Slick roads bring Hwys. 97, 20 slideoffs, delays
(Update: Slide-offs at Lava Butte; Hwy. 97 reopens; rockslide near Santiam Pass)
Snow and slick roads were making for more troublesome travel and delays on Highway 97 at Lava Butte south of Bend and at Hogg Rock near Santiam Pass Friday night.
ODOT reported Highway 97 was closed southbound at milepost 148 due to crashes on the snowy road. Deschutes County dispatchers said a semi blocked the road and other vehicles slid off in the slick conditions. Northbound traffic also was backing up.
One man told NewsChannel 21 his wife, heading south to go home, had been stopped for close to two hours, blocked in by trucks. ODOT reported the southbound lanes had reopened by about 10:15 P.M.
Other problems occurred on Highway 20 near Santiam Pass, including a reported rockslide at Hogg Rock, a frequent trouble spot, that blocked westbound lanes for a time.
Check the latest traffic updates at our ODOT TripCheck page: https://www.ktvz.com/weather/roads.
Earlier in the day, two crashes, one that sent a Sisters man to the hospital, occurred on the High Desert as snow brought a return of slick roads to much of Central Oregon.
A two-vehicle crash occurred around 8:30 a.m. on Century Drive (Highway 372), the road to Mt. Bachelor, near milepost 11 and Forest Service Road 4612, initial reports indicated.
Oregon State Police said there were no reports of serious injuries in the crash, which slowed traffic heading to the resort for its wider opening day of the season.
Around 3:45 a.m. Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies and Sisters Fire Department personnel were dispatched to a report of a single vehicle into a tree on state Highway 126 near Willow Lane, just east of Sisters, sgt. William Bailey said.
They arrived to find a blue 2003 Dodge pickup had come to rest blocking both travel lanes.
Sisters Fire medics evaluated the driver, Isaac Mackenzie, 21, of Sisters, and took him by ambulance to St. Charles Redmond for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
An investigation determined Mackenzie was heading west on the highway when he lost control on the slick roadway and it left the road. Bailey said deputies still were investigating other possible contributing factors in the crash, which blocked or limited the highway to one lane for about an hour.
