U.S. Route 97 in Oregon
highway in Oregon

U.S. Route 97 (US 97) in the U.S. state of Oregon is a major north–south United States highway which runs from the California border, south of Klamath Falls, to the Washington border on the Columbia River, between Biggs Junction, Oregon and Maryhill, Washington. Other than the northernmost stretch (which is known as the Sherman Highway), US 97 (along with US 197) is known as The Dalles-California Highway. In May 2009, Oregon Senate passed a bill to rename US 97 as "World War II Veterans Historic Highway".
With the exception of Interstate 5 (I-5), US 97 is the most important north–south highway corridor in the state. It serves two major population centers (Klamath Falls and Bend), and is the main corridor east of the Cascade Mountains. While much of the highway remains in two-lane undivided configuration, significant sections have been upgraded to expressway or freeway status.
Route description
The run of US 97 in Oregon (running from south to north) starts at the border between Oregon and California, south of the city of Klamath Falls. The highway starts out as a two-lane road, running through the arid Klamath River basin. The road passes through Worden and Midland before arriving at Klamath Falls. Approaching the city of Klamath Falls, 97 becomes a freeway just south of the junction with OR 140 and OR 66.
The public source identifies “U.S. Route 97 in Oregon” as highway in Oregon. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Route, Oregon and highway.
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This entry incorporates text from “U.S. Route 97 in Oregon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.