Oregon

Interstates and U.S. Routes

See Interstate Highways Relations and United States Numbered Highway Relations.

Access

By law, all state-owned roads must be open to bicycles including freeways. Routes that are closed to bicycles for safety reasons must have a posted detour. ODOT has really upped the ante in the case of some high-traffic routes like I-84 and I-205, giving bicycles their own limited-access right of way, essentially creating bicycle expressways parallel to those freeways. Freeways closed to bicycles have signs warning cyclists half a mile in advance and at the exit itself that they must leave the freeway at the exit, followed by the standard NMV Prohibited sign following the exit. Ramp enterances will have NMV signs if that freeway segment doesn't allow bicycles (sometimes with a sign posting the direction bicycles should take). Following the first on-ramp after bicycles are allowed on the freeway again, drivers are reminded to watch out for cyclists with the usual green Bike Route sign.

Tagging

Please use relations when tagging cycleways, as they frequently go from dedicated path to surface streets in urban areas. See United_States/Bicycle_Networks for how Oregon's bicycle route tagging conventions fit into the USA's national, regional and local hierarchies.

• International (network=icn + ref=*): None known at this time.
• National (network=ncn + ref=*): Explicitly numbered routes in the United States Bicycle Route System in the future (once approved by AASHTO, it is tagged the number by itself, e.g. network=ncn + ref=95). See WikiProject_U.S._Bicycle_Route_System for details.
• Regional or statewide (network=rcn + ref=*): US and Interstate highway bypass routes (e.g. network=rcn + ref=205 for the I-205 bicycle bypass), Oregon Highways where bicycles are expressly signed as a route, Oregon Highway designated bypass routes (e.g. network=rcn + ref=99E for the 99E BUSINESS Greenway Frontage to Salem Parkway), designated Oregon Bikeways (the letters on the green oval signs, e.g. network=rcn + ref=WVG for the Willamette Valley Greenway) and Oregon State Parks cycleways (not lettered).
• Local (network=lcn + ref=*): Metro, county, and city cycleways. (e.g. network=lcn + ref=40 for Metro's 40 Mile Loop). Many cities do not currently number cycleways, preferring to simply designate them as "Bike Routes" either with explicit on-the-road signage, or on a government-published map. In this case, OSM ways so signed as local bike routes should be tagged lcn=yes, either directly or as members of a network=lcn relation.