Oregon Highway 126

Oregon Highway 126 is a state highway which connects central and western Oregon and serves the southern Willamette Valley. It can be reguarded as a spur route to U.S. Highway 26.

Description

Oregon 126 begins in Prineville, with its intersection with US 26. It travels westward, across the high desert into the Cascades, passing the town of Sisters. It shares a segment with U.S. Highway 20, but then turns southward through the McKenzie River Valley, offering views of farms and forest, as well as hydroelectric dams which provide power to Lane County residents. Then, Oregon 126 enters the Eugene-Springfield metropolitian area. Westward, it encounters the working-class town of Springfield first, and at a T-intersection, heads in a northwestward loop, becoming the Eugene-Springfield Highway, a limited-access freeway. After the interchange with Interstate 5, Oregon 126 is also marked Interstate 105, a spur of I-5. This is also where Oregon 126 enters Eugene. After two exits (the second of which for the Delta Highway), the freeway comes to a halt, ending at an interchange with Oregon Highway 99. Oregon 126 turns west along Oregon 99 northbound, but quickly separates, and exits Eugene at its western edge, with an intersection with the Beltline. Then Oregon 126 continues through farmland and crosses the Coast Range. After some winding forest views and a tunnel, the two-lane highway starts following the Siuslaw River until it reaches its western terminus, in the costal community of Florence.