first section of the Banfield Expressway from Northeast 42nd Street to Troutdale opened on October 1, 1955, as Oregon's first freeway. The full length, stretching from the Burnside Bridge to Troutdale, opened on January 24, 1958, with the completion of the section west of Northeast 42nd Avenue. The section through Sullivan's Gulch had been used by the Union Pacific Railroad beginning in 1882 and had a right of way for use by the freeway. I-80N was planned to be moved from the Banfield, which did not meet full Interstate standards, to the Mount Hood Freeway under planning in the 1960s. The freeway would have connected to I-5 near the Marquam Bridge and run through southeastern Portland to I-205, requiring a concurrency to reach the Banfield near Parkrose. The proposal was later cancelled in 1974. A pair of time-limited high-occupancy vehicle lanes were installed in December 1975 at an approximate cost of $500,000. They were available for buses and passenger vehicles with three or more occupants. The westbound lane was long and open 6:30 to 9:30 a.m.; the eastbound lane was and open from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. In 1977, the lane had a passenger volume of 1,075 people in the peak hour of traffic with an average of 2.81 people per rideshare vehicle, compared to 2,272 passengers per hour and 1.18 passengers per car for the regular lanes. The lane was calculated to have 88 percent excess capacity in the peak hour of traffic, remaining relatively open. A report noted a 12 percent violation rate of the HOV lane and that enforcement of the lane was difficult because there was no shoulder for police to pull over a driver. The HOV lane was removed in 1982 for the start of freeway widening work and TriMet MAX construction. The highway was widened to eight lanes during the 1980s, and the MAX Light Rail's Blue Line was added along the north side at the same time in 1986. Construction of the widened freeway and light rail line required the demolition and replacement of twelve overpasses and the closure of several ramps. The Portland Bureau of Transportation built a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over a section of the Banfield Expressway in the early 2020s. The bridge, named the Earl Blumenauer Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge, connects two ends of Northeast 7th Avenue (near Grand Avenue) between East Portland and the Lloyd District. It opened