Construction on the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT)’s RealTime
sign project on Mount Hood was suspended for part of September due to fire
danger on the Mount Hood National Forest, potentially delaying completion of
the project until next spring.

The signs will offer up to the minute traffic information and advisories,
including road conditions and travel times between destinations.
“That put us behind schedule, we don't know how much at this point,” said
Kimberly Dinwiddie, ODOT Community Affairs.

The fire restrictions were lifted in late September, but not before losing
approximately four weeks of work time. The project had originally been slated
to be complete in November, and if crews will have to finish the job in the
spring, they will have to wait for the snow and ice to melt before resuming
work.

Dinwiddie noted that with work resuming, travelers can expect to see paving
the highway’s shoulders, installing guard rails and sign installation in the early
part of October. The work is expected to necessitate single lane closures, with
delays up to ten minutes, at times.

Once the project is complete, the signs are expected to be operational sooner
than initially thought. According to Dinwiddie, ODOT will utilize software from
the RealTime signs on Hwy. 217, with some fine tuning, to reduce the lag time
before they start working.

For more information on the RealTime sign project, visit
TripCheck.com/realtime.

Eagle Creek Fire impact
Dinwiddie added that Hwy. 26 experienced “noticeable congestion” in
September during the period of time that Interstate 84 was closed due to the
Eagle Creek Fire, although no firm numbers were available at press time. SR
14 in Washington was closed to semi-trucks at that time, with the remaining
options for getting around the closures as Hwy. 26 or routes to the south.
Dinwiddie said that landslides are expected to impact Interstate 84 this winter
and that any future closures of the interstate could impact traffic on Hwy. 26
in the coming months.