Oregon Route 99E Business

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Oregon Route 99E Business is a 9.8-mile (approximately) business route through Salem, Oregon. It serves the old path of OR 99E as the main route was moved to I-5 around the city. The business route is maintained by the Oregon Department of Transportation and the City of Salem (the Chemawa Road portion).

Starting at the north end, OR 99E Business begins at OR 99E north of Salem and heads west for about a mile along Chemawa Road to an interchange with I-5 and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway (the road known as Salem Highway No. 72). It then runs southwest along the parkway for about three miles, before turning south onto the Commercial Street/Liberty Street couplet for another two miles.

In downtown Salem, the route follows Front Street and shares the road with OR 22. OR 22 and OR 99E then leave downtown on Pringle Parkway, skirt Willamette University, and connect to Mission Street. The two highways head southeast for about 2.4 miles to an interchange with I-5 and OR 99E, where OR 99E Business ends and OR 22 continues east on the North Santiam Highway.

History notes: the parkway portion was originally planned as a freeway (Salem Freeway No. 65) that would have been Interstate 305, but local opposition led to cancellation in 1976 and withdrawal from the Interstate System in 1977. The road was built as an undivided expressway and renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in 2022.

The route’s alignment through Salem has changed several times. In May 1986, OR 99E was rerouted onto I-5 around Salem; the old south-of-downtown route and the Salem Parkway/Chemawa Road segment became OR 99E Business. In March 1992, OR 99E Business was moved onto OR 22 southeast from downtown. Part of the corridor was once served by OR 219 along Broadway and River Road, but that was later shortened.

ODOT and the City of Salem are studying a potential new Willamette River bridge north of the current river crossings to connect OR 99E Business with OR 22 and OR 221 on the west side. The exact location and path are still under study, but any bridge would be aimed at improving access similar to the I-305 concept. All of OR 99E Business lies within Salem, Marion County.