Current and historic west endpoints of US highway 730

Photos, research, and/or map scans: Chris Elbert; Andy Field; Alex Nitzman; Stephen Taylor; Mike Wiley.

Although US 730 was on the original 1926 list of US routes, it may not have been a drivable road until about a few years later. Note that on the 1926 map scan below, no road is shown running along the south bank of the Columbia:

Chris Elbert informs me that his 1933 map shows US 730 as a gravel road, and it was paved by the time of his 1936 map. So - whenever it was that US 730 became a drivable route - its western terminus was at Umatilla OR. That's because US 30 used to be routed through town, rather than bypassing it to the south (as it does today). Check out this 1941 map scan:

(Incidentally, notice how US 395 also shows up on this map. There was no bridge at Umatilla, so 395 was routed along what is now OR hwy. 37 north and west of Pendleton, and then via US 730 and US 410 [today's US 12] to Tri-Cities WA... more on that below.) But back to the subject of this page: today US 30 runs along a straight shot between Stanfield and Boardman (better known today as I-84). However, as you can see, US 30's original routing had it going through Hermiston to Umatilla. So US 730 was necessary only as far west as Umatilla. The photo below is looking north on Umatilla River Road, or old US 30:

Elbert, Sep. 2006

That used to be the perspective of a driver on westbound US 30, who would've continued to the left on 6th Avenue via the curved pavement visible at far left. To the right was eastbound at the beginning of US 730. Now this junction has been reconfigured to a more standard T-intersection; across the road from the car at far right is the signage shown below:

Elbert, Sep. 2006

Today this is all US 730, but originally that route only ran to the right from this point. Straight ahead down the hill (not visible in that photo) lies the Columbia River (or more accurately, Lake Umatilla: one of many impoundments that transformed the once-raging river into a placid waterway, now navigable far inland). And way off in the distance, you can see I-82/US 395 heading towards Washington's Tri-Cities. The photo below is looking east on 6th:

Elbert, Sep. 2006

Today that's eastbound US 730 - you can see the I-82 interchange in the distance, and at the top of the hill on the horizon is where southbound US 395 splits off from US 730. Originally eastbound US 30 came to this point and turned right on River Road, while US 730 began straight ahead.

US 30 was a busy road from the beginning, so it didn't take long to build the modern cutoff. It was completed in 1942; you can see it on this 1953 map scan:

The US 730 designation had to be extended west from Umatilla along old US 30. But old US 30 did not follow the same road as modern US 730 - it ran roughly parallel to it, a couple miles to the west, and joined the new US 30 at Boardman (that is, in the town of Boardman itself). Below we're looking east on Columbia Boulevard - this used to be US 30, which originally continued to the left. But after the cutoff was built, US 30 traffic was routed along it to the right (via today's I-84 corridor). You can see the westbound offramp at far right - US 30 went more or less straight from the camera through there, and US 730 began straight ahead, quickly curving to the left along original US 30:

Elbert, Sep. 2006

Below we're looking the opposite direction:

Elbert, Dec. 2004

Originally this would've been westbound US 30. But after 1942, US 30 came in from the left, and US 730 ended here.

US 730 was rerouted between Boardman and Irrigon in 1966, because the John Day Dam was under construction (when it was completed in 1971, Lake Umatilla was formed, and it inundated a segment of old US 30/730). Ever since then, the west end of US 730 has been at Boardman Jct (or I-84's interchange 168). But note: some maps (including official Oregon state DoT maps as recent as 1998) still show US 730 routed along the old road. Anyway, here's approach signage from eastbound I-84:

Elbert, Dec. 2004

It's kind of an unusual interchange - hence the diagram. Ahead is more conventional signage:

Elbert, Dec. 2004

After exiting there, the first reassurance marker is posted at the onramp to westbound I-84:

Elbert, Feb. 2008

Below we're heading the opposite direction, at the end of US 730:

Taylor, 2000 (same as of Feb. 2008)

The overpass is I-84. The westbound on-ramp is goes right; eastbound goes under, curves around to the right, and then back left. The upcoming sign is shown close-up below:

Elbert, Feb. 2008

There's nothing in Boardman Jct. except... well, a junction. The actual town of Boardman is a few miles west. Pendleton is east on US 30/I-84. Heppner is south via Bombing Range Road, the north end of which connects to this interchange, on the south side of the overpass. The green sign that's at an angle in the photo above is shown head-on below.

Field/Nitzman, Aug. 2006 (same as of Feb. 2008)

That's at the bottom of the off-ramp from westbound I-84, at the west beginning of US 730. Irrigon is north on US 730, about halfway to Umatilla. Lexington is another town to the south, off Bombing Range Rd. This last shot is from northbound Bombing Range, approaching interchange 168 and the beginning of US 730:

Elbert, Feb. 2008

Photos from the east end of this short route can be viewed on my main US 730 page.

Above, in my comments regarding the 1941 map, I pointed out how US 395 followed a different route than it does today. That was actually the case all the way up until 1987 (which is when 395 was rerouted onto I-82 north of Umatilla). In other words, the entirety of US 730 in Washington (all six miles of it) used to share pavement with 395. Chris Elbert drove those roads often during the 1980s, and says WADoT never signed US 730 at all in their state until 1987. US 395 was always well-signed, but US 730 was never co-signed with it in WA. Rather, after 395 had been rerouted, WADoT replaced their 395 signs with 730 signs.