Interstate 205 (Oregon–Washington)

Interstate 205 (I-205) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Portland metropolitan area of Oregon and Washington, United States. The north–south freeway serves as a bypass route of I-5 along the east side of Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. It intersects several major highways and serves Portland International Airport.

The freeway is 37 miles (60 km) long and connects to I-5 at both of its termini; to the south in Tualatin, Oregon, and to the north in Salmon Creek, Washington. I-205 is named the Veterans Memorial Highway and East Portland Freeway No. 64 in Oregon (see Oregon highways and routes). From Oregon City to Vancouver, the corridor is paralleled by a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian trail, as well as portions of the MAX Light Rail system between Clackamas and northeastern Portland.

A freeway to serve as an eastern bypass of Portland and Vancouver was conceived in a 1943 plan for the area, and in the 1950s was included in the federal government's preliminary plans for the Interstate Highway System. In 1958, I-205 was assigned as the designation for the eastern bypass; the Oregon state government initially planned it to travel east through Lake Oswego and close to inner neighborhoods of Portland but protests from several communities led to the route of I-205 being moved further east and south into other areas of Clackamas County.

Construction began in 1967 with work on the Abernethy Bridge over the Willamette River, which opened in 1970. By 1972, I-205 was extended west to Tualatin and north to Gladstone but the Portland section was delayed by opposition from local governments. A six-lane design was chosen as a compromise, which allowed for the freeway to reach Portland in 1977. The Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge, spanning the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver, opened on December 15, 1982. The bridge connected to the Washington section of I-205, which had been completed in two stages between 1975 and 1976. The remaining 6.6 miles (10.6 km) in Portland opened on March 8, 1983, and two years later, additional ramps were constructed to connect with I-84.