ODOT Alerts Motorists to Carry Chains/Traction Devices

 

Century Drive seeing greater use with recent snowfall

 

BEND – With the recent snowfall at and near Mt. Bachelor, winter sports enthusiasts are taking to Century Drive (OR372) in greater numbers.  Highway managers with the Oregon Department of Transportation want to make sure that those travelers are prepared for extreme driving conditions on the highway.  Plus, there’s a lot of demand for the use of sno-parks, which puts additional burden on our crews to maintain them. 

District Maintenance Manager Joel McCarroll wants to make sure that motorists are ready to tackle the snowy conditions on the highway.  “Even though the formal Mt. Bachelor ski season doesn’t kick off for a couple of weeks, we are seeing a greater demand on the highway as the early snowfall sets in.”  He adds that “ODOT is on the job plowing and sanding as necessary, but we want to be sure that winter sports enthusiasts are prepared for the conditions they’ll be driving in”. 

ODOT has staffed up for winter and is providing routine maintenance on Century Drive, which can see nose-to-tail traffic when winter sports season fully kicks in.

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Peter W. Murphy

Public Information Officer

ODOT Region 4