Highway 20 restoration a big job

An ODOT crew surveys the slopes above Highway 20 for snags. Crews are cutting away trees that pose a risk of falling. photo by Eric Dolson

As the safety of Camp Sherman seemed at the moment relatively secure, concerns of Sisters residents and the business community turned to the closure of Highway 20 over Santiam Pass.

Through the weekend of August 23-24 there was little traffic either on the streets or in the stores and many are concerned about the Labor Day Weekend.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) offered only the most guarded predictions as to when the highway might be open.

ODOT spokesman Dan Knoll said on Sunday, August 24, "Our hope and our goal is to have it open early next week. Obviously we hope to get it open before the big weekend."

By Monday, those hopes were fading, Knoll acknowledged.

City of Sisters and Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce officials who have been in close consultation with ODOT were not optimistic.

"It will most likely be sometime after Labor Day weekend," City Administrator Eileen Stein told The Nugget.

Stein toured the highway on Sunday. She described boulders perched against stumps on steep slopes, with burnt-out trees swaying overhead, ready to topple down onto the highway.

The fire is still burning actively along stretches of the road.

ODOT crew are already clearing debris and cutting away snags that could fall on the highway. Once the fire is safely away, a geologist will assess the slopes for potential rock fall.

Then ODOT will contract for someone to move in and get rid of those rocks.

"We want them to fall before we have any traffic there," he said.

That means literally pushing and rolling away any rocks that look like they might fall on their own.

Knoll said ODOT does not want to open the road only to have to close it again within days.

"Once we open again, we hope it's for the long haul," he said.

Stein acknowledged the difficulty of coping with the economic fallout of the closure of Sisters' main tourist traffic artery at the finale of the summer season.

She urged patience in the face of the crisis.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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