Oregon Route 173
{{short description|State highway in Clackamas County, Oregon, US}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox road
|state=OR
|type=OR
|route=173
| map={{maplink-road|from=Oregon Route 173.map}}
| map_custom = yes
| map_notes = Route 173 highlighted in red
|length_mi=5.37
|direction_a=South
|terminus_a={{Jct|state=OR|US|26}} near Government Camp
|direction_b=North
|terminus_b=Timberline Lodge
|county=Clackamas
|established=2002
|previous_type=OR
|previous_route=164
|next_type=OR
|next_route=180
}}
Oregon Route 173 is an Oregon state highway running from Timberline Lodge in Clackamas County to U.S. Route 26 near Government Camp. OR 173 is known as the Timberline Highway No. 173 (see Oregon highways and routes).{{cite web |date=May 2005 |title=Description of US and OR Routes |page=27 |url=http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/TRAFFIC/TEOS_Publications/PDF/Descriptions_of_US_and_Oregon_Routes.pdf |publisher=Oregon Department of Transportation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051102084300/http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/TRAFFIC/TEOS_Publications/PDF/Descriptions_of_US_and_Oregon_Routes.pdf |archive-date=November 2, 2005 |accessdate=August 24, 2023}} It is {{convert|5.37|mi|km}} long and runs in a northeast to southwest "L" pattern, entirely within Clackamas County.{{cite web |date=March 2015 |title=Straightline Chart: Timberline Highway No. 173 |url=https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Data/Documents/SLC_Hwy173.pdf |publisher=Oregon Department of Transportation |accessdate=August 24, 2023}}
OR 173 was established in 2002 as part of Oregon's project to assign route numbers to highways that previously were not assigned, and, as of September 2010, was unsigned.
Route description
OR 173 begins at an intersection with US 26 east of Government Camp. It travels east and north as it ascends the slopes of Mount Hood, passing through several turns. The highway splits into a pair of one-way roads around the parking lot of the Timberline Lodge ski area and ends at the namesake lodge.{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Kimberly A.C. |date=April 1, 2014 |title=Is Timberline Lodge set to dismantle modern improvements? |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2014/04/is_timberline_lodge_set_to_dis.html |work=The Oregonian |accessdate=August 24, 2023}}{{google maps |title=Oregon Route 173 |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/26/45.3306401,-121.7090722/@45.316092,-121.7448753,6181m/am=t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!4m5!1m3!2m2!1d-121.7411376!2d45.3014151!1m0?entry=ttu |accessdate=August 24, 2023}}
History
The Timberline Highway was opened on November 18, 1949, to serve the lodge and ski area alongside the Mt. Hood Aerial Skiway, an aerial bus system.{{cite web |last=Benjamin |first=Linsey |date=January 7, 2020 |title="Most Extraordinary of Busses": Documenting the Rise and Fall of the Mt. Hood Aerial Skiway with OHS Collections |url=https://www.ohs.org/blog/most-extraordinary-of-busses.cfm |publisher=Oregon Historical Society |accessdate=August 24, 2023}}{{cite news |date=November 27, 1949 |title=Newest Way to Climb Mount Hood: Aerial Bus Will Whisk Passengers To Timberline |page=C12 |work=The Oregon Journal}} It replaced an earlier road to the lodge from the west that was narrower and steeper.{{cite news |date=August 19, 1948 |title=Workers Race Winter on Timberline Highway |page=13 |work=The Oregonian}} The new route was paved a year after it opened and was added to the state highway system by the Oregon Highway Commission on September 28, 1950.{{cite news |date=September 20, 1950 |title=Now You Can Whiz Right Up |page=1 |work=The Oregon Journal}}{{cite web |author=ODOT Engineering Automation Section |date=March 2020 |title=History of State Highways in Oregon |page=173{{hyphen}}2 |url=https://www.oregon.gov/odot/ETA/Documents_Geometronics/ROW-Eng_State-Highway-History.pdf |publisher=Oregon Department of Transportation |accessdate=August 24, 2023}} OR 173 was assigned to the Timberline Highway in 2002.
Major intersections
{{Jcttop|state=OR|county=Clackamas}}
{{Jctint
|location=none
|mile=0.00
|road={{Jct|state=OR|US|26|city1=Hood River|city2=Madras|city3=Government Camp|city4=Portland}}
}}
{{ORint
|location=none
|mile=5.37
|road=Timberline Lodge
}}
{{Jctbtm}}
References
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