Both lanes of Highway 6 at milepost 35 are fully open, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation said in an email to this newspaper at 3:45 p.m.
The agency had scrambled a repair team to the site after the pavement dropped more than half a foot early Wednesday, leaving motorists with blown tires according to eyewitness reports
The original repair estimate put the lane reopening at 2 p.m.
As a result, the westbound lane was closed for nearly 12 hours while repairs were made.
Traffic was controlled with an automated light.
The area the sunken grade is in is riddled with past repair jobs, potholes, and other sunken grades.
An ODOT study released in 2023 found that 14 out of 18 priority unstable slopes along Highway 6 are located between mileposts 31 and 35.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
