What stretch of 26 are they talking about? Many miles from Hillsboro and points west are still rural or nearly so and quite safely rideable. Closer in to town the area around and along 26 has urbanized heavily over the last two decades and is very, very different than in 1978 when I first moved to the area.
It is very much a changed road. As for 217, that has always been a controlled access freeway and has been no more suited to cycling than Michael Jackson is to teach kindergarten!