ODOT crews battle winter’s wrath
Snow squalls also stymie bus service

By: Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Saturday, December 27, 2008 11:21 PM PST

Larry Meyer | Argus Observer Notices in the window of the Ontario bus depot announced that Greyhound Service has been canceled until further notice.

ONTARIO —Oregon Department of Transportation crews are working around the clock to keep local state highways open, and, to date, they have been successful, at least in District 14 which takes in Malheur, Harney and Grant counties, according to Tom Davis, ODOT District 14 assistant manager.

“We have crews working 24 hours per day,” Davis said.

While there have been some slideoffs, Davis said he is not aware of any section of highway in the district which has been closed for any length of time — unlike those in  other parts of the state.

“We’ve been pretty fortunate. Not that the district does not have its passes. There are Drinkwater and Stinking Water passes, between Vale and Burns, more than 5,000 feet in elevation; there is Eldorado Pass and Dixie Pass and two other summits between Vale and John Day; and there is Blue Mountain Summit, south of Basque Station toward McDermitt.”

Within Malheur County, there are two plows at Basque Station on U.S. Highway 95 and two trucks, each working a shift at Juntura, Davis said.

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“At Vale, we try to keep two trucks working during the night and two during the day,” he said.

Those plows, he said, go in different directions, as U.S. Highways 20 and 26 are combined from Cairo Junction to Vale, where they spilt — with U.S. Highway 20 headed for Vale and U.S. Highway 26 going to John Day.

The largest ODOT maintenance station is situated at Ontario on Stanton Boulevard. That station can deploy six plows on the road, day and night, Davis said.

Last week, the landscaping crew was also put out on the road.

“They work as backup,” Davis said. The main focus for Ontario maintenance crews remains Interstate 84, he said. 

Davis also talked about the difference between ODOT and Idaho’s highway snow removal crews.

“Idaho uses salt. We use magnesium chloride (for ice melt),” Davis said.

The ice melt is on the main travel lane on the freeway, and in trouble spots on the two-lane highways, including curves and grades.

Regarding the recent set of snow storms, Davis said crews tackled some challenges toward Adrian and north of Vale on the way to John Day. Davis also said motorists need to pay attention to road conditions.

“People don’t slow down,” he said.

Motorists also often take too many chances during winter travel.

“They don’t chain up.” Davis said. Davis said he often sees people driving vehicles which are pulling trailers. Often those individuals get into trouble and don’t know how to handle the vehicles when they spin out.

One of the results of the snow and ice-covered roads is the discontinuation of Greyhound Bus Service throughout much of the Northwest, according to service alerts posted on the Greyhound Web site. Of local interest, routes discontinued since Monday include Boise to Portland, and beginning Christmas, Boise to Salt Lake City.  Notices posted at the Ontario Depot said there will be no service until further notice because of weather conditions. 

Greyhound media representatives were not available Friday for comment.

While it had no buses running Christmas, on Friday, Porter Stages Lines continued to run its buses between Coos Bay and Ontario and planned to resume service to Ontario Saturday, according to a spokesperson.