Oregon Route 224

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Oregon Route 224
Clackamas Highway #127 Sunrise Expressway Highway #75 East Portland Freeway #64 (1965-2016)
Route Information
Maintained by Oregon Department of Transportation
Length	48.21 mi.
Existed	c1961 to present
Junctions
West End	SE 17th Avenue in Milwaukie
East End	NF-46 near Ripplebrook
Navigation
←  OR-224 (1935-1944) OR-225  →

This page is about the modern route between Milwaukie and Ripplebrook. For the route between Lewisville and Monmouth that existed from 1935 to 1944, see Oregon Route 224 (Lewisville-Monmouth).

Oregon Route 224 is a state route that runs from SE 17th Avenue (just west of OR-99E) in Milwaukie and NF-46 at the Rainbow Campground near Ripplebrook. It was created sometime in 1961 when its underlying state highway, the Clackamas Highway #171, was extended from Faraday to its present eastern terminus. It has had several realignments along much of its length throughout the years, including the 2016 opening of Phase 1 of the Sunrise Expressway.

History

Prior to State Highway Designation

Milwaukie to Clackamas

By 1914, a road can be seen running between Milwaukie and about a mile north of Clackamas along the future 1947 Clackamas Highway #171 alignment on the Oregon City USGS topographic map. This road, called Lake Road, is not known to have been part of the Clackamas County Market Road system.

Clackamas Area

The eastern end of Lake Road intersected with 82nd Avenue, then called "Meridian Road" on the 1914 Oregon City topographic map; the future Clackamas Highway would turn right, entering the town of Clackamas after less than a mile. By 1930, this small section became part of the larger Clackamas County Market Road #38 (82nd Street Road). On November 13, 1931 the Oregon State Highway Commission sought to take control of many highly-traveled county roads as a way of reducing county road maintenance costs due to the Great Depression. As part of this plan, the commission entered into an agreement with Clackamas County to take over the 27.06-mile Cascade Highway, including this segment, as a secondary state highway. However, the Cascade Highway #160 wasn't formally adopted into the highway system by formal resolution until December 6, 1933:

Cascade Secondary State Highway No. 160, described as follows:

Being all of Market Roads No. 38, No. 22 and No. 5, and being a portion of Market Roads No. 11 and No. 25, beginning at the Multnomah County Line at a connection with S. E. 82nd Avenue extended and extending in a southerly direction via Oregon City, Liberal and Marquam to the Marion County line, a distance of approximately 31.7 miles.

-OSHC Minutes, 1933-12-06, p. 4502

By 1935, this section became part of OR-213:

Ore. 213     Beginning at a junction with U. S. 30 at 82nd and Sandy Blvd. in Portland; thence south on 82nd Street and secondary #160 to a junction with U. S. 99E and Ore. 215 at Oregon City.

-From "Oregon State Highway Department Designated Route Numbers," c. 1934, p. 2

In June 1940, plans were drawn up to remove the at-grade railroad crossing slightly north and south of where Lake Road intersected OR-213. While the alignments of the bridge and the northern approach were set in stone, there was some controversy surrounding the routing of the southern portion. Nevertheless, bids for construction were tentatively set for sometime in February 1941. On January 22 and February 14, 1941 the OSHC signed two agreements with the Southern Pacific Railroad to build the overcrossing.

Clackamas to Rock Creek Junction

By 1914, a road can be seen running between Clackamas and Rock Creek Junction along the future 1947 Clackamas Highway #171 alignment on the Oregon City USGS topographic map. Between modern-day SE Evelyn Street and Rock Creek Junction, the road would also become part of Clackamas County Market Road #16 (Rock Creek Bridge-Mt. Hood Loop) by 1930.

Rock Creek Junction to Estacada

In 1846, the Barlow Road was completed to Oregon City after branching from the Oregon Trail east of The Dalles. While the original Clackamas River crossing was at Feldheimer's Ford (also called "Feldenheimer's Ford", located southwest of Eagle Creek and northwest of Estacada), settlers could soon cross at one of three ferries located along the OR-224 corridor between Carver and Estacada:

• The rope-operated LaTourette Ferry crossed the Clackamas near Barton between 1847 and 1849. Only one wagon could cross at a time. A bridge opened at that location in 1912.
  • Two other ferries, the Chase Ferry (c. 1874) and McMurry Ferry (c. 1912), were also established at that same spot.
• Baker's Ferry, also rope-operated, crossed the Clackamas near Carver between 1847 and 1883, when it was replaced by a bridge. It was located at the present-day Carver boat ramp.
• The Feldheimer Ferry crossed the Clackamas at the aforementioned Feldheimer's Ford between about 1850 and 1880. The ferry only transported people — livestock and wagons forded the river. Unlike the other two crossings, this one wasn't replaced by a bridge, but it lives on as the Feldheimer boat ramp today.
  • This ferry appeared on USGS topographic maps of the area between 1911 and 1938, but it's not known if it was operating at that time.

Today, the Oregon Trail National Historic Trail's Barlow Road Route is officially signed along OR-224 between Barton (joining from Baker's Ferry Road) and Eagle Creek (leaving on OR-211).

On March 24, 1941 the OSHC considered relinquishing control of the Eagle Creek-Estacada section of OR-211 to Clackamas County in exchange for taking over maintenance of Boring Road. This swap ultimately did not transpire; Boring Road didn't become a state secondary highway until November 16, 1994 when it was swapped with the remainder of the Canby-Marquam Highway #170.

Estacada to Ripplebrook

On May 5, 1911 Clackamas County filed an order with the county court to establish County Road No. 736 from Estacada to "the Northeast corner of the SE¼SE¼ of Section 27, Township 3 South, Range 4 East, W.M."; this road no longer exists, but was essentially a westward extension of today's SE Kemp Road. Later that year on December 6, the county filed another order with the court to establish County Road No. 765 (Drill Road), which extended from a point along County Road No. 736 to a point 1 mile southeast of Faraday.

By 1930, these future sections of OR-224 were a part of the Clackamas County Market Road system (* indicates former alignment):

Segment	Market Road	Portion
OR-213 concurrency*	Market Road #38 (82nd Street Road)	Entire length
Clackamas to Rock Creek Junction	Market Road #16 (Rock Creek Bridge-Mt. Hood Loop)	SE Evelyn St.* to Rock Creek Junction
Rock Creek Junction to Carver	Market Road #39 (Rock Creek Bridge to Redland Store)	Entire length
Carver to Barton	Market Road #7 (Barton-Carver)	Entire length
Barton to Estacada	Market Road #19 (Barton-Eagle Creek-Estacada)	Entire length