ODOT hopes to re-open Eastbound 84 over the weekend

For more than two weeks now... eastbound lanes of I-84 between Cascade Locks and Hood River have been closed because of wildfire activity.

"This has been an enormously cataclysmic event for the Gorge," said Don Hamilton with the Oregon Department of Transporttion (ODOT).

Hamilton says the eastbound lanes at Shellrock Mountain are still not safe to travel, so while the agency is on track to re-open the eastbound lanes this weekend, they'll need to divert traffic onto the westbound lanes for a short time.

"This stretch of hill is still a problem. It's very steep, it's still burning, and we're still getting trees coming down there," Hamilton said. "We're trying to do what we can to get the eastbound lanes open, that's going to mean this little detour there for about a mile."

That reconfiguration should be ready sometime Sunday afternoon, and will remain in place indefinitely.

In addition to the re-routed traffic, there is limited access to on and off ramps along that stretch of interstate because of the on-going fire fighting efforts.