Naito Parkway is a major thoroughfare of Portland in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. It was formerly known as Front Avenue and Front Street and was renamed in 1996 to honor

Bill Naito William Sumio Naito (September 16, 1925 – May 8, 1996) was an American businessman, civic leader and philanthropist in Portland, Oregon, U.S. He was an enthusiastic advocate for investment in downtown Portland, both private and public, and ...

. It runs between SW

Barbur Boulevard Oregon Route 99W is a state-numbered route in Oregon, United States, that runs from OR 99 and OR 99E in Junction City north to I-5 in southwestern Portland. Some signage continues it north to US 26 near downtown, but most signage agrees wi ...

and NW Front Avenue, and adjacent to

Tom McCall Waterfront Park Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located in downtown Portland, Oregon, along the Willamette River. After the 1974 removal of Harbor Drive, a major milestone in the freeway removal movement, the park was opened to the public in 19 ...

through

Downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found ...

Route description

Starting from the south, SW Naito Parkway begins at its interchange with Barbur Boulevard. Up to that point, Barbur serves as

Oregon Route 99W Oregon Route 99W is a state-numbered route in Oregon, United States, that runs from OR 99 and OR 99E in Junction City north to I-5 in southwestern Portland. Some signage continues it north to US 26 near downtown, but most signage agrees with ...

(OR 99W) and OR 10, but Naito takes over this designation north of the interchange. Continuing northbound, the parkway has an interchange with the

Ross Island Bridge The Ross Island Bridge is a cantilever truss bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It carries U.S. Route 26 (Mount Hood Highway) across the river between southwest and southeast Portland. The bridge opened in 1926 and w ...

, part of

U.S. Highway 26 U.S. Route 26 (US 26) is an east–west United States highway that runs from Seaside, Oregon to Ogallala, Nebraska. When the U.S. highway system was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming; by the 1950s, it continued into Idaho a ...

(US 26).

The street then passes over Interstate 405 (I-405), including ramps for the Marquam Bridge, and into

. After passing

Harbor Drive Harbor Drive is a short roadway in Portland, Oregon, spanning a total length of , which primarily functions as a ramp to and from Interstate 5. It was once much longer, running along the western edge of the Willamette River in the downtown are ...

, which provides an

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

southbound connection, the parkway runs adjacent to

through most of downtown, with connections to the Hawthorne and Morrison bridges. The Morrison Bridge provides a second connection to I-5. Between these two bridges in the median of Naito is

Mill Ends Park Mill Ends Park (sometimes mistakenly called Mill's End Park) is a tiny urban park, consisting of one tree, located in the median strip of SW Naito Parkway next to Tom McCall Waterfront Park along the Willamette River near SW Taylor Street in dow ...

which is, according to some, the world's smallest park. Naito then passes by the Portland Saturday Market and under the

Burnside Bridge The Burnside Bridge is a 1926-built bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, carrying Burnside Street. It is the second bridge at the same site to carry that name. It was added to the National Register ...

, at which point it becomes NW Naito Parkway. Next, it has an interchange with the Steel Bridge, where it loses its Highway 99W designation, as that route crosses over the bridge to continue on N Interstate Avenue. The parkway continues north to pass under the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and Fremont bridges. It then passes through a level railroad crossing that serves as a passenger and freight access point to

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

. Naito Parkway ends just after the Fremont Bridge, at its intersection with NW 15th Avenue, although the street itself continues in a northwest direction as NW Front Avenue.

Transportation

Several

radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric), a line * Radius, adjective form of * Radial distance, a directional coordinate in a polar coordinate system * Radial set * A bearing f ...

TriMet TriMet, formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Created in 1969 ...

bus lines serving southwestern suburbs of Portland access Downtown via the southern portion of Naito Parkway. These lines include: * Line 38 ( Tualatin) * Line 45 ( Tigard) * Line 54 ( Beaverton) * Line 55 (Beaverton) * Line 56 (Tigard) * Line 92 (Beaverton) All routes merge northbound onto Naito from Barbur Boulevard and turn west after entering Downtown to provide connection to the Portland Transit Mall. Routes then return to Naito southbound. These routes also connect to the Portland Streetcar at Naito and Harrison Street. Line 16, a radial line serving

Sauvie Island Sauvie Island, in the U.S. state of Oregon, originally Wapato Island or Wappatoo Island, is the largest island along the Columbia River, at , and one of the largest river islands in the United States. It lies approximately ten miles northwest o ...

and the far northern neighborhoods of Linnton and St. Johns, accesses Downtown via the north end of Naito, turns west on Oak Street to provide connection to the Transit Mall, and then returns to Naito northbound. Starting in 2015, the Portland Bureau of Transportation began the Better Naito project, closing one northbound lane of Naito during the summer months in order to convert it into a

cycle track A cycle track, separated bike lane or protected bike lane (sometimes historically referred to as a sidepath) is an exclusive bikeway that has elements of a separated path and on-road bike lane. A cycle track is located within or next to the r ...

and pedestrian area that runs the length of Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The bureau plans to make these changes permanent and year-round by 2020, but has decided to keep the temporary cycle track in place from January 2019 until permanent construction is completed.

History

The beginning of Naito Parkway coincided with the birth of Portland, when William P. Overton built his home along the waterfront in 1841. In these early days of the city, Naito was known as Front Street, and was the center of the downtown commercial core. Front consisted of a large

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastli ...

, which was considered by many community members to be a public street, although a court ruling found it to be private in 1862. FrontSt

The first school in Oregon was housed in a small wooden building on Front and Taylor Street, which started in 1845 and was led by Oregon's first practicing teacher and doctor,

Ralph Wilcox Ralph Wilcox (July 9, 1818 – April 18, 1877) was the first teacher and practicing doctor in Portland, Oregon.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. He also served in the Provisional Government ...

. The city's first brick building was constructed on the west side of Front in 1853, when

William S. Ladd William Sargent Ladd (October 10, 1826 – January 6, 1893) was an American politician and businessman in Oregon. He twice served as Portland, Oregon's mayor in the 1850s. A native of Vermont, he was a prominent figure in the early developme ...

commissioned Absalom B. Hallock to build his liquor and wine store. Shortly after, Hallock was commissioned to add a second floor to the building, which was used as the first location of the Ladd and Tilton Bank. The narrow strip of land between the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

and Front's downtown section was occupied by a series of wharves, many of which were open to public use. This proximity to the river made Front an economic hub for the city. Many brick commercial buildings were constructed on the west side of Front, including the 1885 Fechheimer & White Building and the 1857 Hallock–McMillan Building, which stands today as Portland's oldest extant building. Before dawn on December 22, 1872, a fire was discovered at a Chinese laundry between Alder and Morrison Street on the east side of Front Street. Due in part to windy conditions and flammable trash piled up between the pilings of the waterfront buildings, the fire spread quickly and engulfed buildings on both sides of the block. The fire destroyed two city blocks before it was extinguished. The city officially blamed the Chinese for the fire, and there were reports that a group of white residents had drowned three Chinese men in the Willamette during the blaze. Portland Police also rounded up Chinese men at gunpoint and forced them to work water pumps to fight the fire. In spite of official and popular blame being placed on Chinese residents, it is now thought that the fire was more likely an act of racially-motivated arson. Great Fire of 1873 Portland, OR

On August 2 of the following year, the Great Fire of 1873 started at a furniture store on Front. The area damaged by the 1872 fire acted as a buffer, aiding in containment efforts. In spite of this, over 20 blocks were destroyed. The prevalence of wood as a building material was a large factor in the fire's spread, and efforts to rebuild the affected area heavily employed brick and iron in an intentional effort to improve construction quality. Builders also became increasingly focused on architectural aesthetics, and by the 1880s, both sides of Front's commercial core were lined with multi-story buildings featuring decorative cast iron fronts and wooden colonnades. Repeated floods of the Willamette, including a major one in 1894, encouraged commercial development to move further away from the river. In addition, the arrival of the railroad meant that the river was no longer the primary means of shipping. By the turn of the century, much of the river's shipping traffic had moved north, the commercial core had migrated west to Fourth and Fifth Avenue, and many buildings along Front sat abandoned. 1876 Front Street Portland, Oregon

Many of the wharves along Front were torn down in 1929 in order to build a

seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...

and sewer interceptor. The seawall remedied problems with flooding, but loss of the wharves substantially diminished commercial purpose for the area. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

led to further decline in Front's commercial importance, and many of the multi-story buildings that remained occupied were vacant except for the ground floor storefronts. As part of an effort to rejuvenate the street, the city built the

Portland Public Market The Portland Public Market was a public market in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1933 at a widely advertised cost of $1 million ($ million in ). Controversial and ambitious, it was intended to replace the Carroll Public Market, c ...

in 1933. Front Street was renamed Front Avenue in 1935. The 1942 opening of

cut Front Avenue completely off from the river, and replaced it as the main thoroughfare along the waterfront. Front was also widened as part of this project. All 79 buildings between Front and the river were torn down as a result, including the Portland Public Market. By 1968, the Portland Bureau of Planning recommended the elimination of Harbor Drive, in order to expand the city's park system and give the public access to the waterfront.

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

was completed in 1964 on the east bank of the river, and I-405 was completed on the west side in 1969. Completion of the Fremont Bridge in 1973 completed the city's current freeway loop, drastically reducing the need for Harbor Drive as a thoroughfare. Harbor was closed in 1974 and demolition began to make way for

, once again making Front Avenue the nearest street to the west-side waterfront. In 1987, Skanner owner Bernie Foster led a push to change the street's name to honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Over 200 surveyed property owners opposed the change, while only nine supported it. Foster eventually succeeded in renaming Union Avenue to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. In 1996, the city renamed the street Naito Parkway to honor local investor, philanthropist, and civic leader

. The change went into effect only a few months after Naito's death, against a city code requiring that a person to be deceased for at least five years before a street can be named after them.

Events

Naito Parkway is often partially closed or otherwise modified to accommodate events at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, including the

Waterfront Blues Festival The Waterfront Blues Festival is an annual event in Portland, Oregon, United States featuring four days of performances by blues musicians. The festival started in 1988 and takes place in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, along the west bank of the Wil ...

, Rose Festival, and the

Oregon Brewers Festival Oregon Brewers Festival (OBF) is a four-day craft beer festival held annually from 1988 to 2019 and 2022 at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon, except in 2020-21 when the COVID-19 pandemic and 2023 when low attendance and ...

. The Rose Festival's Starlight Run uses Naito as a starting point, and also used it as a finish point in 2019. Naito has been used as a starting and finishing point in the Portland Marathon, and has been involved in media attention regarding mishaps in the race. In 2018, runners approaching the final stretch were delayed by a freight train crossing at the Steel Bridge. In 2019, runners went off-route after missing a turn onto the Ross Island Bridge and continuing south on Naito.

Notable landmarks

Naito Parkway runs adjacent to many notable buildings and other landmarks, particularly as it passes through the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District. *

National University of Natural Medicine The National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) is a private university of naturopathic medicine and Classical Chinese medicine located in Portland, Oregon. The school has approximately 553 students. History The National University of Natu ...

, 2828 SW Naito Parkway *

Salmon Street Springs Salmon Street Springs, or Salmon Street Fountain, is an outdoor water fountain at the intersection of Naito Parkway at Southwest Salmon in Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was designed by Robert Perron Landscape A ...

, SW Naito Parkway & Salmon Street * World Trade Center buildings 2 & 3, SW Naito Parkway & Salmon Street *

, SW Naito Parkway & Taylor Street * Hallock–McMillan Building (built 1857), 237 SW Naito Parkway * Fechheimer & White Building (built 1885), 233 SW Naito Parkway * Smith's Block (built 1872), 111 SW Naito Parkway * Portland Saturday Market Pavilion, SW Naito Parkway & Ankeny Street * Bill Naito Legacy Fountain SW Naito Parkway & Ankeny Street * Skidmore Block Building (built 1889) &

White Stag sign The White Stag sign, also known as the "Portland Oregon" sign, is a lighted neon-and- incandescent-bulb sign located atop the White Stag Building, at 70 NW Couch Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States, facing the Burnside Bridge. The ...

, 70 NW Couch Street * Japanese American Historical Plaza, NW Naito Parkway & Couch St * Centennial Mills (built 1911), 1362 NW Naito Parkway

References