Construction on Hwy 20 between Newport and Corvallis is underway. ODOT will be providing updates with information about scheduled closures and delays near Eddyville through their website. The road will be open with minimal delays between June 1 and July 15. Expect some delays of up to 20 minutes for equipment moving across the roadway, but the contractor is going to attempt to use very few of the previously anticipated two-hour closures.
View a powerpoint presentation on the project.
Whenever a two-hour closure is planned, the exact time will be announced a week in advance on the website schedule. Ten-hour nighttime complete closures are planned to occur from mid-July through the end of October, five nights a week, Sunday through Thursday. These are necessary because the drilling, blasting and earthwork operations are above and alongside the highway and the contractor needs enough room and time to do this safely. These are currently scheduled to occur from 6:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m., but that time may be adjusted, depending on construction safety needs.
The current plan is for the road to be completely open on Friday and Saturday nights. The contractor is permitted to close the highway on Saturday nights as well, but will only do so if it is needed due to progress or weather issues. The project when completed will create five-and-a-half miles of new road, bypassing a 10-mile section of the original U.S. 20 that was built in 1917. Safety will be improved with two lanes of travel that include wide shoulders and passing lanes, eliminating the old route’s very curvy sections and visual barriers. The new road is expected to open in the fall of this year.
There are two detour routes: OR 34 through Waldport and OR 18/ OR 22 through Lincoln City. Message boards will be placed on Interstate 5, U.S. 101, and at points along U.S. 20 with current road status and schedules.
