MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, OREGON
SUNDAY, APRIL 16. 1961
A 3
Four Hours Driving Time Being Eliminated from Coast Highway
Following World War II, a
journey from Astoria to the
California state line over high
way 101 took at least 11 hours
driving time.
. Today, the previous 389
miles of 1945's Oregon Coast
highway have, been trimmed
to 364, with construction un
der way or contracts being
let this season to chop another
18 miles and nearly an hour's
driving time. .
More than 165 miles, nearly
half the distance from border
to border-will have been re
built to modern standards by
next year, and the average
motorist will take just seven
hours to drive the length of
the highway. ,
First contract to be let on
the coast route by the state
highway commission was a
1917project for five miles of
grading and paving south of
Tillamook. Early progress
was slow on building other
portions, though, as the pick,
shovel, and horse-drawn fres
no construction methods were
no match for jumbled moun
tains that reach to the wa
ter's edge along much of the
coast.
Boom In Building
With the depression came a
. boom in coastwise highway
building, however,, and the
. entire route was completed
with an oiled surface, or bet
ter, by 1934. Most of the last
gaps were filled with the
opening in 1936 and 1937 of
five bridges across the large
water barriers at Newport,
Waldport, . Florence, Reeds-
port, and Coos Bay.
Following World War II
when attention could once
more be shifted from military
matters to domestic affairs, it
became apparent that Ore
gon's ever-increasing number
of automobiles and trucks
coupled with mechanical ad
vances in these machines had
caused highways considered
adequate for pre-war condi
tions to become outdated. In
bringing these rouds up to
modern standards some have
been rebuilt by improving the
older roadbed and many have
been entirely relocated along
a new alignment.-
The Gold Beach-Brookings
portion of Highway 101 in
southern Curry county is an
instance where the entire
highway between the two
towns is being replaced by
27.7 miles of new highway,
much of it along a new align
ment, at a cost of approxi
mately $16,391,000. The new
route will reduce the distance
between the towns 8.5 miles
and will save 25 minutes time.
Spectacular Construction
' Most spectacular of the Cur
ry county projects, currently
under construction Is the 15
mile Brookings-Burnt Hill sec
tion. Being in the worst part
of the rugged country between
Brookings and Gold Beach,
this is, mile for mile, some of
the most difficult two-lane
construction . undertaken in
the United States. -
Cutting through a wild land
of high, steep bluffs and deep
canyons, the new route will
take motorists past bays and
beaches formerly visited only
by a rare and hardy few who
hiked in on foot from the pres
ent highway farther inland.
In a series of mountain-moving
excavations, contractors
Peter Kiewit and Sons, Dar-kenwald-Harms
company and
Morrison - Knudson company
are turning the sawtooth land
scape into a leveled roadbed
by means of tremendous cuts
and fills.
' Too big to fill, though, is
the gaping Thomas creek can
yon near the middle of the
present construction project.
More than 900 feet in length,
the steel and concrete Thomas
creek bridge under construc
tion there now will be the
state's highest bridge when
completed, measuring 345 feet
from the deck to the stream
bed below. Total cost of this
section, with bridge, will be
$10,817,000, not including
right of way.
Same General Project .
A few miles to the north In
the Buena Vista-Myers creek
section . is another 6.4-mile
portion of the same general
project.
In Coos county, the Bandon
Davis slough cutoff was open
ed to traffic this winter, cut
ting driving tfme between
Bandon and Coos Bay by some
25 minutes. The U. S. bureau
of public roads plans to open
in 1962 the 7.5-mile Otis Junc-tion-Neskowln
section now un
der construction as a federal
ly - financed forest highway
project.
On the Garibaldi-Bay City
project north of Tillamook, a
contract of approximately
$1,000,000 will be let this
spring for grading along a
new 2.5 mile setcion from
Bay City to Hobsonville. Big
gest news on the northern
coast is the new Astoria-Camp
Rilea project, let to Umpqua
River Navigation company,
Reedsport, for a bid of $980,
000. Work will begin this sea
son on the grading portion of
a 3.4-mile section.
As these last portions of the
Oregon Coast highway move
toward completion, the era of
the coastline corkscrew and
cliffhangers is seeing its final
chapter. With the advances in
construction skills and engi
neering techniques has come
the highway that proves a
scenic highway need not be
slow or winding.
Lumber Market
Leveling Indicated
Portland -(UPD- Crow's Lunv
ber Market News Service said
today there are indications of
a leveling off on the market
for West Coast lumber and
plywood.
Green Douglas fir studs,
along with random length di
vision, have lost a dollar or
two from last week's high. ,
: Markets for western pine
species continued to climb
gradually, with shortages of
inventory at the mill level
continuing. .
'' - ' ' .""".' ' - " jf ' F
-; : ,45t iV
lie filff -
WORK CONTINUES Work on the high
steel of Thomas creek bridge south of Gold
Beach in Curry county continued through
out the winter despite 80-mile per hour
winds and ocean-born storms. Construction
workers prefabricate sections of the span
on the south approach, foreground, then
swing the parts into place by means of the
. boom hanging precariously over the 350-foot
chasm. This connecting link of relocated
Highway 101 will be the state's highest
bridge when completed.
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ARE PART OF THE FUN
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You'll love the gay Studio Parties
that are part of the fun at Arthur
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friends. You gain hew poise and
confidence, as everybody dances!
Stop in now and get special
2-for-l rates at the nearest
Arthur Murray Studio, open
10 aja. to 10 psn. daily.
ARTHUR'
IVII IDDAV.. .
Licensed by Arthur Murray, Inc.
W. G. Parks, License
17 bZy) (.
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Shop and Save at Southern Oregon's Oldest and Largest Furniture Store " '
wieieiks & aomm
320 East Main St.
, Medford
Phone SP 2-9351
Phone SP 3-5365
114 West- Main St.
iHCIAU$J$ IN MOMfWAIISI
245 S. Central at 10th