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Expect traffic delays on Redwood Highway By JESSICA SMITH Summer travelers can expect one- to two-hour traffic delays on the region's main gateway to the Oregon's south coast. California road crews will work 12-hour days through September to clear an active rock slide 14 miles south of the Oregon border on Highway 199. Though the work will mean traffic delays during one of the busiest travel seasons, California Department of Transportation officials say they have no choice but to proceed. Highway 199, known in Oregon as the Redwood Highway, is a main link to coastal communities in Southern Oregon and Northern California. "If we could do it some other way we would," said Gordon Johnson, a lead engineer for Caltrans. "But we need to get this done before winter, when there's a much greater chance of a catastrophic movement. That's what we want to avoid." Road crews will work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday to remove about 18,000 cubic yards of rock from a hillside above "The Narrows," a one-mile stretch of Highway 199 near Patrick's Creek Lodge in Del Norte County. Crews will not work on weekends or holidays. The area was destabilized by an April 4 rock slide that may have been caused by the preventive blasting of a "knob" formation that hung over Route 199, said Leslie Buttolph, a Caltrans spokeswoman. The steep, rugged terrain is not accessible by earth-moving equipment. Workers must scale the rock and remove debris with hand-drilling and light explosives. The work will require delaying traffic one to two hours on weekdays, Buttolph said. "We realize it's no fun to have to sit and wait," she said. "So we do urge people to travel if they can after 7 p.m. or on the weekend." At night and on weekends, uncontrolled rock slides may create delays. Crews will be on hand to monitor the site and clear debris from the road. Motorists can expect a second traffic delay farther south on Highway 199, near Highway 101, where workers are repaving a portion of the road. Buttolph said road crews are trying to coordinate the rock and paving projects to minimize delays near the coastal highway. Reach reporter Jessica Smith at 776-4481, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.