The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) will stage rolling slowdowns for eastbound and westbound Interstate 84 to accommodate the removal of hazard trees.
The slowdowns will take place near milepost 242, 20 miles west of La Grande, plus two or three nearby locations. Up to three separate slowdowns are scheduled to take place sometime on Wednesday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. that will impact traffic for about 15 minutes each occurrence.
Crews will begin at milepost 256 near Perry for westbound traffic and milepost 224 near Poverty Flats for eastbound traffic, with pilot cars slowing motorists to about 35 mph. Once traffic has passed the work site the pilot cars will exit the freeway and you can return to posted speeds. Please plan extra travel time in this area at this time.
Freeway on ramps in the slow down zones will also be temporary closed during the operations until the pilot cars and traffic have passed by. Travelers will be able to exit the freeway at impacted interchanges, but may experience delays in getting on the freeway towards the direction of the work zones.
The rolling slowdown will create a window of time when no vehicles will be at the work sites for approximately 10 minutes. This will allow crews to safely fell the hazard trees without traffic in the area.
“We don’t anticipated any issues and the trees should fall away from the roadway, but as a precaution we don’t what traffic in the area when they are coming down,” said ODOT Meacham Maintenance Manager Randy Randolph. “We greatly appreciate your patience and will keep traffic impacts to a minimum. If weather conditions are not favorable on Dec. 11, we will postpone the operation till the following Wednesday.”
