Oregon Route 551 (OR 551) is an

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 ...

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

that runs between the cities of Wilsonville and

Hubbard Hubbard may refer to: Places Canada *Hubbard, Saskatchewan *Hubbards, Nova Scotia Canada/United States * Mount Hubbard, a mountain on the Alaska/Yukon border *Hubbard Glacier, a large freshwater glacier in Alaska and Yukon Greenland *Hubbard Gla ...

. It is known as the Wilsonville-Hubbard Highway No. 51 (see

Oregon highways and routes The state highway system of the U.S. state of Oregon is a network of highways that are owned and maintained by the Highway Division of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Highways and routes The state highway system consists of abo ...

) and is also called the "Hubbard Cutoff." It is long, and is a two-lane

limited access A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

highway for its entire length. The designation as OR 551 is a recent addition; for a long time this route did not have a signed route number. In 2002, the

Oregon Department of Transportation The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway Depar ...

(ODOT) began assigning route numbers to

highways A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

that did not previously have route numbers. As the internal ODOT number assigned this route was already used by OR 51, the number 5 was prefixed to form 551.

Route description

OR 551 begins (at its southern terminus) at an interchange with

OR 99E Oregon Route 99E is an Oregon state highway that runs between Junction City, Oregon and an interchange with I-5 just south of the Oregon/Washington border, in Portland. It, along with OR 99W, makes up a split of OR 99 in the northern part of the ...

just north of Hubbard. Whereas OR 99E continues northeast to the cities of Aurora and

Canby Canby may refer to: People * Canby (surname) Places

;In the United States * Canby, California * Canby, Iowa * Canby, Minnesota * Canby, Oregon * Canby Creek, a stream in Minnesota * Canby Mountains, Oregon {{disambiguation, geo ...

; OR 551 heads north towards Wilsonville. Its course is almost perfectly straight, and the route has few intersections. OR 551 terminates at an intersection with I-5 near the

Charbonneau Charbonneau may refer to: People * Charbonneau (surname) Places * Charbonneau, North Dakota *Charbonneau, Oregon Wine grapes *Charbonneau (grape), another name for the French wine grape Douce noir *Dolcetto, Italian wine grape that is also kn ...

district just south of Wilsonville. The highway, when it was first constructed, was originally a part of

U.S. Route 99 U.S. Route 99 (US 99) was a main north–south United States Numbered Highway on the West Coast of the United States until 1964, running from Calexico, California, on the US–Mexico border to Blaine, Washington, on the U.S.-Canada border ...

, connecting the Baldock Freeway (which contained US 99, now I-5) with US 99E, now OR 99E. This designation lasted until the freeway was completed between Wilsonville and

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

, at which point the US 99 designation was removed. Boones Ferry Road, which runs parallel to OR 551 (and connects Woodburn with

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

), was at one time signed as

OR 217 Oregon Route 217 is an Oregon state highway which serves the western suburbs of Portland. OR 217 is a controlled-access highway which connects U.S. Route 26 with Interstate 5. OR 217 consists of the Beaverton-Tigard Highway 144 (see Oregon ...

; portions of this road from northern Wilsonville and Durham are now

Oregon Route 141 Oregon Route 141, known as the Beaverton–Tualatin Highway No. 141 (see Oregon highways and routes The state highway system of the U.S. state of Oregon is a network of highways that are owned and maintained by the Highway Division of the Ore ...

. This road (or the parallel stretch) was the predecessor of OR 551. The road crossed 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 ...

via

Boones Ferry Boones Ferry (also Boone's Ferry) was a cable ferry which crossed the Willamette River near present-day Wilsonville, Oregon, United States, from 1847 to 1954. It was part of a major land-based thoroughfare in pioneer times linking fledgling Portl ...

near present-day Wilsonville; the ferry has since been replaced by the Boone Bridge, which is where I-5 crosses the river.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=inline,title
ORoads: Oregon Highway 551

551 __NOTOC__ Year 551 ( DLI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 551 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era beca ...

U.S. Route 99 Transportation in Marion County, Oregon Transportation in Wilsonville, Oregon 2002 establishments in Oregon