Highway 18 back open – restricted two way traffic
OR 18 remains open to a single lane of travel through the Van Duzer Corridor in northwestern Lincoln County (MP 6.5-21). The highway will reopen to two lanes of travel at approximately 4:30 p.m., as a commercial logging crew completes work for the day.
During the wind event Wednesday that toppled more than a dozen large trees across the highway, as many as a hundred other trees away from the highway were downed. The commercial logging crew, hired by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, will take the next 7 to 10 business days to salvage the trees downed in this wind event as well as the trees downed during a similar wind event in November.
The logging crew will operate on an 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. schedule, Monday through Friday. During that time, the highway will be restricted to a single lane of travel with flaggers controlling traffic. Motorists should expect delays of 10-15 minutes. The highway will reopen to two lanes of travel at the end of each working day.