Late night Interstate 5 motorists should expect long delays between Cottage Grove and Sutherlin on Tuesday, June 24, as an oversized load carrying a massive dam gate is transported through the area. A similar gate was driven down I-5 last week. Between 10:45 p.m. and midnight, northbound traffic may be delayed up to 45 minutes while southbound traffic will be delayed approximately 30 minutes. Rolling slowdowns will be used in both directions. Motorists entering the freeway between Sutherlin (Exit 136) and Cottage Grove (Exit 174) should watch for flaggers at each interchange on-ramp. When loaded onto a 142-foot long truck and trailer, the 23-foot-wide gate reaches into two travel lanes and can only be driven down I-5 at night, when there is less traffic on the road. The slowdowns are necessary because the dam gate will be passing through a construction zone south of Cottage Grove where the travel lanes are restricted to 19 feet in width. Northbound traffic will be held while the gate is driven south at speeds of 20-30 mph through the seven-mile work zone. This will be the fifth of 10 gates that pass through the state between May and the end of summer. ODOT is coordinating with Oregon-based carrier Gresham Transfer to safely transport the gates to the Folsom dam near Sacramento. The gates were manufactured by Oregon Iron Works at their facility in Vancouver, Wash.
