state named the bridge Boone Bridge in honor of the Boone family.[5] At the time there was a bronze marker in one of the bridge's piers to commemorate the name, but it was removed when the bridge was later widened.[6]
The state widened Boone Bridge from its original four lanes of traffic to a total of six lanes in 1970, with three lanes in each direction.[4] On April 1, 1995, the bridge was re-dedicated as the Boone Bridge and a sign added to the bridge along with a plaque at the nearby rest area to honor the earlier ferry.[6][7] From 1998 to 1999 the bridge was retrofitted with steel cables and a new roadway in order to prepare the bridge for earthquakes at a cost of $4 million.[4] In May 1999, a ten car accident on the bridge backed up traffic for nine hours.[8] The fatal crash led to a temporary reduction in the speed limit.[8] By 2008, the bridge carried in excess of 131,300 cars per day.[9]
Details
Constructed of steel girders on the underside, the bridge is 1,111 feet (339 m) long.[1] Boone Bridge measures 116 feet (35 m) in width and rises 75 feet (23 m) above the river.[1] The Canby Ferry, which also crosses the Willamette, is a few miles to the east. There is a Portland & Western Railroad rail bridge just upriver, to the west of Boone Bridge.
The bridge is considered a choke point in the regional transportation system with Oregon Route 217 and Interstate 205 funneling traffic onto Interstate 5 to cross the river at the bridge.[10] Oregon transportation officials have proposed several options including a new span, as well as new highway sections to connect Oregon Route 18 directly to Interstate 5 south of the bridge along with extending Interstate 205 south of Oregon City to connect with I-5 at Aurora or Woodburn.[10] Replacing the existing bridge is estimated to cost $48,424,000.[11]
View from west on south bank of riverView in the mid-1950s from the soon-to-be-closed landing of the Boone's Ferry
This is the second crossing of the Willamette by Interstate 5, the first being downstream in Portland on the Marquam Bridge.
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