Portland, Oregon residents?

[Firepath]

I have to drive through Portland on the I-84 freeway on my way to the Washington coast. That won’t put me near the area of the protests will it? There is another way I can go but it looks like it would add 1-1/2 hours to my trip. Thank you.

 

[Ken555]

First, the protests are all of ~2 blocks, unless things have dramatically changed. You won’t have any issues unless you seek out the protests.

Second, I assume you plan on taking the 84 to 26 to get to Washington. Instead, you could go north from the airport (where I assume you are starting) on 205 to state 30 and head west along the Columbia (a great drive) thru Astoria. That’s the way I would drive. I’ve done both (I used to live in Portland) and the drive along the Columbia is best.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[chellej]

The drive along the gorge is beautiful...If you stay on the freeways you shouldn't have any problem. I have to go to Vancouver in a couple of weeks for work and my drive takes me down I84 and then north on 5....you don't really go through downtown portland. Not sure where you are going on the washington coast....so not sure where you are going after portland. You can also take Wa14 which is on the other side on the columbia from I84 but I 84 is a better road.

 

[Firepath]

Thank you. I’m staying at WM Long Beach, then going to Chinook. It looks like the freeway runs north of the city.

 

[sue1947]

Second, I assume you plan on taking the 84 to 26 to get to Washington. Instead, you could go north from the airport (where I assume you are starting) on 205 to state 30 and head west along the Columbia (a great drive) thru Astoria. That’s the way I would drive. I’ve done both (I used to live in Portland) and the drive along the Columbia is best.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I agree except: head up I-205 to I-5 into WA. At Longview, head west (follow the truck route) and cross the Lewis and Clark Bridge over the Columbia and then west along Highway 30. It's a little faster. What time of day will you be passing through? I-84 and the other freeways through central Portland can get backed up quickly so going around vis 205 to 5 can save some aggravation.

OR from Longview/Kelso, take Highway 4 west along the north side of the Columbia. It's a little longer than the south side but different so it might be worth going one way on the way out and the other on the way in.
Avoid Highway 26; too many trailers this time of year heading for Cannon Beach/Seaside.

 

[b2bailey]

I'm sorry, but the OP makes me laugh.
I'm catching a train in Seattle tomorrow headed for Portland, staying at Worldmark there. Can't imagine driving out of my way for fear of the Portland protests. I guess that's the distortion that comes from too much press coverage.

 

[geist1223]

We live in Salem Oregon. If we are traveling to Cannon Beach or Seaside we use Hwy 26. If we are going to Astoria or Long Beach we take the earlier suggested route of going north (I205 or I5) to Long View, WA. Then cut across to the Bridge to Hwy 30. This will get you to Bridge in Astoria where you head north to Long Beach.

 

[Firepath]

Yeah there’s not much local news here so they make it look like Armageddon. It’s hard to know what’s real.

 

[geist1223]

The afternoon and early evening protest are pretty mild. Then between 9pm and 11pm the peaceful protesters have gone home. Then the violent protesters take over. They try and set fire to the Federal Courthouse and sometimes the County Justice Bldg. They attack with lasers, Molotov Cocktails, power tools, commercial grade fireworks, etc. They try and tear the fence down and are frequently partially successful. Once the violence starts the Fed's come out with tear gas and move the folks away from the fence. Several of the Federal officers have had their eyesight damaged by lasers. Last night local police recovered a backpack with 2 Molotov Cocktails and 4 fully loaded semiauto rifle magazines.

I think the Portland WM is far enough away that the tear gas does not drift that far.

We watch it each night and morning on the Local TV News.

 

[jimwu921]

I live in about 1 mile radius of the down town on the hill side and have not heard or smell anything since the beginning. From TV news, it looks like a war zone but really that is within 2 blocks of city hall.

 

[Ken555]

I live in about 1 mile radius of the down town on the hill side and have not heard or smell anything since the beginning. From TV news, it looks like a war zone but really that is within 2 blocks of city hall.

Yes, this is what I'm hearing from friends in Portland, as well. It's a made for TV experience, other than for those directly involved.