Soon the sweet smells of summer will descend and local residents will be
treated to the overwhelming aroma of – asphalt.

Hwy. 26 has suffered the abuse of another winter and the beleaguered
roadway requires repaving.

The Oregon Department of Transportation will move its implements of mass
construction into place on the stretch from Cherryville Hill to the Salmon River
early this month, and the operation will continue through September.

ODOT has already begun paving between milepost 22.5 near Orient Drive and
Luzon Lane.

In the Cherryville Hill section, construction will be limited to daytime hours,
according to ODOT. Drivers can expect single lane closures with flaggers, and
up to 20-minute delays in the work zone.

Work in the westbound lanes will not take place on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 10
p.m. to accommodate the high volume of visitors returning from the
Mountain. Work will not take place during holidays starting from noon on the
preceding day. All lanes will remain open during the Hood to Coast Relay in
August.

A local company, Jim Turin & Sons, has the contract for this section of the
highway. It is a family owned corporation headquartered in Sandy and has
been in the asphalt paving business since 1973.

Mount Hood Rock Products, Turin & Sons’ DBA, is a rock quarry located in
Brightwood. Another operation owned by the family is Mount Hood Asphalt
Products, Inc., of Brightwood, which produces asphaltic concrete.

The Orient Drive repaving effort will limit paving and striping at night when
traffic volumes are lower. Hours of operation will be from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.,
Monday through Saturday.

Work is underway with paving the right lane of Hwy. 26 westbound, and will
be followed by the right lane eastbound, the left lane eastbound, and finally
the left westbound lane. Paving is expected to continue through the first week
of July followed by striping work in mid-to-late July.

The contractor, Knife River Corporation, will temporarily close lanes and
drivers should expect delays.

During the paving, the traffic signal loops will be temporarily removed – those
sensors that adjust signal timing to cars on the road.

All lanes will remain open for the Fourth of July holiday. Work will be
suspended from July 12-15 to accommodate the Sandy Mountain Festival.

Knife River Corporation is headquartered in Bismark, North Dakota, with
locations in 13 states. It is the fifth largest U.S. producer of sand and gravel.

Its local site is in Gresham, operating as Gresham Sand & Gravel.