Crews are reviewing their checklists and making final preparations to re-open OR 224 above Estacada, planned for this Sunday, May 1.
Work will continue well after the road opens, however. Visitors to the area should expect delays and continued closure of familiar recreation sites.
When the road re-opens, the U.S. Forest Service plans to re-open the Hole in the Wall and Moore Creek boat access day sites to all river users and the Big Eddy day use site. All other Forest Service facilities in the Clackamas River Corridor will remain closed at least through 2022.
In the corridor, work zone closures will take place seven days a week at several locations, and visitors will see ongoing recovery work, including trucks loaded with debris, continued rock scaling and potholes at varying stages of repair.
Work continued this week.
- Mesh panel installation continued and will continue after the road opens. Rockfall mitigation will continue at least six locations, the sites of occasional work zone road closures.
- Crews completed installation of new locked gates ensuring closures of Forest Service facilities, including the 46, 4630 and 57, Memaloose and Fish Creek roads.
- PGE continues to use helicopters to remove hazard trees from its facilities in the corridor. The company will keep Pipeline Road and other access roads closed as needed.
- Reseeding is under way starting in the Ripplebrook area with plants native to the Mount Hood National Forest, including grasses, shrubs and flowers.
- Pothole patching is underway with full paving of the road planned for summer with warmer weather.
The OR 224 Clackamas River Corridor will mostly offer a driving, sightseeing experience this summer, as recovery continues from the extensive damage of the Labor Day 2020 wildfire.
Source: ODOT