Highway 101 Closure Alert

[1SG]

I wanted to post this concerning Highway 101, 12 miles North of Brookings, Oregon.

Highway 101 Closure

There isn't a good local bypass in that area according to ODOT, at least not for large RVs.

Paul

[paulj]

A one lane gravel road is now open across the slide.

[rhagfo]

Twitter

ODOT Photostream

[paulj]

The ODOT Flickr photostream has pictures of the gravel fill.

[rhagfo]

This is the latest update on the Hwy 101 closure 12 miles north of Brookings, OR.

Curry Coastal Pilot

[rhagfo]

Fresh up date, much of the road is still moving. State is stock piling grave to try to get a temporary one way road around the slide while they rebuild.

Sunday update

[paulj]

Federal emergency repair dollars generally can only be used for in-place repairs. Rerouting requires much more planning (including environmental impact studies) and other sources of money.

[rhagfo]

D.E.Bishop wrote:
The most resent info is that they are hoping to open the Hwy in 1 or 2 days, one way only. ODOT has portable signals and sensors to stop traffic going one way and then after a period of time usually about a minute switch and let the other way go.

This section of Hwy 101 and the section south of Beverly Beach has been a problems as long as we can remember at least since '60. I don't understand why ODOT doesn't simply reroute HWY 101 around those two spots. They take 101 inland at Humbug Mountain and then back out further South. I guess it is like the last big slide on Hwy 1 S/O Big Sur.

Most likely the reason is $$$$,the section South of Beverly Beach had been somewhat stable for about the last year or so, but it is on the move again. We are currently hosting in the area and there are dicent sized cracks appearing across the width of the road.

[paulj]

Google Maps now shows the routing via the Carpenterville detour.

The best big-vehicle detour is inland at Bandon on OR42, and back to the coast via US199 to Crescent City. It adds 100 miles and 2 hrs, but if you are taking your time anyways, that shouldn't matter. It's equally scenic. This part of the coast is less populated than further north. Gold Beach and Brookings are the only significant towns. There are parks and touristy things along the inland route.

[RAS43]

I would look on planning for a different route or destination. That whole slide area is still moving and all the rain that is falling will make it worse. It is 3 months 'till June and I doubt that a temporary fix can be implemented that fast. Have seen similar slides like this in Colorado.

[tragusa3]

Oh boy... We've never been to the area, but have plans to this June! In a 35' motorhome, 255 doesn't sound appealing. And, several hundred miles of detour isn't any better.

For those that know the area, should I plan a different trip this year? Would really hate to.

Edit: After reading the links, it seems promising that there will quickly be a gravel by-pass? I'll keep a close eye. Thanks.

[rhagfo]

brokenoaks wrote:
we traveled from Newport to Brookings yesterday taking the detour around the slide area. other than going inland a couple hundred miles to I5 the only detour is Oregon hwy 255. we pull a 33 foot 5th wheel. 255 is a rough rout to take. steep, very tight corners, and a lot of road damage. it is doable, just take your time. 101 closure looks like it could be a long one. the slide is still moving and won't even start work until it stabilizes.

Hopefully with the major reconstruction that will be needed on 101, ODOT will do some pavement patching on Oregon 255, the coastal cities depend greatly on Summer tourist, the state also benefits from these visits.

[rhagfo]

Well just saw this video, looks like it might be slow going in this area for quite a while. This is on Sky Lakes Media's Facebook page hope you can enjoy it.

Link

[brokenoaks]

we traveled from Newport to Brookings yesterday taking the detour around the slide area. other than going inland a couple hundred miles to I5 the only detour is Oregon hwy 255. we pull a 33 foot 5th wheel. 255 is a rough rout to take. steep, very tight corners, and a lot of road damage. it is doable, just take your time. 101 closure looks like it could be a long one. the slide is still moving and won't even start work until it stabilizes.

[paulj]

There's a natural passage around the backside of Humbug Mtn (the Brush Creek valley), so going inland there is a no-brainer.

I don't see any obvious inland route in Curry Cty - it looks uniformly rugged, with a scattering of county roads and forest service roads. No other state highways.

Landslide Blog article on this slide.