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| 10/31/2005 |
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For more information contact:
Heidi Hiaasen, Project Communications, 541-388-6178
Julianne Repman, Public Information, 541-388-6224
OR 242 closes to vehicles on Wednesday
Oregon Highway 242, the McKenzie Pass Highway, will close to motor vehicles at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2. The closure comes with a forecasted snow storm at the elevation. The summit is at 5,325 feet. The highway is too narrow and windy for ODOT crews to maintain through the winter. Drivers are cautioned to expect unmaintained roads and winter conditions if traveling the area prior to the closure.
Last season, the highway was closed on Oct. 21, 2004 and reopened on May 26, 2005. The 218-day closure was longer than most years. The longest closure period was during the winter of 1998-1999, when the highway was closed for 256 days. The shortest closure period was during the winter of 1933-1934 for 96 days.
The highway has closed as early as October 18 (in 1996) and as late as January 10 (1939). The earliest open date was March 21 (in 1934) and the latest July 29 (in 1999).
As the first route over the McKenzie Pass, Craig's McKenzie Salt Springs/Deschutes Wagon Road, was completed in 1872. The toll road connected the Willamette Valley with Camp Polk, near what is now Sisters. The charge was $2 for a wagon drawn by two horses, $2.50 for a wagon with four horses, $1 for a man on a horse and 10 cents each for loose cattle and horses.
Modern construction techniques allowed crews to rebuild the road in the 1920s. At that time, the McKenzie Pass Highway was created and the former wagon route was abandoned, except in places where the new highway followed the same path.
In 1936 the Clear Lake-Belknap Springs section of OR 126 was completed, giving motorists a new, straighter, year-round alternative for travel between the Willamette Valley and Central Oregon.
The McKenzie Pass Highway became a seasonal scenic highway in the 1960s with the completion of the Clear Lake-Belknap Springs section of Ore. 126. Even during its tenure as the main route between the southern Willamette Valley and Central Oregon, the narrow, twisting roadway and high elevation (5,325 feet) made the highway too difficult to maintain and keep clear during the winter months.
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