Slick roads bring AM crashes around C.O.; O’Neil Highway reopens after evening crash
(Update: Adding video, later crash on O'Neil Highway)
No serious injuries reported
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Slick roads from some snow and freezing rain led to several slide-off and rollover crashes Monday morning around the High Desert, including ones that closed state Highway 126 between Redmond and Sisters for about two hours, though no serious injuries were reported.
NewsChannel 21 Chief Meteorologist Bob Shaw said a weak cold front brought light and scattered showers Monday morning before temperatures began to warm.
A Deschutes County sheriff's deputy said some freezing rain also was reported, contributing to very slick roads in places.
Highway 126 was closed before 9:30 a.m. near milepost 101, about nine miles east of Sisters, in the area of the Dry Canyon. There were reportedly at least three separate crashes, one including a flatbed truck that required calling in a large tow truck. Two vehicles reportedly went through a guardrail.
ODOT urged motorists to use alternate routes. The highway reopened shortly before 11 a.m.; check traffic conditions on our TripCheck page.
Troopers also reported very icy conditions and rollover or slide-off crashes on Highway 20 West near the viewpoint at milepost 9 and on Highway 97 south of the ODOT scales at Lava Butte, south of Bend.
Meanwhile, in Jefferson County, a rollover crash was reported around 8:25 a.m. on Belmont Lane about three miles west of Madras, Sheriff Marc Heckathorn said.
A pickup had rolled off the roadway and the driver was assessed by Jefferson County EMS for minor injuries.
While the top of the hill was dry in below-freezing temperatures, down the grade at the first corner, the road developed a sheet of frost and was very slick, Heckathorn said. The driver lost traction navigating the corner and the pickup spun out and went off the road.
Heckathorn urged drivers to be careful, "as there are lots of slick spots in the county this morning."
Another injury crash Monday evening closed the O'Neil Highway (Highway 372) for a time near milepost 12, six miles west of Prineville.
