Oregon Highway 18 to Re-Open Without Restrictions Thursday Night

As of Thursday morning, ODOT had approximately two dozen more log truck loads of timber to move from the area, about four miles west of Grand Ronde.

Salem-News.com

(GRAND RONDE) - The Oregon Department of Transportation plans to reopen both lanes of Highway 18 without restriction after nightfall Thursday night.

ODOT has been allowing alternating two-way traffic controlled by flaggers and a pilot car since Tuesday night, while crews worked to remove more than 100 trees knocked down by strong winds early Monday.

In all, ODOT estimates a total of 80 log truck loads of fallen timber will be transferred from the highway to a location in Willamina.

Timber removal crews using two loaders and three log trucks have been hampered by the narrow roadway, which restricts and slows the movement of the log-loading equipment.

ODOT estimates tree removal will be complete sometime between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM Thursday.

Until then, flaggers and a pilot car will control traffic between milepost 15 and milepost 17.

Motorists should expect delays of 20 minutes or less until the highway is fully reopened.