Highway 126 West reopened after landslide near Florence, second landslide cleared near Yachats

All lanes of Highway 126 West 10 miles east of Florence reopened around noon Tuesday after landslides dumped mud, trees and rocks across the road Monday.

The roadway still is covered with mud, and drivers should proceed slowly through the area, according to Oregon Department of Transportation spokesperson Angela Beers Seydel.

"There’s still mud all over the road," she said. "People need to slow down, be cautious and drive for the conditions."

An estimated 300 yards of the highway was covered by the landslides about a mile east of Tiernan, ODOT said in a news release.

There were no local detours in place, and drivers trying to get to Florence from Eugene were advised to take either Highway 38 to the south through Reedsport or Highway 34 to the north through Waldport.

A lot of people decided to take smaller back roads to get around the closed highway, Seydel said. She warned drivers not to take those old logging roads that she said also have a high risk of landslides.

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"I come from that area, and those are roads you shouldn’t take unless you know exactly what you’re doing," she said. "This time of year there’s a lot of slide danger back there."

ODOT crews worked to clear the road after the initial slide Monday, but were stymied by a second round of landslides later in the afternoon that brought more trees and mud, making work too dangerous, Beers Seydel said.

"Initially mud was coming down as quickly as they could scoop it up," she said. "Then they were making progress, and another section came down with more trees and rocks and things. That's when it got really dark."

Work resumed Tuesday morning, with ODOT using heavy equipment including dump trucks and loaders to remove the debris, she added.

With more rain, risk of landslides not going away

Heavy rainfall in the coastal part of Lane County likely caused the landslide, according to the National Weather Service. In the past 10 days, since Monday, 11.75 inches of rain was measured at the coast. A flood warning was also in effect for the same area of the Siuslaw River near Mapleton earlier Monday.

With more rain on the way, the threat of landslides is not going away. Showers and wind are expected Wednesday in Mapleton and Florence, with a chance of thunderstorms after 10 a.m. and between a half-inch and three-quarters of an inch of rain possible.

Drivers near the landslide should be on the watch for the ODOT response crews. Beers Seydel cautioned drivers to stick to major roads and keep an eye out for flooded areas.

Flooding concern has been particularly bad in Cushman near Florence, she added, and near Mapleton where the water levels have stayed high.

She said to delay travel if possible and to be aware landslides are more common this time of year.

This is the second week in a row with a full closure of Highway 126, after it was closed for several hours while police and paramedics responded to a Dec. 13 fatal car crash near Walton. It is also the second recent closure of a highway due to a landslide near the Oregon Coast.

Landslide closes Highway 101 before reopening later that afternoon

Around the same time crews reopened Highway 126, another landslide closed one and a half lanes of Highway 101 along the coast 9 miles south of Yachats. It was cleared and reopened at around 3 p.m., Beers Seydel said.

The coastal landslide covered about 150 yards of road, she said, and traffic was squeezing by around the debris right after it happened. Workers flagged traffic through while they cleaned it up , according to Beers Seydel.

Drivers should still expect some delays driving along Highway 101 and in the Coast Range. Heavy rain has saturated hillsides and caused many small landslides, Beers Seydel said.

Several portions of Highway 101 are hazardous to travel in the Newport area due to high water and collapsed road surfaces.

More information on the landslide and road conditions around the state can be found on Tripcheck.com.

Louis Krauss covers breaking news for The Register-Guard. Contact him at lkrauss@registerguard.com, and follow him on Twitter @LouisKraussNews.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Highway 126 West near Florence reopens Tuesday following landslide