Hundreds of Trees Cleared from Oregon Highway 126

The highway reopens after many hours of clearing work.

Salem-News.com

(SPRINGFIELD, Ore.) - Oregon Department of Transportation maintenance crews will reopen Highway 126W at 5:00 PM today after clearing slide debris and hundreds of fallen trees from the roadway.

ODOT closed the highway between Eugene and Florence at 1:00 AM on Sunday following a landslide at milepoint 25, about 10.5 miles east of Mapleton.

In addition to the landslide, hundreds of trees fell onto the highway. Crews say dozens of other trees along the shoulder and on top of a large rock shelf on the south side of the highway between milepost 24 and milepost 25 were leaning precariously toward the road.

Those hazard trees had to be removed before ODOT determined the highway was safe for motorists.

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ODOT reopened Highway 36 late Sunday after crews removed more than a hundred trees from the road between Deadwood and Mapleton. Heavy snowfall and saturated soil combined to bring down trees and power lines on both Highway 126 and Highway 36.

ODOT crews from Florence, Veneta and Eugene worked 12- to 15-hour days from Saturday morning through Monday evening clearing the trees.