Every winter, the alert goes out: Freeway closed.
Winter weather ensnares inexperienced or risk-taking drivers, and the resulting crashes and spin-outs block Interstate 84.
Those frequent closures are costly.
Travelers get stuck. Trucks are delayed, as traffic backs up to fill one truck stop after another. State highway crews and troopers work sometimes for hours to unclog the mess.
A new study by a district manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation examined closures from 2021 to 2024.
Truckers crashing or spinning out caused half the 183 closures in those years, the research showed. Another 20 resulted from a truck colliding with another vehicle.
Weather itself in heavy or drifting snow was blamed for another 21 closures.
The findings don’t surprise those at the Transportation Department or at the Oregon State Police.
Both agencies continue to devise strategies to cut down on such closures. Researchers estimated that when the freeway closes in either direction or entirely, the cost for all the motorists stuck by the closure averages from $12,500 to $23,800 an hour. Of the closures, 100 last two to five hours, the report said.
Most closures are between Pendleton and La Grande, but the state tracked 31 closures between Ontario and Baker City.
Recently, ODOT and the State Police tried a new tactic – stopping all trucks outside of Pendleton before they head east up over the notorious Cabbage Hill.
“We are trying to start some education. We found plenty of vehicles that do not have chains that should have chains if there is a winter event.”
– Lt. Carl Farber, Oregon State Police
Cones on eastbound Interstate 84 directed trucks and towing vehicles to a check station. The roads were bare at the time, but such rigs are required to carry tire chains at all times when heading into winter zones. Rigs caught without chains were detoured back west, with the closest place to buy chains at the nearby Arrowhead Travel Plaza.
Troopers weren’t citing drivers found without chains.
“We are trying to start some education,” said Lt. Carl Farber of the state police in Pendleton. “We found plenty of vehicles that do not have chains that should have chains if there is a winter event.”
Farber said driver attitudes generally were good, though truckers didn’t care for being stopped.
“We’re working to reduce the amount of commercial motor vehicle crashes and commercial motor vehicle spinouts,” Farber said.
State Police Capt. Dan Conner supervises eastern Oregon troopers from his base in La Grande.
He said that drivers are slow to obey signs when the Transportation Department declares chains are required.
“We’re not seeing compliance right off the bat,” Conner said. “It turns into a mess real quickly out there.”
When crashes happen, troopers and highway workers are focused on responding and dealing with the accident. That means troopers don’t have time to stop truckers still trying to travel in winter conditions without chains.
He said the Pendleton station has been declared a “critical need” post because of four vacancies. That makes it even more challenging to enforce chain requirements.
Farber noted fines have increased in recent years. A ticket for violating a chain requirement can top $880. A trucker not putting on all chains needed still can face a $230 citation.
Ace Clark is the La Grande district manager for ODOT who did the closure study. He wanted to identify when truck spinouts are part of the closure because they typically don’t result in damage or even a report to the state.
“Those events are a big impact on our communities,” he said, noting a truck accident or spinout “takes a lot of work to clean up.”
He reported on steps ODOT has taken in recent years to curb the closures.
Some stretches of Interstate 84 have been modified, adding a lane for slow moving trucks and a half-dozen new chain-up areas.
Staffing changes have been made, with more ODOT seasonal workers for winter schedules. Workers assigned to other duties the rest of the year, such as road maintenance, have been shifted to freeway work for the winter.
New signs better alert drivers to sharp curves, salt is now applied to Interstate 84, and ODOT has added double-wing snow plows to clear more roadway with a single pass.
The agency is also adding more remote cameras and weather stations in eastern Oregon, including along Interstate 84 to help both motorists and ODOT.
Clark identified six “continued challenges” for the state agency to drive down the number of freeway closures.
The biggest challenge: Drivers.
The report cited driver abilities, noting that “commercial vehicles are easier to drive and require less experienced operators.” It cited higher driver expectations “of their vehicle performance and road conditions” and encounters with drivers “with less patience and more agitated.”
Conner said troopers “are seeing a lot of new drivers that don’t have the experience” with commercial vehicles. He said trucks now come with automatic transmissions, sparing the gear shifting of older trucks.
Conner said that makes it easier for drivers to get too comfortable behind the wheel of a large truck.
He said that he was recently on Interstate 84 outside Baker City when a trucker passed by doing 82 mph.
“That’s a daily occurrence,” he said. “People are driving too fast, not paying attention to conditions of the road.”
The ODOT report made the same point, citing as a challenge “higher speeds coupled with less enforcement.”
Clark said his agency continues to assess changes to cut down chances the freeway will close.
He said one plan is to modify stretches where electronic signs show adjusted speeds to match road conditions.
“There’s always room for improvement,” he said.
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