|
June 13, 2017
West End Curve 2-hour closures
West End Curve
As you may have heard, Friday afternoon’s blast on the site
did not go as planned. More materials was moved than expected and part of the
highway was buried with car-sized rocks. One lane of the road reopened two
hours later. As one lane of the road was to remain closed for another week,
this was not a problem, other than the additional need to remove the rest of
the material.
What is an issue is the size and amount of the remaining
material on the hillside, and the proximity to the highway. Removing it all as it sits in close proximity to the roadway is a public safety concern.
To keep travelers and our crews safe, remove the remaining materials, and
move forward with construction, we need to change the construction schedule
this week. The plan is to have up to
three nights of multiple two hour closures. The multiple closures will
allow crews to safely move the pile of material and establish a safe slope
before traffic is released. By holding traffic for two hour segments, rather
than for longer times, we hope that the impact on travelers will be
manageable.
U.S. 20 full closure times at the
west end curve the nights of Wednesday, June 14 and Thursday, June 15 will be:
- 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. (open 9:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.)
- 10 p.m. – 12 a.m. (midnight) (open midnight - 12:30 a.m.)
- 12:30 a.m. – 2:30 a.m. (open 2:30 a.m. - 3 a.m.)
- 3 a.m. – 5 a.m. (one lane open from 5 a.m. on through the day)
If additional cleanup time is
needed, we will use Monday night, June 19 on the same schedule. The road will
be open between full closure times to clear traffic.
Message
boards are placed at:
- in Philomath at U.S. 20/OR 34
- in Newport on U.S. 20
- and on boards located near each end of the
project (one east, one west)
Additional blasting will be needed to complete construction, but a schedule has not yet been finalized.
Background: The west end curve is the last half mile of roadway to be built for
the U.S. 20 Pioneer Mountain – Eddyville Project and is scheduled to be
completed in September. The curve in the existing roadway is being straightened
by moving the roadway away from the river.
The main portion of the project, a 5.5 mile new alignment, opened on October 11,
2016. This new roadway replaces a ten mile segment of the original
1917-built U.S. 20 that has narrow lanes and sharp curves. The original roadway
is now called Crystal Creek Loop and can be accessed at Eddyville and near the
west end curve.
Travelers should expect occasional delays of 20 minutes or less in
the construction area. Most work will be occurring off of the existing
roadway. There will be some blasting on site, so travelers should be aware that
longer closures could occur.
Paving projects on U.S. 20 continue as previously scheduled.
 For updates
Construction information and related travel impacts will be
available on TripCheck.com, Twitter, and
the project webpages. The Oregon Department of Transportation will have a new
website in late June, and so links to project pages will be changing at that
time.
|
| 
