| West side Old McKenzie Highway to stay closed through mid-August |
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| ODOT News |
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East side schedule depends on weather
May 8, 2009
For more information: (541) 726-2442, ext. 261 or Peter Murphy, (503) 388-6224
EUGENE - ODOT, the U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Highway Administration are entering the final year of a three-year, $3.8 million project to rehabilitate McKenzie Pass Highway (OR 242). The project is intended to maintain and preserve the historic, winding roadway along its scenic route. The west side of the highway will be closed to all traffic until sometime in August, while the east side may be open only between the time snow plows finish their work (mid to late May) until July 6, when construction begins over the pass.
Closure of OR 242 puts limits on hikers, bicyclists and other visitors to the area, but the extensive roadwork will help improve safety for years to come on the narrow byway. Beginning at the Camp White Branch snow gate, this final summer’s project includes grinding out and repaving a 15.5 mile section of the highway, installing new signs and repairing the shoulder.
ODOT has had snow blowers clearing the roadway steadily for the past several weeks. According to District Manager Mike Spaeth, crews will finish up next week.
“Construction will begin as soon as we can get the highway cleared,” he said. “And the sooner the contractor can get up there and begin work, the sooner they’ll be done so people can enjoy the area later this summer.” The eastside portion of the highway, from Sisters to Dee Wright, should be open by the middle of May, if not sooner.
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Project Facts
- The project began in 2007 with the stabilization of the slope at Dead Horse Grade (mile point 69).
- In 2008, crews replaced two bridges at mile points 66.7 and at 68.4.
- Funding comes from the “Forest Highways” section of the Public Lands Highway Program, financed through the Federal Highway Trust Fund. A forest highway is a selected public road wholly or partly within or adjacent to, and serving, forest lands. The road is necessary for the protection, administration, and utilization of the forest land and the use of its resources. In Oregon, the Forest Highway Program is administered by the FHWA, U.S. Forest Service, and ODOT.
OR 242 Background
The McKenzie Highway is also known as Oregon Route 242 (OR 242) and Forest Highway (FH) 22. The highway travels through Lane, Linn, and Deschutes counties, beginning at the junction with OR 126 near the town of McKenzie Bridge and ending at the junction with US Highway 20 and OR 126 at the city of Sisters.
The McKenzie Highway is part of the McKenzie Pass - Santiam Pass National Scenic Byway. Through part of the project area, OR 242 travels between two federal wilderness areas, and there are many historic, recreational, and scenic features and sites along the route. The boundaries of the Mt. Washington Wilderness and Three Sisters Wilderness are 66 feet from the highway centerline.
The highway route was originally built with private funds in the 1870s as a wagon toll road. The section between the towns of Blue River in Lane County and Sisters in Deschutes County (which included the project area) became a Forest Road in 1919 (Oregon State Highway Commission, 1920). The road was relocated and widened in 1920, graded and surfaced between 1920 and 1924, and became a state highway in 1925.
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