11:15 am Friday Oct. 14, 2016 – The Oregon Coast and Willamette Valley have been seeing high winds and heavy rain from a series of storms that started Thursday with a major storm expected Saturday. Here is an update on the condition of ODOT highways. What’s happened so far? All ODOT highways were open as of 11 a.m. Friday but crews are monitoring the roads carefully and will be ready as the Saturday storm makes landfall. Small slides caused brief lane closures on U.S. 101 and OR 6 in Tillamook County Thursday evening and early Friday but all lanes were open again by Friday morning. OR 6 east of the intersection with U.S. 101, the road under the railroad trestle was closed by high water at about 5 p.m. Thursday, typical at that location when heavy rain and high tides work in combination with each other. The intersection has since re-opened. ODOT is receiving numerous reports of standing water throughout Northwest Oregon but all ODOT roads, ramps, and intersections are open. What happens next? Maintenance crews will be on 12-hour shifts to respond to the storm. If needed, additional ODOT crews and equipment will be brought in from other parts of the state. ODOT will keep an especially close eye on trees in the Coastal Corridors, such as OR 18, OR 6 and U.S. 26. In recent years, ODOT has been removing trees along these highways that might have been in jeopardy of falling in high wind. Previous storms have left these roads covered in downed trees and closed for many hours. ODOT cancelled weekend night bridge inspections on I-5 in Portland to make sure the crews are available for storm recovery work. ODOT is adding crews to Saturday shifts to beef up the response to storm damage. Crews have been preparing their chain saws to be ready to respond quickly to downed trees. What to do? Watch the forecast. High winds like those expected Saturday create great danger on the roads, potentially bringing trees and debris onto the roads. The rain also saturates soil, creating greater danger of slides. Be especially wary when traveling through areas with steep slopes. The many leaves still on the trees will come down in high winds and clog storm drains. That will mean more flooded roads and standing water. Oregon State University fans returning from the football game Saturday in Corvallis need to use particular caution. The roads will not only be crowded but unusually wet and windy as well.
