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U.S. 30 will remain open to one lane through the holidays between Astoria and Clatskanie while landslide repairs continue. Watch for flaggers and automated traffic signals.
U.S. 30 will remain open to one flagged lane through busy holiday travel
One lane of U.S. 30 will remain open with flaggers through Christmas (and New Year’s Day) even when landslide repair work between Astoria and Clatskanie pauses for the holiday(s).
Please plan for extra travel time between the Portland area and north coast no matter what route you take as holiday travel season gets busy. On U.S. 30, please watch for flaggers and expect delays 24 hours a day.
We have been working on repairs daily, including weekends, to reopen the highway after this major landslide the night of Nov. 29 at mile point 72.
“This was a large landslide compared to other landslides that we get in the coast range,” ODOT District 1 Maintenance Manager Mark Buffington said. “The rock was definitely larger than what we are used to. We usually just get mud and trees.”
We were able to open one lane with flaggers at nights only Dec. 4-11 to allow rock scaling during the daytime. We needed to remove large sections of rock on the verge of falling before it was safe for traffic or crews at the highway level.
Since Dec. 11, we have been able to keep the flagged lane open 24/7 while scaling of smaller sections of loose rock continues above the highway.
“We have been using two scaling crews instead of just one,” Buffington said. “The loose rock is much higher than the slides that we are used to having.”
There is no estimated date when we can reopen additional lanes due to the amount of material that needs to be removed – from both the bluff and the highway level.
As a reminder, please do not use your GPS to detour on less developed roads. This can be dangerous for you, especially in winter weather conditions.
Before you travel, visit TripCheck.com
The best way to get timely updates on U.S. 30 – and all Oregon highways – is on Tripcheck.com. We post road and weather conditions, highway closures, crash locations, traffic speeds and more as quickly as possible there. You can also see traffic camera views.
Slow down in wintry weather and leave plenty of space between you and other vehicles. Remember, it takes longer to stop in wet and/or freezing conditions. Also bring traction devices if you cross snow zones and know how to use them.
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