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Interstate Bridge Photos

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Tim B.

Actually a pair of twin bridges (northbound circa 1917, southbound 1958), the Interstate Bridge was the first designed for automobiles to span the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon States. Originally a toll bridge (5¢ per car or horse), the crossing also serviced streetcars until 1940. These days the structure(s) have earned a place on the National Historic Register - and a "functionally obsolete" rating. Together the spans handle hundreds of thousands of vehicles daily, and are frequently blamed for road vehicle and river traffic congestion. Despite its practical shortcomings, the bridge is still an aging marvel and a sight to behold. A walking trail parallels the river on either side of the bridge and travels underneath the massive roadway, affording some truly spectacular views.

Photo by --b-- on Flickr
Don B.

Oh the Interstate Bridge. The bane of existence for many a Vancouver-dwelling commuter. A structure that, while serving it's purpose of getting cars across the mighty Columbia from Oregon to Washington and vice-versa, is at the same time a maddening bottleneck and, in at least my opinion, an eyesore. This bridge has been the most perpetual landmarks in my life. A nomad of the Northwest, I have been traveling up and down the I-5 corridor ever since I was a baby, and of all the things on our many trips up and down the west coast, we always would see the towers of the big dirty green monster pop up on the horizon and we knew we were making progress toward our goal regardless of which direction we were headed. Now that I live in Portland, I have the distinct pleasure of crossing this bridge more and more often, and each time I do, I marvel at both the engineering prowess that created this huge, long-lasting span, and at the same time, I wonder when they're going to replace it with something bigger, wider, better, more functional, and hopefully much more æsthetically pleasing. With federal stimulus money coming down the pipe and plans in the works, it will probably be sooner than later. The impending demise of this big green bastard will be a little bittersweet for me. While I do look forward to something more versatile and less bottleneck going in, some little part of me will miss this... thing. A couple of commutes across the bridge at rush hour will probably solve that though. So how do you rate a bridge? 1 star for the looks, 2 stars for the functionality, 5 for the memories. In my fuzzy math, that works out to a 3.

SB

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Its a bridge. It got me over the Columbian River w/ no issues. 10/10 would drive over it again.

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Ask the Community - Interstate Bridge

Review Highlights - Interstate Bridge

The Interstate Bridge carries I-5 over the Columbia river and joins Portland Oregon with Vancouver Washington.

Mentioned in 6 reviews

Read more highlights

Portland Oregon White Stag Sign - Japanese American Historical Plaza

Portland Oregon White Stag Sign

(58 reviews)

Old Town - Chinatown

Finally got the chance to see and be where the stag sign is after many years! Street parking is…read moreavailable in the area and a quick walk towards the park where you have a better view of it. You can also go up the stairs and see it from a closer view. Tree branches do obscure the view a bit. Very satisfying experience!

Woohoo! I just hit my 6,000th review! Whenever I hit a landmark review like this I go write about a…read morelandmark in the Pacific Northwest. Some say they haven't seen an account with this many reviews but there is indeed some accounts that have way surpassed my amount of reviews. I believe there is a Yelper out there (Bruce K.) that is from Charlotte, North Carolina that comes in with 23,000 reviews and 61,000 pictures for his reviews as of 2024 so I have waaaay more review writing to do to even get remotely close to this guy. The reviews I write is for something that is unique only to the place I have adopted as home ( or the region that I call home as opposed to a city). Previously I have written about the mountains of our region like Mount Rainier but this time around I wanted to write about something more urban and a place I always love visiting...Portland! The White Stag Sign is so signature Portland! We have seen it lit up at night and have seen it during the day. All of which we have managed to get different angles to look at. As other reviewers say the admission is free... which kind of makes sense since it's a sign. This sign at times seems to be so obvious that it's hard to miss but other times on the Interstate we miss it completely giving it that "camouflaged" notion in amongst the building and bridges... of course we may just be looking in the wrong place too...keeping one's eyes on the road is an upmost priority... which should go without saying. But you can still stroll by here as a pedestrian and get some great pictures of this Portland landmark and a landmark that totally smacks of Cascadia and the Pacific Northwest!

Keep Portland Weird - Weekend morning, no cars!

Keep Portland Weird

(84 reviews)

Downtown

Another Portland landmark when it comes to signage. This is an iconic sign and you see it in films…read moreand tv shows and such when the setting is in this particular city. Portland is indeed a weird place and that is one of the reasons that I love it so much. It's quirkiness and art oriented drive is the "weirdness" I am referring to which makes this sign highly relatable to me. Anything that can make you lovably eccentric. Of course there is the weird element where it can delve into creepy but most people can flesh out as to what is purposeful and with intent as opposed to the opposite. I consider myself to be a weirdo and people have accused me of just that throughout my life and it's something I learned pretty early on that it's a thing to be embraced rather than treating our uniqueness and eccentricities ( the harmless kind) as a crutch, burden or handicap. I remember when I was a fairly new transplant to the Pacific Northwest there was a friendly rivalry that I would hear off and on as to what was the weirdest city in America. Austin, Texas and Portland were neck to neck and from what I heard Portland won out but of course I haven't been to Austin in a very long time and before I ever heard of the rivalry so maybe down there they say they are the victors. I may find out when I go there later this Spring. But for me seeing this sign whenever I come across it is an enduring thing and I feel like I am with my tribe... both in Portland and the Pacific Northwest.

I tried to avoid coming to "Keep Portland Weird" because I'd heard it is overrated since it's just…read morea wall in a parking lot, but honestly, I just couldn't resist not checking it out. FOMO, here :) It's basically just that phrase (haha) on its own without any fancy graphics, but I wanted to share my reviews and be part of the Yelp community. So, I added a little twist by including a collage of interesting trash bins. I guess this is one way to keep Portland clean, too. I have never seen so many trash cans throughout the city. Hahahah :)) Classic tourist trap move, but honestly, you cannot be in Portland without acknowledging this area.

Lovejoy Columns - Before the Pearl District

Lovejoy Columns

(10 reviews)

Pearl District

The Lovejoy Columns are an interesting little piece of Portland's history. There are many articles…read moreavailable if you want to read the full story of the columns. Once upon a time the Lovejoy Columns supported the Lovejoy Ramp which was a viaduct connecting NW 14th Ave and Lovejoy Street to the Broadway Bridge. This viaduct ran above railroad freight tracks in the area that is now known as the Pearl District. From 1948-1952 a Greek immigrant, who worked as a night watchman for the railroad, drew wonderful pictures on the columns in chalk and later painted them. When the viaduct was demolished in 1999 to make way for all the condos and businesses that make up the Pearl District, several of the original columns were saved and stored beneath the Fremont Bridge. Two of those original columns have been restored and relocated here. The columns are beautiful to behold and definitely worth visiting.

Everyone deserves to pursue their dreams. Carpe diem. Athanasios Efthimiou Stefopoulos is not a…read morename that rolls off the tongue unless you're a cast member of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" nor unfortunately is it a name you'll see in an art museum as much as he must have dreamed of that. Early in the last century, he was a railroad watchman who happened to be a talented, proto-graffiti artist. He went by the name Tom to his friends and painted the Broadway Bridge Lovejoy overpass columns with fanciful images of mythical gods and wild animals. Several endured over the years though most are in some abandoned lot awaiting funding for restoration. Two of them have been refurbished and placed in a courtyard on NW 10th Avenue near Everett. If you're walking into the Pearl District from the western part of the city, it's likely the first landmark you'll see. Check 'em out. RELATED - Going to Portland? Here are the places I visited and reviewed: bit.ly/2B0haJD

Interstate Bridge - landmarks - Updated May 2026

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