YACHATS – Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 17, a section of U.S. 101 will close from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. for two weeks to build a retaining wall to shore up a shifting portion of the road at milepost 170.5, 2.5 miles south of Cape Perpetua. The closure will be between Sea Lion Caves and Cooks Chasm, areas that have space for larger vehicles to turn around, between Yachats and Florence. Local traffic will have access beyond the closures on either side of the project during the day.
Between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., traffic will be flagged through the project area in the northbound lane. Work will not be done at night because of safety concerns and the need for full visibility.
Road status information boards will be placed on U.S. 101 at Newport, Waldport, and Florence, and on OR 126 Florence-Eugene Highway in Florence and Veneta.
Once the repair project is complete, the road will close completely for several days for a drill rig to be recovered from the rocks below. A 200-ton crane will block the entire road and there will be no access through, day or night.
Travelers should expect closures or extended delays in the area for the next few weeks. Check TripCheck.com or call 5-1-1 for the current road status.
A project to repair the section of the road held in place by a historic retaining wall began Monday, Feb. 6. On Friday, the northern half of the wall collapsed, and an employee of GeoStabilization International and the drill rig he was operating fell about 150 feet to the rocks below. The person is recovering from injuries sustained in the accident.
A crack in the road was reported in January. Monitoring found that it was becoming larger because the containment wall was failing and an immediate repair was required. The northbound lane is built on bedrock and is stable. The southbound lane was built on fill, which relies on a retaining wall to remain in place.
