U.S. 101 Reopens In Oregon After Slide

Sun., April 9, 2000

From Staff

Three months after a massive landslide blocked U.S. 101 north of Florence and reduced tourist traffic to this coastal town, the highway reopened to two-way traffic Saturday.

Workers completed guardrail and barrier work before clearing away equipment and other debris, said Chuck Godfrey, assistant project manager with the state Department of Transportation.

The coastal highway opened at 2:25 p.m.

Officials expect the final cost of the repairs to approach $2 million.

Saturday was the 95th day the highway has been completely or partially closed by the slide - which was located 13 miles south of Yachats and 10 miles north of Florence.

About 50,000 cubic yards of material - enough to fill 5,000 dump trucks - had fallen in the area.

The closure cut off tourist traffic to Yachats from the Eugene-Springfield area and reduced business in the coastal city by 25 percent to 80 percent between early January and the first week of April, according to estimates by merchants and their associations.

As the repair work progressed, the highway was opened an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening for commuter traffic.

During spring break week in late March, it was open for an hour in the morning and from noon to 8 p.m.

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