Being the most important highway in the State, the Pacific Highway should be the best highway in the State. To make it the best and at the same time to bring it up to the standard of the same highway in the adjacent states of Washington and California is one of the ends toward which the Highway Commission has been working during the past two years. During that time 53.3 miles of the very worst stretches of this highway have been newly graded to trunk highway standards. This grading has eliminated practically all of those heavy and dangerous grades which have made Oregon notorious for bad roads and which have kept thousands of auto tourists from visiting the State. In addition to grading 53.3 miles on the Pacific Highway, the Highway Commission has put down 8.3 miles of pavement and 14.5 miles of macadam, the total cost of all of these improvements being $971,000.00. As a part of the 1919 program, the Highway Commission has already appropriated for the improvement of the Pacific Highway the sum of $1,147,000.00, with which it is planned to build 46 miles of pavement and 38 miles of macadam surface.
The particular sections of the Pacific Highway constructed during 1917 and 1918, together with their mileages and total costs are given below. All of these sections are completed with the exception of the Canyonville-Galesville Forest Road Project which is well under way.
| Sections | Miles | Total Cost | ||
| Grading (including bridges)— | ||||
| Oregon City to New Era | 4.0 | $ 75,000.00 | ||
| Divide to Leona | 7.0 | 50,000.00 | ||
| Yoncalla to Oakland | 10.8 | 101,100.00 | ||
| Myrtle Creek to Dillard | 12.8 | 165,500.00 | ||
| Canyonville to Galesville | 9.7 | 211,000.00 | ||
| Wolf Creek to Grave Creek | 4.9 | 68,300.00 | ||
| Grants Pass to Jackson County Line | 3.3 | 13,000.00 | ||
| Ashland Undercrossing | .8 | 9,800.00 | ||
| Macadam— | ||||
| Cottage Grove to Divide | 1.0 | 6,100.00 | ||
| Divide to Leona | 7.0 | 64,000.00 | ||
| Siskiyou to California Line | 6.5 | 56,300.00 | ||
| Paving— | ||||
| Oregon City to Canby | 7.5 | 135,000.00 | ||
| Ashland Hill Section | .8 | 15,900.00 | ||
| Total cost of improvements completed and under way on Pacific Highway, 1917-1918 | ... | $ 971,000.00 | ||
THE COLUMBIA RIVER HIGHWAY
The Columbia River Highway is second only to the Pacific Highway as a commercial necessity in the state of Oregon; furthermore, the Columbia River Highway is the only connecting link between Eastern and Western Oregon that can be kept open for vehicular traffic throughout the entire year.
From a scenic standpoint, the Columbia River Highway has now become world famous, not only because of its wonderful natural advantages of location, but because of the high standard of construction. A large part of this combined commercial and scenic road is now open to traffic and the coming year will see the elimination of the last almost impassable barrier—the summit between Hood River and Mosier, a piece of construction 5.8 miles in length which will cost approximately $350,000 for the grading alone.
The Columbia River Highway parallels the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean to Umatilla, a distance of 320 miles, thence southeast an additional 40 miles to Pendleton, where it connects with the Old Oregon Trail. The Old Oregon Trail continues southeast for a distance of 190 miles, crossing the Idaho-Oregon line at Huntington; making a continuous highway 550 miles in length.
At this date, the grading of the Columbia River Highway is practically complete from Astoria to Hood River, a total distance of 174 miles, and the greater part of it is now either paved or macadamized.
The cost of work completed on the Columbia River Highway between Astoria and Portland during the period covered by this report, after all payments are made will be approximately $866,000.00, of which amount $832,078.35 has been expended to date. The work accomplished consists of 9.4 miles of grading, 51.6 miles of macadamizing, 6 miles of paving, 15 reinforced concrete bridges and one covered wood draw bridge.