The Wall Street crash in October of 1929 and the resulting Great Depression put planning in the United States to a near halt. From about 1930 to 1940 most projects being completed had roots in the preceding decade.
St. Johns Bridge
Construction of St. John's Bridge (1)
Part of the movement to provide automobile accessible bridges across the Willamette, the St. John's bridge was completed in 1931. At the time of its completion the bridge was the longest spanning suspension bridge west of the Mississippi. (1) The bridge consists of two 2,645 foot long cables and two 40 story tall Gothic arches. (1, 2) To this day it remains the largest, most significant bridge in Oregon and it coined by many as the Grand Lady of Portland.
Unlike many other cities in the United States during the depression, Portland took very little advantage federal relief support during the depression. Instead it struggled to keep up with a crumbling infrastructure and an increasingly polluted river.(1) Relief came when the United States entered WWII in 1941. Following entrance into the war, federal involvement in urban affairs increased dramatically. (1) Federal funds given to Portland were used for a variety of infrastructure projects including street widening, highway construction, and a new city airport. (1)
Portland-Columbia Airport
Portland-Columbia Airport Construction (1)
Portland chose a 700 acre lot of land along the Columbia River to site the new airport. Just east of the city in an area known as Columbia Bottoms, the Portland-Columbia Airport was one of the largest projects in the nation at the time. (1, 3) The project was completed in 1940 after four years and was considered one of the best planned airports in the United States. (3) The large parcel of land allowed room for years of expansion and in 1951 the airport was renamed the Portland International Airport when an 8,800 foot runway was completed. The new runway allowed the airport to accept international flights. (3)
The automobile still dominated transportation planning in Portland during the 1940s. Street widening projects took place all over Portland. One of the most significant was the created of an expressway along the river front; Harbor Drive.
Harbor Drive
Harbor Drive 1946 (4)
Harbor drive ran along the west bank of the Willamette river and was the first limited access highway in Portland. (5) The construction of the expressway involved the removal of 79 historical buildings along the waterfront. (1) Removal of buildings was completed in 1942 but the final project was not completed until after WWII in 1945.
The increased planning activity that was seen when the United States entered WWII did not last for long. Planning toward the end of the war and after slowed to a snails pace as the post-war economy began to decline. A committee was created to deal with the issues of the economy and unemployment but little progress was made. In 1943, a private citizen fed up with the lack of progress stepped in by hiring Robert Moses. (8)
The Moses Report
Drawing from the Moses' Plan (7)
The Moses Report includes two transportation sections; one to deal with internal, arterial streets, through-ways, and bridges and the other to deal with greater Portland commuting. The largest of the interior projects was a $20 million freeway loop to surround the central business core. (1) The project required two new through-ways, a new bridge, widening the Ross Island Bridge, and over $2 million in street improvements associated with the loop. (7,18) The new through-ways were designed as massive elevated structures and many were planned without regard for existing structures. The freeway loop alone would require an additional $10 million to purchase the land needed.(7,18) To further ease congestion Moses suggested a new bus depot be built next to the train station to accommodate long distance travel and parts of the port be torn down and rebuilt.(7,18) In the surrounding Portland area three massive highway projects; the Wolf Creek Highway, the Columbia River Highway, and the Wilsonville Cut-off. (7,18) These projects would allow ease of travel to and from the city. Moses's recommendations were originally highly supported, but his lack of regard for community space and the massive scale of the proposed projects quickly became controversial. Debates over the effectiveness of his plan still reign on today.
Following the war, urban renewal took over planning in the United States. Governments began tearing down old structures and infrastructure in an attempt to revive their cities. Portland was no different. Controversy over the politics and morality of planning during urban renewal still exists. Of the projects completed during this time period the most notable is the connection of the I-5 to Portland in 1966.
1. "City of Portland Civic Planning, Development, & Public Works, 1851-1965 A Historic Context." City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability 1 (2009): 1-64.
2. "St Johns." Portland History. http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/st_johns.html (accessed March 6, 2013).
3. "Portland Airport." Portland History. http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/portland_airport.html (accessed March 6, 2013).
4. (Image) http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=24846
5. "Portland's Harbor Drive | Congress for the New Urbanism." Congress for the New Urbanism. http://www.cnu.org/highways/portland (accessed March 6, 2013).
6. McVoy, Arthur D. "A History of City Planning in Portland, Oregon." Oregon Historical Quarterly 46, no. 1 (1945): 3-21.
7. Moses, Robert. Portland Improvement. New York: William E. Rudge's Sons, 1943.
2. "St Johns." Portland History. http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/st_johns.html (accessed March 6, 2013).
3. "Portland Airport." Portland History. http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/portland_airport.html (accessed March 6, 2013).
4. (Image) http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=24846
5. "Portland's Harbor Drive | Congress for the New Urbanism." Congress for the New Urbanism. http://www.cnu.org/highways/portland (accessed March 6, 2013).
6. McVoy, Arthur D. "A History of City Planning in Portland, Oregon." Oregon Historical Quarterly 46, no. 1 (1945): 3-21.
7. Moses, Robert. Portland Improvement. New York: William E. Rudge's Sons, 1943.
Jillian Emery