Two Highway 97 Truck Crashes Snarl Traffic South of Sunriver

SUNRIVER, OREGON – Highway 97 was blocked for more than three hours south of Sunriver Sunday evening after a pair of semi truck accidents.

Sunday afternoon just before 3pm a semi truck and box trailer heading southbound on Highway 97 near Vandevert Road, lost control due to the icy conditions and left the highway landing on it’s side. The truck was carrying only wooden pallets and the driver was uninjured. However this slide off accident only served to complicate the already treacherous driving conditions experienced in southern Deschutes County.

Traffic slowed further as the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Deputies worked to process the scene safely. As the afternoon progressed, driving conditions worsened and the heavy traffic associated with the coming holiday slowed. The surging of heavy traffic consisting of semi-trucks, local residents, and holiday travelers combined with the distraction of the slide off accident near Vandevert Road, had the flow of vehicles accelerating and decelerating at inconsistent and often dangerous intervals, especially for the larger semi-trucks.

At approximately 4:30 p.m. this traffic pattern induced a second incident involving a semi-truck carrying a load of dog food. Near milepost 156, less than a mile from the first accident, this semi-truck traveling northbound, jack-knifed in an effort to avoid traffic that had come to a sudden halt. To make matters worse, the location of the incident is on a downgrade and the semi-truck slid into the oncoming lane of traffic. Though no one was injured in this incident either, both the northbound and southbound lanes were obstructed by the truck and its box trailer.

Highway 97 traffic had been effectively shutdown and the location and resting position of the truck on a downgrade posed serious challenges to attempts at its removal. Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Deputies along with Oregon State Police Troopers attempted to clear the highway while still minimizing the chance of the jack-knifed truck from rolling onto its side or sliding further to worsen its position. The combined efforts at opening the highway for traffic to pass kept vehicles in a snarled standstill in excess of three hours.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office continues to urge drivers to take the extra time to allow for safer travel in these icy and treacherous road conditions.

From media release by Deputy Chris Jones and Lt. Deron McMaster.

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