ODOT Placing Barricades, Sept. 14

To ensure public safety and prioritize travel for emergency responders, ODOT crews will barricade portions of OR 22 North Santiam Highway and OR 226 Albany-Lyons Highway by 9 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 13. The barricades will be in place until further notice. OR 22 has been closed, with flaggers and law enforcement screening those requesting entry, since the night of Labor Day. Much of the area is under different levels of evacuation orders while firefighters battle wildfires in the area. Barricades will be in place at: OR 22 and the intersection of OR 226; OR 22 and Jennie Road; OR 22 at U.S. 20; OR 22 at Gates Hill Road; Closures will also be in effect at: OR 226 at Mehama Bridge; OR 226 at W. McCully Mountain Road. With wildfires still burning in much of the state, smoke and fog have greatly reduced visibility. Rain is forecast in the Willamette Valley this week and could make traveling the road even more dangerous. Trees and rocks are unstable or have fallen in the road. Unstable hillsides could bring more debris down or cause landslides.