Oregon Route 42 (OR 42) 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 ...

which runs between

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

on the

Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Colum ...

, near

Coos Bay Coos Bay is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon state lines. The Coos Bay watershed covers an area of abou ...

, and

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

, a few miles south of Roseburg on

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 ...

. OR 42 traverses the Coos Bay–Roseburg Highway No. 35 of the Oregon state highway system. The route splits at Coquille, where Oregon Route 42S heads southwest toward Bandon. The section of Oregon Route 42 between the junction with U.S. Route 101 south of Coos Bay and the junction with Oregon Route 42S in Coquille was once a part of U.S. Route 101. When U.S. Route 101 was moved to an alignment closer to the ocean in 1961-63, Oregon Route 42 was extended along the northernmost section and Oregon Route 42S was created along the southernmost section.

Route description

OR 42 is known internally by 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 Depart ...

(ODOT) as the Coos Bay-Roseburg Highway No. 35. The entire highway is designated as part of the National Highway System, which includes roadways important to the national economy, defense, and mobility. The entire highway has also been designated as a freight route by ODOT.

History

Coos and Douglas counties began lobbying the state government for major widening and straightening of OR 42 in the late 1940s due to unsafe conditions and heavy use. A group of 140 women from the area appealed directly to the

Oregon State Highway Commission 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 Depart ...

in 1957 for improvements, but were turned away. Oregon 42 was extended west in 1961-63 due to a realignment of US 101.

2015 landslide

On December 23, 2015, a large

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environmen ...

on a section of OR 42 near the Coos–

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

county line closed the highway to traffic. The section of highway was undergoing part of a $11 million realignment project to straighten the roadway; the area above the slide was

clear-cut Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/ logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of fo ...

as part of construction.

Major intersections

Spur route

Oregon Route 42S is an

which is located entirely within Coos County. It runs between

at Bandon and Coquille on Oregon Route 42. It is known as the Coquille-Bandon Highway No. 244 (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 ...

). It serves as an important link between

and the southern

, as it forms the southernmost all-season connection between the two in Oregon. Oregon Route 42S used to be a part of U.S. Route 101, and was created when US 101 was realigned closer to the ocean in 1961-63.

References

External links

*
OR 42 at ORoads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oregon Route 042 042 Transportation in Coos County, Oregon Transportation in Douglas County, Oregon