Oregon In the
Portland metropolitan area, I-84 is sometimes referred to as the "Banfield Freeway" or simply "the Banfield", although the official name is the Banfield Expressway. This freeway is named after Thomas H. "Harry" Banfield (1885–1950), the chairman of the Oregon Transportation Commission from 1943 to 1950. As I-84 heads east, it also follows US 30 in a majority of I-84 from Portland, Oregon, to near Rupert, Idaho, with splits being variant in Oregon and Idaho, but before leaving Portland, there is a junction with
I-205, along with cities
Gresham,
Fairview,
Wood Village and
Troutdale. and I-84 as seen from
Crown Point, OregonImmediately after leaving Troutdale, I-84 and US 30 runs east along the south bank of the
Columbia River (and the northern Oregon border, as well) for nearly with the first 80 miles being in the
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, running from Troutdale to the
Deschutes River, passing through the cities of
Hood River and
The Dalles in the Scenic Area. It also passes through
Biggs Junction,
Rufus,
Arlington, and
Boardman outside of the Scenic Area before heading southeast to the junction with southern end of
I-82 immediately southeast of the
Umatilla Chemical Depot near
Hermiston. From the junction it continues southeast on to
Pendleton. East of Pendleton, I-84 climbs Emigrant Hill, a 6% grade, into the
Blue Mountains. The westbound lanes
switchback twice on its descent into Pendleton. Eastbound lanes feature the tightest curves allowed on the Interstate Highway system, even though those curves are on the uphill (eastbound) direction. This grade is also well known because of the distance between eastbound and westbound lanes, nearly between the opposite directions of travel at some points. The road summits at
above sea level before descending to the
Grand Ronde River and
La Grande. It passes by
North Powder and
Baker City and through the
Burnt River canyon. Around
Huntington, it crosses into the
Mountain Time Zone then briefly follows the southwest bank of the
Snake River (
Brownlee Reservoir), then continues to
Ontario before crossing the Snake River into
Idaho. On March 1, 2016, the speed limit from The Dalles to Ontario was raised to , while the truck speed was raised to .
Idaho I-84 enters Idaho by crossing the
Snake River at
Ontario, Oregon. From there, it continues on to the major cities of the
Treasure Valley (or
Boise metropolitan area) including
Caldwell,
Nampa,
Meridian, and
Boise (where
I-184 connects travelers to downtown). From Boise, I-84 continues southeast passing near several small cities (
Mountain Home,
Glenns Ferry, and
Jerome) on its way to
Twin Falls. Just east of Jerome, I-84 passes within of Twin Falls, but does not cross the
Snake River Canyon or into
Twin Falls County. Access to Twin Falls is afforded by an intersection with
US 93 at Exit 173; US 93 southbound crosses the Snake River via the
Perrine Bridge. After Twin Falls, I-84 continues through
Burley and
Heyburn. Approximately east of
Declo in rural
Cassia County, I-84 meets the western terminus of the western section of
I-86. While I-86, along with US 30 heads east, then northeast to
American Falls and
Pocatello (following the
Oregon Trail), I-84 heads southeast to the border with
Utah. In 2014, the speed limit on rural sections of I-84 in Idaho was raised to .
Utah From Idaho, I-84 enters Utah at a point approximately 7 miles (11.3 km) from
Snowville in
Box Elder County. It proceeds southeast through Rattle Snake Pass towards
Brigham City where I-84 joins
I-15 (just west of
Tremonton) for its next . Just north of Brigham City, at
Corinne, Utah, I-84 joins the route of the
First transcontinental railroad which the highway follows to its terminus. I-15/I-84 heads south to the cities of the Wasatch Front (Or the Ogden-Clearfield Utah Metropolitan part) passing through several smaller communities and then the west side of
Ogden before I-84 separates towards Cheyenne, Wyoming, while I-15 heads to Salt Lake City, I-84 follows the
Weber River east. As the freeway gradually ascends through
Weber Canyon it also passes through several small farming communities, including
Morgan, where the
Browning Arms Company headquarters can be seen from the freeway. Also visible in the canyon is
Devil's Slide, an unusual rock formation just off the freeway. Farther up the canyon is the
Thousand Mile Tree, planted by
Union Pacific Railroad workers to mark from the railroad's origin in
Omaha, Nebraska. The freeway ends at
Echo, a near ghost town that before served as a stopover for the railroad, at a junction with
Interstate 80, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and US 189, to Jackson, Wyoming. Also near the junction are Echo Reservoir and
Echo Dam. The Utah sections of I-84 that are not concurrent with
Interstate 15 are defined at Utah Code Annotated § 72-4-114(4). == History ==